5 RAPS SHEET n NOVEMBER 2023 In memoriam: W.T. ‘Bill’ Lemman, 1925-2023 W.T. “BILL” LEMMAN, a Portland State pioneer who was instrumental in expanding the University’s campus, died October 10 in Portland following a fall at his McMinnville home. He was 98 years old. Mr. Lemman was born on September 6, 1925, in Beaumont, Texas, to Woodhull and Thelma Lemman. After a year at Texas A&M University, he joined the Marine Corps in September 1943 and conducted preinvasion reconnaissance on several islands in the Pacific Theater. He entered the fledging Vanport Extension Center—the forerunner of Portland State University—as a student in fall 1946. It was the beginning of an association with Portland State that spanned eight decades. He began his professional career in 1950 as an assistant business manager at Vanport College and ended it 40 years later as chancellor of the Oregon State System of Higher Education. When Mr. Lemman enrolled at Vanport, he was one of hundreds of students who were veterans of World War II— as were a number of the faculty members. “Many of (the faculty) were just two, three, four, or five years older than the students,” he recalled in a 2010 interview for Portland State University Oral Histories (http://archives.pdx.edu/ ds/psu/18073). “They were very comfortable with their students, who had a similar (wartime) experience.” After transferring to the University of Oregon to complete his bachelor’s degree in business administration— Vanport did not grant degrees—Mr. Lemman returned to Vanport College, as it was informally known, in 1950 as assistant business manager and acting registrar. He was delighted to return to campus. “It was being with the folks that I enjoyed so much, and there’s nothing more invigorating to me than a collegiate environment,” he said. By 1955 Vanport College had moved into the former Lincoln High School building on the Park Blocks and had become a degree-granting institution named Portland State College. Mr. Lemman left Portland State in 1956 to become fiscal officer for the Oregon State University agricultural experiment station. But only three years later, he was back at PSU as business manager, a position that evolved into director of business affairs and later vice president for business and finance. The early 1960s were a pivotal time for Portland State. “We were growing at 10, 12, 15 percent a year and just struggling to find space,” Mr. Lemman recalled. As the chief fiscal officer, Mr. Lemman fostered partnerships with city, state, and federal governments and used urban renewal to develop the campus and bring student housing to the University. “I believe that was my main contribution,” he said. “Everything grew from that, piece by piece and time over time.” Still, Mr. Lemman acknowledged that the expansion of the Portland State campus created a difficult transition for neighbors of the growing campus. “There were these two- or three-story houses, some with apartments, but (on) the street level were little businesses: a cleaners, a sewing shop, a hair salon” that closed as PSU grew. In 1974 he left Portland State to become vice chancellor of personnel and administration for the Oregon State System of Higher Education. Mr. Lemman later became executive vice chancellor and concluded his career as OUS chancellor from 1987 to 1988. He also served as interim president of Oregon Institute of Technology from 1990 to 1991. Although Mr. Lemman’s career took him away from the Portland State campus, he remained a loyal Viking. “Even when I was away (at the chancellor’s office) for 15 years, this (campus) was still in here,” he said in a 2019 oral history (https://archives.pdx.edu/ds/psu/30547) interview, tapping his chest. “It’s like family, it’s part of me.” He continued his work for PSU in retirement, serving on the Alumni Board, helping establish Friends of the Library, hosting numerous Vanport reunions, and twice sitting for lengthy oral history interviews. Portland State recognized his service in 2004 by granting him an honorary doctorate and again in 2023 when President Steve Percy presented a Presidential Medal to Mr. Lemman. A RAPS member, Mr. Lemman was honored by the organization in 2018 with an Outstanding Retiree Award. “I’ve just been blessed to have had the opportunity to be at the right place at the right time,” he said in the 2010 oral history interview. “It became a passion to see this institution become permanent and to grow.” Mr. Lemman married Geneva Foster in Portland on February 24, 1950. She survives him, as do sons Paul (Katherine Howes) and Phillip (Kimberly), as well as several nephews and nieces. A private family service will be held. Mr. Lemman was a frequent donor to Portland State, including to the library, Veterans Resources, scholarships— including the RAPS Robert Vogelsang Scholarship—and the Lemman Family Endowed Scholarship Fund. Remembrances may be sent to the PSU Foundation at www.psuf.org or to Saint Francis Family Housing in Salem at www.sfssalem.org. 1973 PSU Digital Archives Gallery
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