In memoriam: Victor Charles Dahl, 1928-2022 VICTOR DAHL, who served Portland State as both professor and administrator for three decades, died January 27 in Portland at age 93. Professor Dahl was born December 11, 1928, in Wibaux, Montana, a small town on the far eastern edge of the state. His parents, Charles and Nora Dahl, had six children: four boys, Victor, Carl, John, and Phillip, and two girls, Camilla and Elizabeth. After graduating from Missoula High School in 1946, Professor Dahl entered the University of Montana, graduating in 1950 with a bachelor’s degree in history and, in 1951, a master’s degree in political science. He entered the Air Force the following year and served on active duty as a lieutenant until 1954, the same year he and Beryl Brechbill married, a union that was to last 68 years and produce four children: Victor, Camilla, Antonia, and Marcy. Professor Dahl continued his graduate education at the University of California, Berkeley, where in 1959 he received a Ph.D. in history with an emphasis on U.S. and Latin American studies. He joined Portland State the same year, stepping into a career of scholarship, teaching, and a wide range of administrative positions, including directing programs in undergraduate studies, international programs, Central European studies, and graduate studies and research. Professor Dahl also served as assistant to the president, was chosen five times to serve as a member of the President’s Advisory Council, was a member of the Interinstitutional Faculty Senate—including a term as chair in 1974-75—and served three terms as a member of the University’s Faculty Senate. Professor Dahl’s teaching centered on United States history, Latin American and Mexican history, and the histories of Inter-American relations, the Caribbean area, Hispanic heritage of the United States, the westward movement of the United States, the Pacific Northwest, and historiography. He served on the board and was president of the Pacific Coast Council on Latin American Studies and was regional editor for the Journal of the West. One of his scholarly articles appeared in the Hispanic American Historical Review, a journal regarded as the most distinguished in the field of Latin American history. Professor Dahl was an early advocate of international education. As fellow PSU history professor Charlie White recalled, “He was one of the best overseas leaders in our study programs abroad. He had an amazing ability to absorb and use foreign languages quickly. As a result, he was very valuable in guiding our student abroad programs in multicultural Eastern Europe.” Professor Dahl’s work in international education was often in cooperation with other institutions, including the Saudi Arabia Ministry of Higher Education, the University of Guadalajara, and the University of Zagreb, where he served as director of the Zagreb Institute for Central European Studies from 1970 to 1972. The Dahl family lived in Zagreb while Professor Dahl served as the institute’s director, an experience that reflected the Dahls’ passion for international travel. Over the course of their marriage, the Dahls visited all seven continents and more than 60 countries, including Cuba. Closer to home, Professor Dahl’s wide-ranging interests included home brewing, gardening, entertaining, and handball. Among his favorite activities was taking his children and, later, grandchildren sledding and enjoying long conversations with them on any topic. Professor Dahl retired from Portland State in 1990 and was promoted to professor emeritus. His retirement activities included membership in RAPS. He and Beryl were regulars at RAPS events, and Professor Dahl’s byline often appeared in The RAPS Sheet under the many comprehensive obituaries he wrote of Portland State colleagues. He is survived by his wife, Beryl; his children, Camilla Dahl, Antonia (Dahl) Green and Darwin Green, and Marcy (Dahl) Rebar and Bob Rebar; and grandchildren Michael and Joslyn (MacLaughlin) Green, Geneva Green and fiancé Erik Eagon, Jarell Rebar, and Avery Rebar. Professor Dahl’s death was preceded by the death of his son, Victor. PSU Archives Digital Gallery 1986 6 THE RAPS SHEET MAY 2022
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