Linfie L d · Beth Rogers Thompson Megan Wills ’09 Advisory Board Dick Hughes ’75 Sherri...

LinfieLdWinter 2009 MAGAZINE

Lessons from a changing economy

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A View from Melrose Table of Contents

Editor

Mardi [email protected]

Assistant EditorLaura Davis

Graphic DesignCandido Salinas III

Photography

Kelly BirdLaura DavisAaron DeClerck Daniel Hurst

Ty MarshallMardi MilehamPeter RichardsonRJ Studio

IllustrationDavid Cutler

Contributors

Kelly BirdDebbie (Hansen) Harmon ’90Thomas L. HellieBeth Rogers ThompsonMegan Wills ’09

Advisory Board

Dick Hughes ’75Sherri (Dunmyer) Partridge ’86Larry RobyAmy (Westersund) Rogers ’96David Sumner

President

Thomas L. Hellie

Vice President for College Relations

Bruce Wyatt

Director of Alumni Relations

Debbie (Hansen) Harmon ’90

Winter 2009 Vol. 5, No. 3Linfield Magazine is published three times annually by Linfield College, McMinnville, Oregon

Send address changes to: College RelationsLinfield College, 900 SE Baker St.McMinnville, OR [email protected]

LinfieLd Magazine

Departments 2 A View from Melrose 4 Linfield Digest 22 ’Cat Tracks 24 Alumni News 26 Class Notes 31 Alumni Profile

Features 6 Lessons from a changing economy The economic turmoil provided an opportunity for professors to engage students with material that is as fascinating as it is worrisome.

12 Linfield takes steps to deal with economy A faculty member, vice president and trustee offer insights into how Linfield is dealing with impacts from the economic upheaval.

14 Educating the whole student Professor Peter Richardson combines his contagious enthusiasm and sincerity with his desire to educate the whole student – sometimes in unorthodox ways.

16 Forging unique nursing careers Three nursing alumni have melded their careers with other interests in unlikely locations – the legal arena and ships.

20 Embracing life in China Jim Diamond has embraced the Chinese culture during his sabbatical working with a former student at China’s National Center for Nanoscience and Technology.

Inside Linfield MagazineSometimes, you just have to take advan-tage of a teachable moment. In this issue of Linfield Magazine, we share such mo-ments through classes that paralleled real life as the financial crisis began to unfold last fall. We also discuss some of our strategies for dealing with the challenges facing our students and the college. Even though the financial turmoil dominated the news, there were exciting things happen-ing on campus. We profile one of Linfield’s senior professors, and share how another professor’s collaboration with a student resulted in a year-long research sabbati-cal to China. You will meet three nursing alumni who work outside the traditional setting and you will learn about two of our outstanding students, one selected for a prestigious math program and another who interned with the Canadian consul-ate. These may be challenging times for all of us, but Linfield remains focused on our mission of connecting learning, life, and community. Join us.

-- Mardi Mileham

On the cover:Front: Illustration by David Cutler

Teachingeconomic literacy

I just returned from Washington, D.C., where I met with fellow college presidents and visited our sena-tors and congressmen. The federal stimulus package was being debated during my three days in the na-

tion’s capital. There was tremendous energy in the air. There was also great fear. And everyone was dis-cussing the economy. In our work, college presidents invariably deal with urgent matters, and there’s not enough time for reflection. In Washington we chattered about the stock market, the economic recession and the growing need for financial aid for students. We swapped stories about admissions numbers and budget strategies. Speaker after speaker warned us to monitor our cash supply and debt ratios. I suspect that several of us had trouble sleeping at night. But even as I listened to speakers, met with legislators, and talked to fellow presidents, I reflected on two things: Linfield’s financial status and our long-term educa-tional mission. So far we are doing fine at Linfield. Although our endow-ment has fallen, it hasn’t dropped as precipitously as the market. Our budget remains balanced. Our enrollment is solid. Our programs remain strong. We have promised to help students in financial emergencies, and we have maintained our academic quality. We will be very fru-gal next year; our main budget increases will meet ris-ing energy costs, fund additional scholarships and com-plete long-term commitments. While we will need help meeting our students’ financial need, you — our alumni and friends — will not abandon us. Times may be hard,

but Linfield has survived worse. I know that we are in better shape than many colleges. However, I wonder if today’s economic crisis holds lessons for our educational program, not just at Linfield but also across the country. Over the last five years, America’s business leaders committed huge errors and transgressions. But because our own retirement ac-counts were growing, we didn’t pay attention. We knew

that housing prices were rising at an unprecedented rate, but we liked our new home values. We forgot about the Internet bubble of the 1990s, the Great Depression of the 1930s, and, for that matter, the financial crises of 1873 and 1893. We weren’t thinking histori-cally or economically. We probably weren’t thinking logically. Per-haps we weren’t thinking ethically. Clearly we weren’t thinking like liberal arts graduates. At my meeting in Washington, D.C., one speaker called on college presidents to include economic literacy in our curricular require-ments. Not just to equip future business people, but to prepare citizens who can debate, vote and

lead in a democratic society. That may be one long-term lesson of our short-term financial crisis. More than ever, we need to educate our students to live in a challenging world. That will require an understanding of economics and business, math and science, ethics and human nature. It will require a liberal arts education. And it will require vigilance by us all.

– Thomas L. HelliePresident

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“More than ever, we need to

educate our students to live in

a challenging world. That will

require an understanding

of economics and business,

math and science, ethics and

human nature.”

Linfield Digest Linfield Digest

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Henberg named C of I president

Marvin C. Hen-berg, a member of the Linfield College faculty and administra-tion for 15 years, has been appoint-ed president of

the College of Idaho in Caldwell, effective July 1. Henberg served as vice presi-

dent for academic affairs and dean of faculty for 11 years, before be-ing appointed interim president for several months following the retire-ment of Vivian A. Bull and prior to the appointment of Thomas L. Hellie. He is currently professor of philosophy. Henberg played a major role in shaping Linfield’s present direc-tion, including the adoption of a new general education curriculum in 1997. He served as chair of the Planning Council, which has de-veloped a strategic agenda to help

set priorities and guide the college’s future growth and financial devel-opment. He is the author of Inspired Prag-matism: An Illustrated History of Linfield College, published in celebration of Linfield’s 2008 sesquicentennial. “After 15 years in McMinn-ville, my wife, Laurie, and I go to Idaho with mixed feelings,” said Henberg. “Linfield College has been a great adventure, and we will be ever thankful to our many com-munity friends, colleagues and fine former students.”

A Linfield College theatre production was one of four selected to compete at the American College Theatre Festival regional conference at the University of Idaho in February. Crave, by British playwright Sarah Kane, originally ran in March 2008 under the direction of Janet Gupton, associate professor of theatre arts. The play analyzes how various addictions affect the lives of individuals. Linfield was one of four schools invited from the region. A national selection team will choose shows from all eight regions to advance to the national festival, held in April at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. This is Linfield’s fifth invitation in 20 years to perform at the regional festival. Five Linfield students also competed in individual events at the conference. Will De Biccarri ‘10, Trish Castaneda-Gonzales ‘09 and Afton Pilkington ‘09 were nominated for the Irene Ryan Acting competition. Matt Cantelon ‘09 and Tess Malone ‘09 participated in sound and lighting design, respectively.

