Portland State Magazine Winter 2012

PSU ALUMNI ASSOCIATION ANATOMY OF AN ENGAGED ALUM Knows that the Portland State campus is a vibrant and vital part of downtown Portland. Tells others about Portland State and suggests they check it out for themselves or their children. 1960-1969 Dick Matthews '68, MA '88 has retired as assiscanr executive director of the Oregon His– torical Sociery afrer 17 years of service and more char 35 years in rhe field of historic preserva– tion.work and public history museums. Richard Willis '68 recently complered a degree as an ordained minister ar rhe Minis– terial Seminary ofAmerica and is current working on his divin– ity degree. Willis writes, "These accomplishmenrs are directly related to my undergraduate work at PSU-what a great col– lege and university. Not bad for a 70-year-old alumnus." Robert Handy '69, MA '71 was honored when the Foreign Policy Association awarded its annual prize to the Bay Area Unitarian Universalise Church in Houston for its Grear Deci– sions foreign policy study– discussion group, which Handy started 12 years ago and con– tinues to run. Grear Decisions is a product of the association. Handy is an investment adviser with ViaQuesr Financial Group in Houston. He also helped establish the Bernard V. Burke History Scholarship Endow– ment Fund at PSU in memory of the late professor. 1970-1979 Terry Cross '70 received the prestigious Robert F. Ken- nedy Children's Action Corps' Embracing the Legacy award in June at the Kennedy Presiden– tial Library in Boston . Cross is the founder and executive direc– tor of the National Indian Chi ld Welfare Association in Portland, and has written multiple manu– als used by child welfare staff who work wirh Native Ameri– cans. He is an enrolled member of rhe Seneca arion oflndians. Susan Ford '70, EdD '90 is a field supervisor in the Hears the buzz that as an urban research university, PSU is making a difference in the community through sustainable practices and solutions. department of teaching and learning at Washington Srace University-Vancouver campus. Antoinette "Toni" Mountain '71 is a breast cancer survivor programs manager for che Oregon and southwest Wash– ington affiliate of Susan G. Komen for che Cure. Mountain organizes conferences, coordi– nates a speakers bureau, and represents che organization as a frequent speaker at women's healrh forums across che Pacific Northwest. Earlier Mountain was a breast prosthesis coord ina– ror and buyer for Nordstrom. Don Scott '72 has retired as chairman and president of Retail Research Group, Inc., an international retail location consulting firm he cofounded in 1992. Scott has spent che past 33 years researching retail sites across the U.S. and Europe. Gale Castillo MA '74 is presi– dent of che Hispanic Metropoli– tan Chamber in Portland. Shows the world they love PSU! Feels a strong sense of pride for PSU. Carol Van Natta '76 is vice president of the Oregon Scace University Foundation - Port– land Center. Van Narca works to increase private support for OSU in che mecropoliran area, directs rhe foundarion 's community relarions activities, and manages che center itself. Van Nacca has spent 34 years in higher education at seven universities. Hermann Colas, Jr., '77 is the chief operating officer of his family-run business, Colas Construction Inc., which is involved in the rehabilitation of Portland 's historic Golden Wesr Hotel and the demolition and reconstruction ofTriMer's Meader Building. Colas Con– struction won a 2011 Excellence in Family Business Award from the Austin Family Business Program at Oregon State Uni– versity. Colas also started the Portland-based Colas Fou nda– tion Fund to help victims of rhe earthquake in Haiti. WINTER 2012 PORTLAND STATE MAGAZINE 21