Fall 2023 7 FROM THE PUBLISHER OFF I CERS Chair, Julie Lambert, ’85, Aptos, California Vice Chair, Dan Jarman, ’88, Lake Oswego Treasurer, Bob Bluhm, ’82, Portland MEMBERS Jay Boatwright, ’78, Sacramento, California Sharada Bose, ’84, M.S. ’88, Milpitas, California Claire Conroy Brown, ’00, Los Angeles, California Mary Coucher, ’83, Lake Oswego Eric Feldhusen, ’02, Salt Lake City, Utah Sean Gordon, ’13, Stockholm, Sweden Conrad Hurdle, ’96, MAT ’97, Portland Pam Johnson, ’83, Dallas, Texas Kelley Kaiser, ’93, MPH ’99, Corvallis Doug Kutella, ’98, Lake Oswego Keith Leavitt, ’88, Wilsonville Holly McKinney, ’91, Bend Lee Miller, ’80, Blodgett David Molina, ’04, Portland Jayathi Murthy, OSU president, ex officio Victoria Thanh Nguyen, ’95, MAIS ’06, Portland Candace Pierson-Charlton, ’73, Ed.M. ’02, Corvallis Denver Pugh, ’97, Shedd Johnathan Riley, ’09, Portland Michele Rossolo, ’01, Portland Lori Rush, ’78, Dallas Shawn Scoville, OSU Foundation president and CEO, ex officio Syesha Holliman Thomas, ’02, Seattle, Washington Marcia Torres, ’01, Clackamas Michael Whitten, ’12, Portland Jessica Wolfer, ’10, M.S. ’11, Newberg ADDRESS 204 CH2M HILL Alumni Center Corvallis, OR 97331 (541) 737-2351 osualum@osualum.com ForOregonState.org SOCIAL MEDIA Facebook: facebook.com/ oregonstatealum Twitter: @oregonstatealum Instagram: @oregonstatealumni Sign up for the bi-weekly Beaver Lodge newsletter at ForOregonState.org/ BeaverLodge ILLUSTRATION BY JOÃO FAZENDA Commencement is my favorite time of the year: The sounds of bagpipes drift through campus and streams ofjoyous graduates and proud loved ones revel in their achievements. This June, Oregon State University welcomed 7,338 new graduates to the ranks of more than 220,000 alumni around the globe.These students experienced unprecedented pressures when a global pandemic disrupted their college experience with remote learning, quarantines and anxiety over physical and mental health. I will forever be in awe of their perseverance. Each diploma possesses its own backstory. Each represents hard work, sacrifices, lost sleep and investment. Here’s just a sampling of students from the amazing Class of 2023. A member of the Oregon State Alumni Association’sHomecoming Court, Gretchen Fujimura, graduatedinbiochemistryandmolecularbiology. Poised beyond measure, she asked if I could help her make alumni connections at NASA. Before I knew it, she had secured a full-time research position in NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Sophia Schmiedt from Manteca, California, received a dual degree in civil engineering and economics. Her academic and extracurricular accomplishments rank Sophia as the No. 5 ROTC cadet in the entire United States. Inspired to pursue law after witnessing the tumult of COVID and the Black Lives Matter protests, she plans to go to law school after completing her post-graduate o!cer assignment. To illustrate how graduation is often a family-wide accomplishment, the Pung family from Hillsboro graduated not just one daughter, but three! Triplets Abigail, Lydia and Rachel Pung graduated with degrees in biochemistry and molecular biology. Medical school is apparently next. Beaverton’s Jax Richards graduated with degrees in economics, political science,speech communications and sustainability sciences. That’s right, four undergraduate honors degrees all at once! Proving that education is a lifelong journey, Ann Kinney earned her bachelor’s degree in agricultural sciences attheageof72.Ann,wholivesinNew York, started her career as a professional photographer and then worked as teacher for 25 years. Once retired, she got her Master Gardener certification butwanted to learn more.After taking one OSU Ecampus class and then another, she eventually realized, “If I’m going to invest this much time and e"ort I might as well get the T-shirt — or in this case, the degree!” Our world will now benefit from these graduates’ talent, resilience and world-class education. I cannot wait to see what’s next. John Valva Publisher, Oregon Stater 7,338 STORIES WORTH TELLING
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