New trustees join board Four individuals have been elected to the Linfield College Board of Trustees:

David Baca ’78, managing partner of Davis Wright Tremaine LLP, Portland;

Kerry Carmody ’73, chief operating officer, Providence Health and Services, California Region, Mission Hills, Calif.;

Kellanne B. Henry ’83, invest-ment director of Schnitzer West, LLC, Seattle, Wash; and

Doug Tunnell, CEO and winemaker at Brick House Wine Company and owner of Brick House Vineyards, Newberg.

For a complete list of the board of trustees, go to www.linfield.edu/about-linfield/trustees.php

Grant to boost China studies at Linfield China studies at Linfield College will be enhanced thanks to a grant of more than $98,508 from The Freeman Foundation of New York. The grant will increase oppor-tunities to study the languages and cultures of Asia, according to Victoria McGillin, vice president for academic affairs and dean of faculty at Linfield. “Linfield is committed to cre-ating a Chinese studies program that will inspire current students and attract future Chinese language scholars,” McGillin said. Over the next three years, Linfield students, faculty and com-munity members will be offered a number of opportunities as a re-sult of the grant, including an an-nual visiting scholar from the Chi-na Studies Institute of Peking and Shanghai Universities who will provide Chinese language instruc-tion at Linfield; faculty stipends focused on China to encourage Chinese-themed topics in Linfield courses; and student travel grants to increase the number of Linfield undergraduates studying at the col-lege’s partner institution located on the campuses of Peking University and Shanghai University. The grant will also make pos-sible the launch of a three-year se-ries, China in McMinnville. The program will include events, lec-tures and performances open to the community. Linfield will work with the Confucius Institute at Portland State University, the Northwest China Council and the World Af-fairs Council to bring theatre pro-ductions, concerts, lectures on phi-losophy and more to campus. The Asian Studies Program has deep roots at Linfield. The col-lege currently offers a major and minor in Japanese language and a minor in Asian studies. In addition, the Asian Studies Program provides Chinese language study and courses offered in several departments.

Czech professor is Renshaw lecturer

Josef Jarab, pro-fessor of English and American lit-erature and direc-tor of the Center for Comparative Cultural Studies at Palacký Uni-

versity in Olomouc, Czech Repub-lic, is the Renshaw Distinguished Visitor at Linfield College spring semester. Jarab will teach in the English Department and also present pub-lic lectures, with the dates yet to be determined. Jarab was the first freely elected university administrator in Czecho-slovakia following the Velvet Revo-lution and served as the rector of Palacký University for seven years. He is a founding member of the Czech Learned Society and the first chairman of the Czech Fulbright Committee. He was a member of the Senate of the Czech Parliament, where he was responsible for the Committee on International Affairs, Defense and Security, and for a decade he represented Czech humanities in the European Science Foundation. The Renshaw Distinguished Visitor is under the auspices of the Philip Renshaw Endowment for the Liberal Arts. The endowment was established by Renshaw ’31, a former trustee and one of the col-lege’s most generous supporters.

Photo class documents inauguration day Linfield College photojournal-ism students produced “McMinn-ville Talks,” an audio slideshow of in-terviews taken on inauguration day. The students spent the day documenting the reaction of stu-dents and local residents to Presi-dent Barack Obama’s inauguration

celebration. They used new mul-timedia kits with digital cameras, audio recorders and digital video cams funded with a gift from the Bladine family, the News-Register and Online NW, in memory of Phil Bladine ’40, long time news-paper owner. The Bladine family and the News-Register have a long history of working with Linfield. Phil and Jeb Bladine ’69 both started their college careers at Linfield before transferring to the University of Oregon. They have been active in the Partners in Progress campaign and hired many Linfield students as interns. Meg Bladine, Phil’s widow and Jeb’s mother, is a trustee emer-ita. Chelsey (Bladine) Nichol is a 2001 graduate. To view the audio slide-show go to www.newsregister.com/article/24643-mcminnville-talks-views-inauguration.

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Lessons from a changing economy

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If Randy Grant was looking for the perfect laboratory in which to teach economics, he found

it last fall. Some days, he cast aside his textbook and syllabus and used the front page of the daily newspaper. The economic turmoil from the

declining stock markets, falling home values, record un-employment and tightening credit, provided an oppor-tunity to engage students with material that fascinated and alarmed them. For students of economics – undergraduates and professors alike – it’s been both an electrifying and chill-ing time. “One thing I said to my students early last semes-ter is that it is an exciting time to be an economist, and a scary time to be a person,” said Grant, a professor of economics at Linfield College. “From a teaching per-spective, it’s wonderful. It’s great as an economist to see these things play out, some of which have only been theoretical ideas for a long time.” Teacher and students have gotten an intimate look at economic principles that, until now, have only been theory. For example, in intermediate macroeconom-ics, students learn about the liquidity trap, the concept that monetary policy has a limited ability to expand an economy that’s in a deep recession, Grant said. It existed as a theory for many years and only recently, during last decade’s economic crisis in Japan, did it become a living experiment. It began to play out again last fall as U.S. banks have been reluctant to lend and people were un-willing to borrow. Regardless of what the Federal Re-serve has done, including the creation of new monetary policy tools, the expansionary policy has not generat-ed the borrowing and spending necessary to bring the economy out of recession. Curiosity has been the biggest reaction from stu-dents, Grant said. “They hear something new and they want to know what it means,” he said. “Of course there’s concern, mostly from seniors. More students are talking to me about graduate school. They are looking for alter-natives, recognizing that the job market may not be very good when they graduate.” Emma Kemp ’09 applied economic reasoning be-fore accepting a position as an actuary after she gradu-

ates. A math and economics double major, she changed her plan to attend graduate school in favor of taking a good job. “With the financial crisis, there will be a lot of graduates looking for jobs and applying to graduate school,” she said. “That makes for fewer resources for graduate assistantships. I felt lucky that I had a good job offer. I can always go back to graduate school if I decide that’s what I want.” She felt her economics major gave her an edge over many students in understanding last fall’s events. “I understood what was happening and could see the breaking points in the economy,” she said. “With ev-erything turning upside down, it’s been interesting to think about how the economy might react depending on what changes are made.” The economic upheaval has pushed Lacy Smith ’09 toward pursuing a graduate degree, not because of the job market, but to broaden her knowledge of economics. “I want to get a deeper understanding of what’s happening,” she said. “It was interesting to watch the news and see the different concepts that I had studied being played out.” Drew Schroeder ’10 is just soaking up everything he can. “It’s an unprecedented time, and there’s no one answer out there that’s a fix for everything,” he said. “As you study the principles (of economics) you learn about the problem and how to fix it. But when you look at what’s happening right now, those answers don’t nec-essarily apply. It’s interesting to watch all these sound economic minds trying to formulate an answer.” Throughout some 40 years of teaching economics, Dave Hansen, professor of economics and vice president for student services, has seen little change in the main ideas and concepts. The challenge has been to convince students that economics is important. Until this year. “The constant attention and the exposure in the media have given students an immediate belief that the subject is relevant,” he said. “In some ways, we are on the cusp of a change in how we think about the economy as a whole and the role of government in the economy, so that makes it pretty exciting.” But it is also very unsettling and the seriousness of the situation may not be clear to many people, includ-ing students, with the country facing the most difficult

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economic period since the Great Depression, Hansen said. “Given what I know about economics, I would never have predicted that we would be in this much difficulty,” Hansen said.

