OregonStaterMagazineWinter2024

Winter 2024 55 BEN DAVIS; COURTESY OF DR. DENNIS GODBY U P D A T E S DR. DENNIS GODBY, ’79 This fall, Dr. Dennis Godbywalked from Knoxville,Tennessee, to Milwaukee, Wisconsin, as part of a trek across the United States to raise awareness for health equity. He plans to tackle a fifth of the journey each year until reaching Seattle in 2026.A California-based naturopathic physician, Godby’s interest in promoting social change in this way began as a student at OSU when he ran 1,420 miles from Corvallis to Calgary, Canada, to promote exercise and nutrition. The American Association of Naturopathic Physicians honored him with its True Grit award this summer. Learn more about his journey at walkusaforhealthequity.org. MARY ANNE COOPER, ’06 Mary Anne Cooper was recognized with the College of Agricultural Sciences Luminary Award for contributions to agriculture and natural resources in Oregon. As a legal adviser and lobbyist with the Oregon Farm Bureau, Cooper became a strategic leader in mapping a better future for the agricultural sector, and was instrumental in the passage of SB 892, which provided $100 million in state disaster relief for farmers and ranchers after the 2021 natural disasters. Cooper is now the Oregon director of public affairs and government relations for Cambia Health Solutions. Missy Smith, ’93, former two‑sport OSU athlete (basketball and softball), was hired as the assistant executive director for the Oregon School Activities Association. Smith also founded and directs the annual Oregon Girls Sports Leadership Sum‑ mit, an event that brings together high school athletes from across the state for leadership development. Zak Taylor, ’19, former Oregon State infielder and 2018 National Champion, joined OSU’s baseball staff as director of Beaver Baseball personnel. Angelyn Christy Voss, ’71, won a 2021 National Indie Excellence Award for her debut novel, Stand a Little Out of My Sun, about a Greek American family in 1950s Chicago. Purchase a copy at angelynchristyvoss.com. Eric. M. Witcher, ’72, published a memoir, No One’s Hero, about his life as a kid from an Oregon dairy farm who, by way of the Vietnam War draft, finds himself in a military career spanning two decades and three continents. Available from Amazon. William Bryan Wolfe, ’66, was awarded the 2023 College of Agricultural Sciences Alumni Legacy Award for his service to the college and to the state of Oregon. Educational Services LLC, has developed her own personal college consult‑ ing business (moore educationalservices. com) after more than 30 years of working in education. Rick Noble, ’07, is the new director of production for the Ronald O. Perelman Performing Arts Center, near the site of the World Trade Center in New York City. Previously, he was the director of production for the American Reper‑ tory Theater in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Claire Oliveros, Ph.D. ’09, was appointed the 13th president of Riverside City College in Riverside, California. Gary Payton II, ’16, was traded by the Portland Trail Blazers to the Golden State Warriors. Payton won an NBA title with the Warriors in 2022. Nicholas Peterson, ’22, MENG ’23, and Kobe Wagner, ’23; student Sean Freitag; and faculty advisor Tanarat Potisuk, M.S. ’02, Ph.D. ’05, won the Precast/Prestressed Concrete Institute’s 2023 Engineering Design Com‑ petition, also known as the Big Beam Competition. Kelly Shannon, ’20, M.S. ’23, published his first first‑author paper — an article about beavers and microbes, written by a Beaver — in the Journal of Geophysical Research. The science news mag‑ azine Eos wrote a story about it.

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