Portland State Magazine Spring 2016

2 pORTLAND STATE MAGAZINE SPRING 2016 IT’S NO SECRET why Portland State attracts world-caliber faculty. Our commitment to innovation and excellence, our enviable location between the Cascades and the coast, and our close relationship with a remarkable city give us a distinct leg up on the competition. The dividends of such benefits play out every day, primarily with students who get excellent instruction, but also throughout our region, where work by PSU faculty continues to have a big impact. You’ll read stories in this issue about works of public art by our faculty, about the tremendous accomplishments of our chamber choir and its director, Ethan Sperry, and about our Senior Inquiry program, which sends PSU faculty into area high schools to help students jumpstart their college careers. Those are just a few examples of PSU’s reach into the region. Others abound. Our faculty help plan the region’s growth, help neighborhoods become more sustainable, monitor air quality and more. CONSIDER THE WORK of Kris Henning in our Criminology and Criminal Justice Department. With his students, Kris made detailed historical data maps of crimes, pinpointing current hotspots and helping the Portland Police Bureau to allocate resources efficiently. In the Honors College, Olyssa Starry and her students helped the U.S. Forest Service collect and analyze moss samples, which confirmed suspected toxic air contamination in inner southeast Portland. PSU environmental science professor Linda George, who studies air quality in the Portland region, became a go-to source for local news media to explain the environmental regulations—or lack thereof—associated with the emissions. Faculty were instrumental in crafting PSU’s new strategic plan, which sets ambitious new goals for student success, academic quality, campus equity and community engagement. They also are a prime force behind reTHINK PSU, which is developing new ways to ensure students complete degrees while containing costs, and is one of the reasons U.S. News &World Report this year ranked us among the 20 “most innovative” universities in the nation. A university is only as good as its professors and instructors. Our faculty are a key reason why I have one of the best jobs in academia. Wim Wiewel President, Portland State University SPRING 2016 / VOL. 30 NO. 3 EDITOR Kathryn Kirkland WRITERS Harry Esteve, Bess Pallares, Suzanne Pardington PHOTOGRAPHERS Kelly James, Edis Jurcys, Peter Simon COPY EDITOR Martha Wagner DESIGN Brett Forman, Evan Kirkley LETTERS TO THE EDITOR 810 Market Center Building PO Box 751 Portland OR 97207-0751 503-725-4451, fax 503-725-4465 psumag@pdx.edu ADDRESS CHANGES Please go to the website www.pdx.edu/alumni/contact or call 503-725-4948 ALUMNI RELATIONS OFFICE Tom Bull, Executive Director Simon Benson House 1803 SW Park Ave. PO Box 751 Portland OR 97207-0751 503-725-4948 psualum@pdx.edu PSU BOARD OF TRUSTEES Pete Nickerson, Chair Swati Adarkar Erica Bestpitch MS ’12 Gale Castillo MA ’74 Sho Dozono MS ’69 Maria Carolina Gonzalez-Prats Maude Hines Thomas Imeson Margaret Kirkpatrick Irving Levin Rick Miller MBA ’91 Lindsay Stewart Peter Stott HD ’11 Christine Vernier Wim Wiewel Portland State Magazine is published three times a year, during fall, winter and spring terms. Contents may be reprinted only by permission of the editor. The magazine is printed on recycled paper. Portland State University is an affirmative action / equal opportunity institution. Our faculty make us who we are f r o m t h e p r e s i d e n t