Learning to network

Eight Linfield finance majors recently have learned first-hand about aspects of the current economic crisis – and may have made some

valuable contacts along the way. “Topics in Finance: Seminar in Securities Markets,” a January Term course, combined a research project with an opportunity to meet with finance and investment professionals in Portland and New

York City. Students spent part of the first three weeks of the course researching a specific mutual fund and preparing a presentation to investment professionals in McMinnville and Portland on how that fund could be best used in an overall investment strategy. The investment evaluators, most of whom were alumni volunteers, then graded the students, said Scott Chambers, professor of finance at Linfield. “It’s very intimidating to go to an investment professional and say, ‘I’m going to tell you about investing in this mutual fund,’ but it really is a confidence builder for the student,” Chambers said. “It builds up their confidence so that when they are in a job interview and they have to talk about something of substance, they have had that experience.” One of the most valuable lessons from the class was getting a solid understanding of what finance professionals actually do on a day-to-day basis. Another was establishing some important contacts in the field. Meeting with investment professionals, including many alumni, may be the most valuable part of the course, Chambers said. The New York trip included meetings with Richard Cahill ’76, vice president of the Bank Supervision Group at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York; Brian Petroquin ’94, associate at LeClair Ryan in Newark, N.J.; Tim Benzel ’06, a research associate at Neuberger Berman; Jeff Dunbar ’00, vice president at Blackrock Inc.; and Tom Phillips ’79, first vice president, Merrill Lynch & Co. Inc. “This experience is so valuable because it builds the bridge between the classroom and the professional career,” Chambers said. “This is when they really start to understand what the profession is all about and just how serious this recession may be. They can hear it from me or other professors, but when they hear it from someone working in the field, they begin to understand the severity and implications of the situation.” Jessica Richey ’09 has no doubt that finding a job in the current market will be tough. As she watched the financial crisis unfold, she was fascinated that her classes paralleled real life. “While this sounds bad, it really made the classes fun and interesting,” she said. Bank closings, the drop in the markets and the tightening of credit all applied directly to her financial theory and investment classes. “It was happening before our eyes and yet at the same time, we were being taught what was happening and why,” she said. “Although it is going to be tough for a couple of years, I still think it is something that can be fixed and that we can learn from.” Richey said the January Term class has given her some insight into the wide range of career choices she can pursue. “I have better ideas about job options and a better understanding of what various people actually do,” she said. “The people we have visited take the time to explain what they are doing and how they do it.”

Mark Kralj, left, principal and CFA at Ferguson Wellman Capital Management in Portland, met with students enrolled in the January Term course “Topics in Finance: Seminary in Securities Markets.” The class visited a variety of banks and investment firms in Portland and New York City to give students an inside look at the day-to-day work of finance professionals. Students are, clockwise from left, Andrew Nelson ‘09, John Torsey ‘09, Jackson Baber ‘09, Jessica Richey ‘09, Kelly McLeod ‘09, Galaxy Slight ‘09, Yang Shi ‘09 and Tiffany Cook ‘09.

Ashlee Moehring ’02 understands the importance of classes like this one – she met with alumni at R.V. Kuhns during Chambers’ 2002 class, secured an intern-ship and then a full-time job. She is now a principal and consultant for the firm and credits, in part, the experi-ence of the class. “I got my foot in the door by coming here with the class,” she said. “There’s always a gap between educa-tion and work experience, so this class is really helpful. Meeting with professionals and alumni in the field and getting advice and feedback from them is so important to finding the right job.” Moehring, who works with a variety of institu-tional clients including Linfield College’s endowment fund, has found the events of the last several months challenging, yet educational. “This is the first major market dislocation I’ve been through in my working career,” she said. “One of the greatest challenges is trying to balance the long-term objectives of our clients’ investments given the un-

certainty as to how long this market turmoil will persist. This has certainly made everyone much more aware of the risks in the market. I think the excesses we’ve witnessed in the market were unhealthy and we should come out of this a stronger economy, but it will be very painful in the interim.” Students also got a crash course on how to dress and conduct themselves professionally. They were re-quired to prepare an introduction that they each deliv-ered at some 30 meetings over the course of the month. The introduction included the student’s name, home-town, major, the type of investment he or she was re-searching, and something about themselves that would not come up in a typical conversation. “We work constantly on their introduction,” Chambers said. “I know it works because students have told me two or three years later that whenever they are in a situation with someone they haven’t met, they use their introduction because it is automatic.”

– Mardi Mileham


Economic sleuth Economists are, in a sense, detec-tives dealing with everyday evidence and abstract theories. “It’s very much like being Sherlock Holmes,” Randy Grant said. “The economy is the body and you try to reconstruct what happened.” At the same time, economists are forward looking, trying to predict what is going to happen based on current events and theoretical models. Like it or not, everyone is involved. “We all make countless economic decisions every day, even if we don’t recognize it,” he said. “An economics class puts it in a framework and uses language that allows you to think in a clearer way.” Linfield graduates on average 10 economics majors and 10 minors per year. However, the introductory course attracts nearly 200 students annually and has had a profound impact, Grant said. One of the teaching techniques he finds beneficial is requiring students to keep a journal and write about their personal experiences in economic terms – how they weighed the benefits and costs in making decisions. “They come out of that class thinking more explicitly about many of their economic decisions,” Grant said. “Invariably, I will hear from a student ‘I’ll never do things the same way again.’ It’s a compliment that they recognized this was something valuable and that every decision they make carries both benefits and costs.”

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Tips for parents of college-bound students “Paying for college is a lifetime in-vestment,” said Dan Preston ‘83, dean of enrollment management at Linfield. “The financial outlay can be large in the short term, but a college education is required for nearly all jobs that pay well in the 21st century.” Preston, a well known figure in financial aid throughout the Northwest and the nation, is one of the main panelists on Oregon Public Broadcasting’s annual production, Financial Aid for College.

Ideas for parents to ponder:

• Encourage students to consider a mix of college choices and options.

• Include Linfield and other private colleges in the mix. Thanks to schol-arships and grants, the net price is often comparable to that of public institutions.

• Consider the “time-to-degree” factors – do students at this university usually graduate in four years or does it really take longer? Lack of access to required classes at the appropriate time can slow down academic progress, delay gradua-tion and increase overall costs.

• Meet the priority dates for admis-sion, financial aid and scholarships.

• File the Free Application for Fed-eral Student Aid at least the first year – even a student loan can help with financial planning and will spread out the costs over time.

• Don’t give up on saving for college even though 529 and other invest-ment plans have taken a hit lately – financial flexibility is key when paying for a college education.

• Top students should be proactive in seeking out private scholarships to reduce loan obligations. But be sure to check with the colleges and univer-sities for specific rules on how outside awards affect financial aid offers.

• Consult with high school teachers and counselors and with admission staff at selected institutions.

