Portland State Magazine Winter 2009

Present perfect The largest gift in Portland State's history is also a gift to the city. WRITTEN BY MELISSA STEINEGER THE $25 MILLI ON grant awarded to Portland State in September from the James F. and Marion L. Miller Founda– tion is the largest gift in the University's history. Ic is also the largest grant the Miller Foundation has ever made, and the way its directors came to the deci– sion shows what deep roots PSU has in the life of the city. About a year ago, the four founda– tion directors asked executive director Charles Rooks to develop a list of orga– nizations chat could use a grant to create a substantial and ongoing benefit for the community. Rooks cast a wide net, talking with inHuential and knowledgeable people in business, education, arts, and nonprof– its. When the list was ready, each of the directors worked independently to rank the 20 or so candidates. Then they came together to discuss their choices. They might have faced a tense meeting, except chat independently all four had ranked the same entity among their top three: Portland State University. The directors asked PSU where the funds could have the most impact. University officials presented chem with many options for the grant, and together, they decided chat PSU's exper– tise, strategic direction, and possibilities for increased stature lay in sustainability. The result is a 10-year, $25 million challenge grant. PSU receives $2.5 million each year and raises an equal amount, for a total financial boost of $50 million for sustainability. Much thought has gone into what sustainability means at Portland State. 8 PORTLAND STATE MAGAZINE WINTER 2009 The consensus is a straightforward definition: meeting the economic, social, and environmental needs of the present without compromising similar needs of future generations. Faculty and students are already researching sustainable food systems, economies, green technology, water management, transportation systems, renewable energy, business practices, and urban development. The PSU Center for Sustainable Processes and Practices is a clearinghouse for efforts across campus. IN CHOOSING PORTLAND STATE for the grant, the directors considered it a vote of confidence in the University's ability to make a difference in Portland. "Our gift was in part a gift to the city of Porcland," says director Charles Put– ney, who graduated from PSU in 1962 with a degree in business. "The vibrancy of the city is critical to the state, and it has a huge impact for the students who will attend chis urban University in Portland." As a Porcland State College student, Putney worked part time and took five– and-a-half years to earn his degree. "I still remember almost all of my professors' names. It was chat meaningful to me." Today, Putney is an executive with UBS, a global giant in investment bank– ing and securities. Blyth & Co., the investment bank where Putney and the late James "Jimmy" Miller-then-pres– ident and the foundation's namesake– met, is a predecessor firm of UBS. "Jimmy was a very, very bright man," says Putney. "Not formally educated, but bright and well read. He strongly believed chat if you were going to have success in the world, you had to have an education." That same conviction in the value of an education is shared by Miller direc– tor Charles Walker, retired president of Linfield College and father of a current PSU student. "The University began as a service organization for veterans who had trouble getting into a college or uni– versity elsewhere. That beginning and PSU's subsequent major progress were key points for me." As a former vice-chairman of the Ford Family Foundation, Walker got to know Ford student scholars at PSU. "I was impressed with the delivery of services to these students," says Walker, "as well as to nontraditional students and to the community at large." Director Alice McCarcor, who was with the Meyer Memorial Trust before joining the Miller Foundation, saw the University's connection to the city as a key. "PSU touches so many families in the metropolitan area from all walks oflife," says McCarcor. "Certainly it serves the student who lives at home, is working his way through school, and cannot afford a 'campus-bound' experience. Also, it links with our high-tech and business communities for ongoing train– ing, and serves nontraditional students, including people returning to school after time in the work world. "Our family is an example. Our daughter finished her undergraduate