Portland State Magazine Winter 2019

2 Winter 2019 VOL . 33 / NO. 2 EDITOR Kathryn Kirkland WRITERS Kurt Bedell, John Kirkland, Paige Parker, Madison Schultz PHOTOGRAPHERS Kelly James, Edis Jurcys, NashCO, 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 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 alum@pdx.edu PSU BOARD OF TRUSTEES Gale Castillo MA ’74, Chair Erica Bestpitch MS ’12 Sho Dozono MS ’69 Gregory Hinckley Maude Hines Thomas Imeson Margaret Kirkpatrick Antonio Leiva Irving Levin Peter Nickerson Lindsay Stewart Peter Stott HD ’11 Christine Vernier Rahmat Shoureshi 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. Portland State Magazine AFTER A YEAR in your company, I have truly come to understand that Let Knowledge Serve the City is more than a motto. It’s a mission. Every great city needs a great university. With our bold vision and direction for PSU, the Portland area community is developing a greater appreciation and recognition of the major role that the University plays in the socioeconomic growth of the region. Portland State’s mission was born when a group of students and teachers joined forces in 1946 to build a college for anyone who wanted to look beyond what is, to envision what could be. From the beginning, they wanted to venture outside the classroom to gain real-world experience in overcoming obstacles and inventing solutions. And to this day, their spirit— your spirit— animates PSU, drawing the most diverse student body among Oregon universities to explore and excel in our classrooms, laboratories and studios. Today, we are at a critical juncture at PSU. Our University is earning much-deserved recognition for innovation. Our faculty are pursuing breakthroughs in fields as varied as technology- based pedagogy, nanomaterials, transportation, urban planning, cyber security, blockchain technology, healthy and sustainable cities, and the discovery of new drugs. And our students continue to inspire us all with their talent and tenacity. To secure the essential support needed for our students, our faculty, our programs and campus, in October we launched a $300 million fundraising effort: Let Knowledge Serve: The Campaign for PSU. Please visit the site at letknowledgeserve.org to learn more about this important effort, and how we serve our students, our city, and our world. AMONG MY highest priorities is alumni engagement and recognition. We are reaching out to over 180,000 alumni around the globe and making them more aware of what PSU is today. As part of that effort, starting in 2019, every year we will celebrate an Alumni Golden Year Reunion. The PSU Alumni Office is beginning by inviting alumni from the Class of 1969 to events on campus, culminating with commencement in June. Please visit the Class of 1969 website at www.pdx.edu/alumni/1969- reunion . Come back and breathe in the exciting air of today’s Portland State University. Don’t miss a moment of the fun! Every graduating class puts its own mark on our city and our University, embodying the Viking spirit. This magazine showcases much of what makes Portland State the city’s most vibrant resource for learning, scholarship, artistry, culture and workforce development. I know you’ll enjoy reading these fascinating stories about what’s going on at PSU today, and please consider a campus visit in 2019, to relive memories, experience the exciting growth of our campus and community, and look with us toward a bright future. Please let me know when you are in the Portland area; I welcome a visit with you to learn about what will make PSU a great university. Rahmat Shoureshi President, Portland State University Join the Campaign for PSU FROM THE PRESIDENT