Scott Chambers stood before employees at the Cascade Steel Rolling Mills Inc. plant in November, offering insight into the economic

and financial events of the fall. He and Linfield colleague Randy Grant were in demand, invited by local businesses and organizations to speak about the economic turmoil that gripped the country. Many factors combined to make this a perfect

economic storm, Chambers said, and once it started, there was nothing that could stop it. What began as a housing problem became a mortgage problem, then a banking problem, followed by a credit crisis and then a crisis of confidence, he said. “The Great Depression happened because we did nothing,” he said. “We have responded, but we are in uncharted waters. The responses by Congress, the Federal Reserve and the Treasury have never happened before.” Although 1929 was the only other time that the markets have reacted so violently, Chambers emphasized to his audiences that the country is not experiencing another depression. “We are acting swiftly to avert the banking crisis,” Chambers said. “We will get through this, because we are still the world’s largest economy and still a productive economy.” More regulations will be put in place that will reform some prac-tices, but the most important key will be the American people weaning themselves from debt. “Everyone was on a credit binge,” Chambers said, with U.S. consumers carrying over $2 trillion in credit card debt. “The growth in the gross domestic product over the last two years was fueled by consumer spending. Nearly 70 percent of that spending was from consumers borrowing money. “For most of our history, the U.S. was a country of thrift and pru-dence,” he added. “People who came out of the Depression and that era only spent the money they had. I think we are going to get back to that.”

Scott Chambers, professor of finance, was invited to share his insight into the economic and financial events of the fall with employees at the Cascade Steel Rolling Mills Inc. plant in McMinnville. Last fall, Chambers and Randy Grant, professor of economics, were invited by local businesses and organizations to speak about the economic turmoil.

Professors’ insights in demand

Opportunity grant cuts hit neediest students

Lisa (Taylor) Decker ‘01, senior vice president for investor relations, Homestead Capital

“Emphasize the benefits of a liberal arts college and that you received a well-rounded education, that you are an above-average writer and critical thinker. Employers will feel comfortable with the fact that you have the necessary profes-sional foundation and can be taught the rest. It is a lot easier to teach a new employee the procedures and business plan of the company, than proper communication skills. “Don’t be discouraged if your first job after college is not your dream job. This is an unprecedented time and economy that we may never experience again. Embrace the opportunity to learn and garner experience. Working in a growth period is easy; it is during the challenging times that you really learn. I graduated in 2001 during the last recession, and my first job was at a grocery store for a few months. Do not be shy about calling on every contact you have. It never hurts to make con-tact with companies and make the “ask”; the worst they can say is no.“

Gale Castillo ‘73, president of the Hispanic Metropolitan Chamber

“I would advise students to identify a business organiza-tion or local chamber of commerce to begin the networking process. Students can also volunteer for an organization in their targeted industry. This creates a work reference and also

positions them to apply for any opening that may become available. If the student applies for a position, the student will have a lot of information. The employer will also know some-thing about the student’s ability to fit in and perform. “Students entering the workforce need to be able to ex-press an idea clearly both verbally and in writing. If a student has any concern about this, they should take classes to work on these important skills. Students also need to be able to work effectively with others.”

Wayne and Linda (Adams) Case ‘62 and ‘68, CEO and corporate secretary, Schmitt Industries Members of the Linfield Business Advisory Council

Linda: “Students need to use their networking skills with families, friends and people they have met. If they put their name out there and people are familiar with them, that will be a big help in getting a job. When I returned from the Peace Corps I took whatever job I could find. I have had a variety of experiences in banks, high tech industries, purchasing, recruit-ing, human resources and investor relations.” Wayne: “I can’t over emphasize the importance of being able to effectively communicate your ideas. A lot of people have great ideas that go nowhere because they are unable to communicate them. I am a great proponent of internships and this is one way Linfield is strong and should continue to increase the hands-on experience for young minds.”

Quick takes: advice to students seeking jobsWe asked four local alumni to offer some advice to students who will be graduating and seeking employ-ment in this tight economy. Here are some of their comments.

Andrew Falla ’11 dreamed of attending Linfield College since he was in elementary

school. To achieve that dream he washes dishes in Dillin Hall, takes out loans and applies for grants. But that dream was in jeopardy in January when he and 400 other Linfield students learned that their Oregon Opportunity Grants would

be reduced by $80 this semester. While $80 may not seem significant, for many of these students it can determine whether or not they stay in college. Oregon Opportunity Grants are awarded to some of Oregon’s neediest and most vulnerable students, whether they attend public or private colleges. That’s why Linfield has committed to cover the more than $32,000 needed to ensure these students can remain enrolled. Linfield is asking faculty, staff, alumni

and friends to help by supporting a student with a gift of $80. This is not the first time the Linfield commu-nity has stepped up to help students. A funding crisis in Oregon in the fall of 2002 resulted in major cuts to Oregon Opportunity Grants. Linfield trustees, alumni, faculty and staff donated $90,000 to cover cuts in financial aid. Falla has a family connection to Linfield. His par-ents, John and Bonnie (Hufstader) Falla ’83 and ’79, met as Linfield students, but they didn’t get to see their son enroll. By age 10, Falla had lost his mother to cancer and his father to a hunting accident. Family helped to raise him, but he is responsible for college expenses. For more information on Linfield students receiving opportunity grants or to sponsor a student go to:

Andrew Falla ‘11

www.support.linfield.edu/oog on the Web on the Web

riod. This will reduce income flows and negatively affect college revenues and spending. Declines here may be long term, with the stock market remaining well below the highs of the past decade for some time to come.

Jubb: The endowment provides a long-term financial “cushion” for Linfield and reduces the impact of the short-term ups and downs in revenues and costs. Lin-field’s annual budget is less affected than many other pri-vate colleges by valuation changes in endowment due to market volatility because the annual amount taken into operations from the endowment is small in relation to the overall college budget.

L.M.: How might the current economic situation af-fect charitable giving?

Summers: Most charitable giving in the country and at Linfield is from individuals such as our alumni, not from foundations. The response of individuals’ charitable giving depends on their personal finances – which have likely deteriorated in this downturn. Nevertheless, colleges will continue to receive large gifts from able private donors who are motivated to raise their giving and help out in these challenging times. Foundations draw on endow-ment earnings to fund their gifts. As those earnings fall, the level of foundation grants to colleges will fall too.

Jubb: Across the country schools and charities are facing a decline in giving from individuals and private founda-tions at a time when their needs are greatest. However, not every private college is similarly situated and Linfield donors have been very supportive in the past during dif-ficult times. We expect they will continue to be so dur-ing the current economic downturn. We see examples where those who can give are “digging deeper” to close the giving gap created by those more deeply hurt by the nation’s slow economy.

L.M.: What are the greatest expenses?

Ford: Compensation accounts for approximately 65 per-cent of our annual expenditures, or nearly $36 million next year. That’s largely because we have small numbers of students in our classes taught by high quality student-centered professors, not graduate teaching assistants. Operating expenses to cover the costs of serving our students represent 11 percent of our expenditures. The budget for next year reflects the priorities of the college – the preservation of academic quality by maintaining programs, faculty and staff and the recruitment and re-tention of high quality students.

Jubb: For many employees work may be part job and part devotional calling. Linfield employees could often find more compensation elsewhere but are dedicated to the school and its mission. We as trustees have to make sure that the faculty

and staff have the tools and technology to support them in providing the best in undergraduate education. L.M.: How about capital projects, such as the planned renovation of Northup Hall?

Summers: Colleges are in something of a bind here. There may be fewer gifts to support capital projects just at a time when costs of construction have declined due to the recession. Colleges that can secure the resources for building and renovation projects that help fulfill their missions will benefit if they can at least begin the work on these projects before the economy rebounds and construction prices rise.

Ford: The renovation of Northup Hall is the primary capital priority for Linfield. Our prospective donors are excited about the project and its significant positive im-pact. But we realize it may take us a bit longer than expected to get the funding in place.

L.M.: What’s your “crystal-ball view” of the future?

Summers: Colleges such as Linfield that are more tuition driven – relying less on endowment income - could find themselves in a relatively better position as the recovery unfolds as long as their rates of tuition inflation do not exceed the growth of family income by too much. How-ever, the pressure for colleges to account for the ways they spend money and demonstrate in transparent ways the real values of the education they provide is going to grow over the foreseeable future. The colleges likely to be most successful in recruiting and retaining students and competing for scarce gift resources over the coming years will be those that set clear learning objectives for their students, take a systematic approach to the evaluation of student learning, and use the evaluation information as a vehicle for telling their educational stories to prospec-tive students, parents and donors. These same colleges will demonstrate a more nimble willingness to make peda-gogical, curricular and structural adjustments as needed to improve student learning on an ongoing basis.

Ford: Fortunately, Linfield has not been subject to all aspects of this crisis. We have no variable-rate debt and our debt ratios are solid. We have no liquidity problems, as we have carefully invested our operating cash. Because our endowment is small, we are not dependent upon it for a large portion of our budget. Our major emphasis must be on recruitment and retention of students.

Jubb: Linfield has a strong reputation, excellent faculty and staff, and a culture of commitment. I’m highly opti-mistic about the future of Linfield College. We are better in every way at this point in this century than we were in either of the two that preceded it. Linfield is and will continue to be a winner.

Glenn Ford has served as vice president for finance and administration and chief financial officer at Linfield since 2007. He holds an MBA and has 24 years of expe-rience in higher education administration.

Jeff Summers has been a professor of economics since 1992. His research focuses on the economics of higher education. As associate dean from 2001-08, he coordi-nated academic budget planning at the college.

Dave Jubb ’71 graduated from Linfield and subse-quently earned both a CPA and law degree. A retired PricewaterhouseCoopers partner and currently vice chairman of a large food manufacturing company, he has served on the college’s Board of Trustees since 1994 and chairs the board’s Financial Affairs Committee.

❧

Linfield Magazine: In what ways can the economic downturn affect colleges such as Linfield?

Summers: A private college’s revenue comes from four main sources: tuition; endowment earnings; charitable gifts; and room and board and related areas such as the bookstore. All are likely to decline during this recession. Therefore, the key economic issues affecting private higher education will include the abilities of students

and families to pay for college (which could be hurt by reductions in state and federal financial aid), falling en-dowment values and reductions in charitable giving.

Jubb: Tuition provides the lion’s share of our budget, so we are focusing on maintaining stable enrollment. Cost containment is also at the top of our financial agenda, although tempered with an overriding concern for col-lege program needs.

L.M.: What steps has the college taken to ensure it will have enough revenue from tuition, while ensuring that students will be able to afford to attend?

Ford: We’ve taken several measures. First, we are devel-oping a contingency budget in the event that revenue is below projected levels. We have also carefully considered the financial aid budget that supports our students. Lin-field remains significantly less expensive than nearly all of our competitor private schools in the Northwest.

L.M.: How does the endowment work, and what impact will its decline have on Linfield?

Summers: The endowment is invested in a diversified portfolio of funds. The college spends 4.5 percent of the 12-quarter rolling average of its value. College and university endowments fell on average by an estimated 26 percent in calendar year 2008. Linfield’s endowment dropped by approximately 24 percent in the same pe-

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Linfield takes steps to deal with economy

Glenn Ford with Tiffany Cook ‘09

The world economy is experiencing falling asset values, tightening

credit and rising unemployment. The consensus among economic

forecasters is that the recession in the U.S. may be the most severe

in the post-World War II period. This has complex implications for

the financial health of private colleges. To better understand the

impacts on Linfield College, we sought insights from three individuals

close to the scene.


Linguistic vacation During 1969, while Peter Richardson completed his dissertation in Switzerland, he and his wife, Beverly, discovered Bev-erly’s family name inscribed on a cabin in a Sapün Valley village. “We just fell in love with the place,” Richardson said. Once a self-sustaining farm community of 250, the village had been slowly vacated and its culture lost as residents moved down to the valley. Now, some of the buildings have been transformed into a museum portraying the life of a 19th century farming family. The Richardsons are among a dozen people who live there each summer. “We turn off the English and speak only Swiss German for a month,” said Richardson, who studied old Germanic languages dur-ing a Fulbright at the University of Mar-burg’s German Dialect Institute. That training has uniquely prepared him for his current research project – studying old documents from the village museum. Richardson is spending his spring sab-batical deciphering and transcribing more than 1,800 documents entrusted to him by local Sapün residents, most of whom can-not read the old handwriting. “Some word forms are 400 to 600 years old,” he said. “They can’t read it, so this is a gift to them. It’s their own patrimony, their culture.” Ultimately, Richardson plans to write a German language Heimatbuch, a “home book” or cultural history of the valley. He also hopes to write a historical novel in German based on the material. “I’m getting to know some of these people from their letters,” he said. “I can hardly wait to get to it.”

As a young college student, Peter Richardson lost his heart high in the eastern Swiss Alps – twice. Not only did he fall in love with his future wife, Beverly, but also Rich-ardson became enamored with Swiss German culture. Richardson, profes-

sor of German and this year’s Edith Green Distin-guished Professor Award winner, has spent the years since sharing his knowledge of Switzerland with his Linfield College students. Some four decades later, he and Beverly regularly return to the Swiss Alps, and Richardson’s current sab-batical research is based on the region (see sidebar). Self-described polyglots, they share a love of language, speak-ing German, Swiss German, French and Spanish, and some Italian and Rhaeto-Romansh as well. Richardson also teaches Latin at Linfield. Beverly, a local defense at-torney, earned a Ph.D. in romance philology with a con-centration in Spanish. At Linfield, Richardson’s contagious enthusiasm and sincerity have gone hand-in-glove with his desire to edu-cate the whole student, sometimes in unorthodox ways. Each year at the beginning of fall semester, Rich-

ardson tells his students, “Welcome to Linfield. I hope I don’t see you next year.” Students should not take offense, he’s quick to say. “I hope they’re in Austria or some other country. It’s a profoundly enriching experience to be able to melt into another culture, live life and see your own culture through other eyes.” Richardson arrived at Linfield in 1980, after a de-cade of experience on the Yale faculty. He was drawn to Linfield both for its Northwest location and the modern languages position it offered. “I can’t imagine going anywhere else, and that was so in my first year,” said Richardson, who has relished satisfying relationships with colleagues and students. Over the years, his interests have moved toward advising, and generations of students have sunk into a worn, wooden rocker that sits prominently in his office. He has served as a colloquium advisor every year since the program’s inception in 1985, and he was a member of the committee that devised it in an effort to increase retention. He works so closely with the Counseling Center that its staff members jokingly offer to get him his own coffee mug. “I’ve had the opportunity to exercise the kind of care

I feel is essential to the education of students,” he said. “The rocking chair stuff. There is a lot that stands between students and learning. Dealing with a broad range of human experience and emotion is fascinating.” Daniel Clausen ’08, a language teaching assistant at a high school in Kematen, Austria, took at least one course each semester from Rich-ardson while completing a double major in English and German. He remembers singing German folk songs at the beginning of class. “When we got to the one about Bergvagabunden or ‘mountain vagabonds,’ I began to see how the Alpine culture meshed with my Ida-ho background,” Clausen said. “Peter notices such things immediately, and I remember him winking conspiratorially at the shared passion.” Richardson intersperses his classes with great literature, probing discussions and props. To better describe the lives of Swiss and Tyrolean farmers, he brings in cow bells and hand-carved butter churns. “In my last semester I spent two hours a week sitting in that fa-mous rocking chair, talking through several great 19th century German novels,” said Clausen. “I learned just as much about life as I did about the German language. I wish I could continue his classes indefinitely.” Richardson also teaches “Language Matters,” an Inquiry Seminar about language use in America. Although Lily Niland ’10 has taken only that one course from Richardson, he made a big impression. “He came into the first class with a heavy Southern accent and in-correct grammar,” she said. “I thought, ‘Am I really going to learn language from this guy?’ Then he dropped the accent and asked the class about our assumptions. That was a dramatic way for him to introduce himself and pull out vices we have about different types of American English.” Richardson has become one of Niland’s most influential profes-sors, she said, introducing her to the intercultural communication ma-jor during a lunch in Dillin. Niland speaks Spanish and Japanese and, at Richardson’s prompting, she is considering applying for a Fulbright grant to study the linguistic patterns of descendants of Japanese immi-grants in Peru, which would use both languages. Richardson’s passion for Linfield, for its students, and for the purpose of a liberal arts education helped convince Barbara Seidman, professor of English, during her job interview that Linfield was where she should spend her own career. “We’ve shared many students over the years, and from them I have heard again and again how he has inspired them to explore and test their own potential in life-changing ways,” Seidman said. “Peter is an invaluable colleague and a gifted educator – the impact he has had on Linfield is beyond measure.” The son of a geologist, Richardson nurtures a strong connection to the land and nature. He and Beverly raise lavender and garden on 23 heavily wooded acres outside McMinnville, “our own little paradise.” He plays the banjo, operates a 1913 Chandler and Price printing press, and is a woodworker, recently crafting ornate rafter tails inscribed with a Swiss saying for his wife’s new spinning room. “Life is too short not to have fun,” he said. “That’s why I do what I do. Teaching is just such colossal fun. And when it stops being fun, I’ll wander off.”

Peter Richardson file:B.A., Stanford University; M.A., Ohio State University; M.Phil, Ph.D., Yale UniversityEdith Green Professor, 1987-88, 2008-09Colloquium advisor since 1985 Favorite writer: John McPhee

– Laura Davis

Educating the whole student

Peter Richardson has been named the Edith Green Distinguished Professor for the second time, having first earned the honor in 1987. The Edith Green Award is given to a faculty member who demonstrates sustained excellence in the classroom and who contributes in important ways to the intellectual growth and academic success of students.


Woodward practiced law for seven years before taking time out when her children were small. When the time came to return to work, she wanted to com-bine her interests in law and medicine and enrolled at Linfield Good Samaritan School of Nursing. She knew nothing about legal nurse consulting at the time, but after hearing Fox speak at Linfield, it seemed like a natural combination. She joined the firm right after graduation. Legal nurse consulting is a relatively young field, existing for about 25 years. Fox, who first graduated from the Good Samaritan School of Nursing, got her start in the Oregon Attorney General’s office reviewing medical records in claims against the state. She worked for a defense law firm and completed her BSN at Lin-field before launching her own firm in 1993. What start-ed out in her own home has grown to a company with 16 employees and an additional 12 contract nurses who assist in projects as needed. MRN is one of the largest legal nurse consulting firms in the country. Fox and Woodward admit this type of work isn’t for everyone. “There is an enormous opportunity to continue to learn,” Woodward said. “The nurses who do well here are those who enjoy an academic approach.” The work is analytical in nature and requires strong writing skills. “It is never boring, and there is always a new problem to solve,” she added. “We call it the graduate school of life because you are al-ways learning something about the business or about managing people. The ability to practice nursing

autonomously appeals to me and sometimes we find out the most incredible things.”

Meeting maritime needs Shubin admits he has a head for business and a heart for nursing – and he’s incorporated both into one dynamic career. He has developed a unique company that provides health care to the maritime industry. Shubin, along with Dan Vasend ’96, worked to create a company that even-tually became The Pacific International Maritime Med-ical Service, Inc. It provides 24-hour service to meet the health needs of sailors aboard ships in the Columbia River deep water ports from Astoria to Portland. That includes everything from immunizations to routine medical care to injuries. “If there’s a need on the vessel, we will take care of it,” said Shubin, who expanded his business in 2003 to open the Travel and Immunization Clinic of Portland. The clinic offers pre-travel consultations for those trav-eling to the developing world and carries a full range of travel products. “Patients can come in, get their vaccinations, con-sultation and advice, and are able to pick up their prod-ucts as well,” Shubin said. Shubin’s entrepreneurial savvy emerged while work-ing at the Old Town Clinic, a nonprofit medical facility targeting the homeless in downtown Portland. Shubin was instructed to facilitate the closing of the financially struggling operation. Instead, he turned it around. “Even though it’s a nonprofit homeless clinic, you still have to run it like a business,” said Shubin, who uti-lized insurance resources and improved the billing infra-structure. “This means making smart business decisions, rather than emotional decisions. In the end we were able to keep the clinic going for a few additional years and it served many people.” Shubin had no background in the maritime in-dustry when doctors alerted him to the need for the medical service. His operational experience and medical background made him a logical fit. “I had the ability to synthesize medicine with busi-ness and was able to deliver both of them,” Shubin said. “A lot of people do one thing or the other. I think you can do the right thing by your patient every time and still make the business of health care work for everybody.” On a daily basis, Shubin is able to combine his business knowledge and hands-on nursing skills. “I enjoy the creativity of making incredibly com-plex things fit together,” he said. “There is great satisfac-tion in that. Interactions with patients are extraordinary. You change an outcome, you make a difference.” In the future, Shubin hopes to expand his business to other port cities on the West Coast.

– Laura Davis and Mardi Mileham

Karen Fox GSH ’77, Linfield ’93, Peggy Wood-ward ‘96 and David Shubin ’95 all have degrees in nurs-ing from Linfield Good Samaritan School of Nursing, but that’s where the similarity ends. They have used their degrees to create a special niche, providing examples of the versatility of the nurs-ing profession, within and outside the traditional hospi-tal setting. Equipped with a liberal arts education, these three graduates, and others like them, are melding their careers with other interests in unlikely locations – in this case, in the legal arena and on ships.

The Medical Resource Network Fox and Woodward are medical sleuths – they sift through medical records looking for the facts regardless of whether they support or refute a legal or medical claim. Fox is founder and president of The Medical Re-source Network Inc. (MRN), a consulting firm that offers expertise in analyzing complex medical issues for clients. The information they uncover might be used in medical malpractice cases, mass tort product liability cases or personal injury claims. The work can involve combing through massive numbers of medical records to decipher and pull out information that may be per-tinent to a claim or lawsuit. Because much of their research is pre-litigation, their results have the potential to help clients avoid lawsuits by identifying the medical facts in a case.They also help pharmaceutical compa-nies by identifying physicians interested in conducting drug trials. “Sometimes we review medical records or provide information that shows that a specific standard of care was not met or why a complication should not have oc-curred,” Fox said. “At the same time, we might be able to explain why a certain situation occurred.” They have been able to avert potential problems for some clients just by evaluating specific practices and recommending changes to prevent accidents from hap-pening, said Woodward, vice president of operations.

The work can be painstaking and involve hun-dreds of hours of reading and review. One case involved the review of 8,000 medical records for the U.S. Navy. Never afraid of a challenge, the women put together a team that spent six to eight weeks in Washington to complete the assignment. Their medical background as nurses gives them a unique perspective in the work. “Nurses have a knowledge base that allows them to review the records and understand what they are reading,” Fox said. “Our job is to give our clients the broadest picture possible and the best information to al-low them to make a reasonable decision. That’s why our tagline makes sense – ‘medical fact finding for sound de-cision making.’”

Forging uniquenursing careers

Karen Fox ‘93, left, and Peggy Woodward ‘96 are legal nurse consultants, using medical facts to support or refute medical claims. The Medical Resource Network, founded by Fox in 1993, is one of the largest consulting firms of its kind in the country.

David Shubin ‘95 has combined his business savvy with his nurs-ing degree to provide health care to the maritime industry and establish a travel and immunization clinic in Portland.



A diplomatic head start Upton finds math paradise As a child, Jeff Primozich ’09 dreamed of being a diplomat. Last summer he took a first step toward that goal. Primozich honed his knowl-edge of Canada during an intern-ship at the Canadian Consulate in Seattle, Wash. He worked in the de-partments of political and economic relations, and public affairs, staffing booths at events and promoting good relations between Canada and the United States. The experience not only boosted his self confidence but also deepened his understanding of the need for global cooperation. “I’m better able to compre-hend what it means to represent the interests of the United States abroad and to work closely with foreign governments to promote policies that will be beneficial to both countries,” said Primozich, a political science major and music minor. “I have a fundamental belief that global cooperation is necessary for global stability, and to be able to play a role in facilitating that coop-eration is very exciting.” One of Primozich’s most in-teresting and challenging tasks was organizing elements of the Pacific Northwest Economic Region Sum-mit, which focuses on regional part-nerships and cooperation. He helped organize the Clean, Green Border Tour, an environmentally friendly event, for representatives from gov-ernments, businesses and universities in the Seattle, Tacoma and Belling-ham areas. The tour’s goal was to educate participants about environ-mental awareness and the missions of the Canadian Consulate. Although Primozich hopes to use this internship as a launch pad for a career in the Foreign Service, his immediate plans include joining the Peace Corps. “What better way to gain cultural experiences than through the Peace Corps?” he said. “I’ve been craving an opportunity to live

somewhere else in the world and immerse myself in the culture. It would be a gateway for me to ac-complish something with my life.” Primozich credited the rec-ommendation of Dawn Nowacki, professor of political science, as in-strumental in helping secure the Canadian Consulate internship. “The close relationship I have with her has been by far the best part about my Linfield experience,” Primozich said. “She really put her-self on the line writing such a great recommendation for me, and I took that opportunity to prove myself.” Nowacki, who is the faculty trustee, understands the importance of the relationship between the United States and Canada. Her Ca-nadian studies work includes field trips with students to Canada and extensive research into the elections of Russian and Canadian women to political office. “Canada is interested in shar-ing with Americans, especially stu-

dents and faculty, an awareness of Canadian policy and government and how it operates,” Nowacki said. “Canada is not just an adjunct of the United States.” Both Nowacki and Primozich recognize that Canada is sometimes overlooked as a foreign country be-cause of its proximity to the United States. In fact, during his interview for the internship, Primozich was asked whether he had ever been abroad, to which he replied “no.” He was then asked if he had ever been to Canada. He answered “yes.” Besides reaffirming Primoz-ich’s desire to be a part of the For-eign Service, the internship helped him gain valuable relationships. “I’m lucky I had an internship that I loved,” Primozich said. “I felt that I was really appreciated there, and even though I kept a profes-sional relationship with my super-visors and coworkers, there were friendships as well.”

– Megan Wills ’09

Julianne Upton ’11 spent a month in math paradise last summer. Advised by Linfield faculty to apply for the program, Upton was one of only 20 women from around the country selected to participate in the Carleton College Summer Mathematics Program for Women in Northfield, Minn. She studied complex subjects such as dynamical systems and the knot theory, but also discovered new careers that she can pursue after graduate school. Upton said it was stimulating to work in an environment with students who shared her love of math and were enthusiastic about the material. “It was really nice to col-laborate,” Upton said. “Many times during the school year, you work in groups with students who aren’t math majors and you have to explain (different concepts). We didn’t have to do that with each other. It was cool to have that kind of equality.” At Carleton, Upton attended classes and listened to guest speakers who outlined math research proj-ects. Discussions of math and what the students had learned did not end with the classes or speakers. Af-ter working on group projects, the women explored how everyone had answered the problem and shared plenty of laughter and fun. It’s no surprise that Upton, who is from Corvallis, has an affin-ity for math. Both of her parents are engineers. “I have always had encourage-ment to be on the science side of things,” said Upton, a double major in math and physics. “My mom has always said I can do anything.” The professors and students that she met reinforced her deci-sion to attend graduate school and inspired career goals as well. “I learned so much about graduate school that I wouldn’t have even thought to ask about,” she said. As a German minor, Upton hopes to study abroad in Germany

and would like to travel to the Mid-dle East and Norway as well. She has been considering additional gradu-ate school preparation math classes and hopes to take math courses at the Budapest Semester in Math-ematics program offered through St. Olaf College.

The Carleton program gave Upton a glimpse of the variety of career options available after gradu-ate school. Previously, her goal was to become a math professor, but other careers have sparked her interest. She is intrigued by think tanks, made up of mathematicians working together on complex mathematical problems. For example, when the space shuttle

Columbia exploded, mathemati-cians were called together to calculate where the pieces of the space ship might have fallen. During the school year, Upton is a math and physics tutor and works at Applied Physics Technologies (APTECH) founded by Bill Mackie ’71, professor of physics at Linfield. APTECH produces and develops electron emitting materials and elec-tron sources, work that stems from the Linfield Research Institute. Linfield’s strong faculty is one of the reasons that Upton selected the college. She said her professors at Lin-field encourage her in and out of the classroom. Stephen Bricher ’86, professor of mathematics, calls Upton talented and hard working, and encourages her passion for mathematics. “I can tell that she truly loves studying mathematics,” Bricher said. “She has the tools to successfully pursue an advanced degree in math-ematics, and this program reinforced that perspective.”

– Megan Wills ’09

Jeff Primozich ‘09 said Dawn Nowacki, professor of political science, was instrumental in helping him secure an internship at the Canadian Consulate last summer. Primozich’s professional goal is to become a diplomat.

Julianne Upton ‘11 combines her interests in math and physics by working at Applied Physics Technologies. Last summer, she participated in the Carleton College Summer Mathematics Program for Women.

“I learned so much about

graduate school that

I wouldn’t have even

thought to ask about.”


Embracing life in China

Jim Diamond, professor of chemistry, loaded belongings onto a three-wheeled cart and bikes during a recent move in Beijing, China. Diamond is spending the 2008-09 academic year work-ing with former student Jingsong Zhu ’93 at the National Center for Nanoscience and Technology.

Jim Diamond hears a familiar call amid the crowd in Tiananmen Square and stops to have yet anoth-er photo taken with a stranger. “Sheng dan lao ren!” - Christmas Man!

Towering 6 feet tall with a full white beard, Diamond stands out in a crowd – particularly in China. For Diamond, professor of chemistry at Linfield College, the past few months have been packed with un-usual experiences, including his “celebrity.” He is spend-ing the academic year working with former student

Jingsong Zhu ’93 at the National Center for Nanoscience and

Technology in Beijing. In addition to participating in cutting-edge research within the lab, he’s em-bracing the Chinese culture.

“I want to learn as much as I can while I’m here,” he said. “I want to learn not just the language but about the culture, the

history, the music, the food.”

With Zhu, Diamond is developing the quantum me-chanical description of optical properties of nanoscale devices - which are at the core of modern miniaturized instrumentation. “Jingsong’s research is in a field where there will be Nobel prizes,” Diamond said. “The caliber of research he’s doing is very high. To be part of it and see the dif-ficulties as well as the success is exciting.” Zhu, a professor at the center, has maintained a strong link with Diamond, a lifelong friend and mentor. At Linfield, Zhu and Diamond spent hours discussing quantum physics, but their conversations also touched on music, history and other subjects. “My relationship with Jim has long been like col-league and friend, instead of professor and student, even when I was a student at Linfield,” he said. Zhu said the second-to-none liberal arts education he received at Linfield has been the foundation for his career success. “What I am, both professionally and personally, has largely been shaped by my Linfield education,” he said. “Linfield provides students with close interactions with faculty, who will not only provide them with knowl-edge, but also will shape students’ fundamental views toward life in general.” Outside the lab, Diamond is doing his best to adopt a Chinese lifestyle, avoiding hangouts frequented by for-eigners. Although he does not speak Chinese fluently, he’s learning. “I can now tell a taxi driver how to get to my house,” he said. His arrival in Beijing coincided with the 2008 summer Olympics. Within three months, he joined the Beijing International Festival Chorus. “I had to find some way to sing,” said Diamond, an accomplished musician who has performed with the Portland Op-era Chorus and Symphonic Choir and appeared in numerous theatre presentations. His enthusiasm during rehearsals gained him an invitation to sing with the Deutscher Chor Peking chorus during a performance of “Carmina Burana,” which sparked friendships with a number of professional musicians. Diamond also has created English voice-overs for a phone company and has made two TV commercials.

“I think I’m peddling some kind of quack medicine,” he said. He even has an agent. When an English-speaking bookstore owner hosted a night of Christmas carols, Diamond prepared a performance by Bach. His later rendition of “Santa Claus is Coming to Town,” wearing a red hat, “drove them into a frenzy.” “It would be foolish not to take advantage of every single moment,” said Diamond. “If you’re open to the experiences of living abroad, it really is extraordinary. I lead a charmed existence. I am very, very lucky.” Yet there are challenges as well. Living as an illiter-ate is humbling and Diamond has a new appreciation for international students. “Every day to be in a country where you can’t speak, read or understand the people around you; where everything you look at is totally foreign; where you can’t do anything for yourself,” he said. “It made me appreci-ate what it must be like for people who come to this country without knowledge of English.” And when he returns to his Linfield classroom in the fall, Diamond said his teaching methods will be improved. “There are real differences in the way our students behave compared with Chinese students,” he said. “Not better or worse, just different. I’ll be attuned to different needs in approaching learning after this year.” For now, “Christmas Man” is savoring his days in China and hopes the experience will pave the way for future Linfield students to benefit. “I am a different man than I was five months ago,” he said. “When you see me again in August, I’ll be even more different.”

– Laura Davis

Nov. 3, 2008We did it! Found a great apartment - 135 sq m for 4000 RMB/month (approximently $590 per month U.S.), a real bargain. We packed, loaded up all of our belongings onto a three-wheeled cart, our bikes load-ed, and set off on a beautiful Beijing fall morning, full of sun, clear skies, wafted by gentle zephyrs.

Nov. 7, 2008

No Power! I was working in the apartment this morn-ing, when all the lights went out. The bathroom was a dark cavern. The kitchen as well. Each apartment has a meter with a slot for a card - like a credit card - with a small memory chip embedded in it. One buys kilowatt-hours at a local store, and information

about the purchase is written onto the chip. The card is inserted into a slot in the apartment’s energy meter, and those kW-hs are now available for use.

Nov. 11, 2008I have been here in Beijing a bit more than three months. There are times when things are a bit dif-ficult for me… the problems of quotidian existence outside of work, living in a country where one is illiterate, incommunicado, and dependent on oth-ers for assistance with the simplest tasks - such as buying energy - these can sometimes become more than I wish to bear. There are many more days when Beijing is so wonderful, it is equally hard to bear, but only because I am afraid my heart will burst with joy.

Jim Diamond is chronicling his Chinese experiences in a blog, complete with “nerd alerts” for scientific material. Read more at www.overworkedandunderpaid.org/jiminchina/

A year abroad

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Killgore recognized for work as coach, teacher, researcher

‘Cat Tracks

Professor Garry Killgore combines coaching, teaching and research as smoothly as an Olympic swim-mer executes a kick-turn. In recognition of his accom-plishments in all three areas, Killgore was named Oregon Teacher of the Year at the college/university level by the Oregon Association of Physical Education. Killgore, in his 20th year at Linfield, teaches in the Department of Health and Human Performance. He also coaches track and cross-country. His research in physiology and biomechanics produced the first deep-water running shoe, designed to maximize training while minimizing injury. He is founder and president of AQx Sports, which markets the shoe and a Neoprene suit he also designed to collegiate and pro athletes, as well as people of all ages and fitness backgrounds. Killgore, who has lectured on aquatic training in Britain and Spain, and across the nation, says it has been used for centuries. “And yet there are still so many un-answered questions about how best to use that method,” he said. “The hardest part is that once you go down a path, realizing there are all these tangents, and so many ancillary parts, it’s tough to stay focused.” Sharpening his focus, he takes lessons in biome-chanics and exercise physiology from the classroom to the pool. Every weekday he is there, guiding athletes and others in deep-water exercise. This is where Killgore’s teaching, research and coaching intersect. On a Monday in January, he barked drills from the deck to three baseball players and a former football player sidelined by knee injuries. Ten track/cross coun-try teammates jogged in a circle at the other end of the pool. All wore AQx shoes, which add resistance during workouts, and Killgore’s Zero G suits for buoyancy. Gabe Haberly ’09 has been taught as well as coached by Killgore. “He’s so laid-back and easy-going. It’s nice in his class, because you don’t just sit and listen to a lecture. And he definitely lets you know why we do this or that, how it protects or prevents certain injuries. He really knows how the body works.” Kyle Ward ’09, a physical education major, has had Killgore for two courses, biomechanics and exercise physiology. After five major knee injuries, he is strug-gling to lose what Killgore calls “non-effective body mass.’’ Ward began exercising in September under Kill-gore’s tutelage, and has lost 15 pounds. He works out three days a week in the water, which he said provides the benefits of training on land without punishing his knees. He also lifts weights and cycles.

Like Haberly, Ward appreciates Killgore’s hands-on teaching methods, adding, “The best thing I like about him is that he not only explains things in a way that you can understand but also in a way that relates to what you want to do,” such as teaching or coaching. Linfield provides an ideal place for his approach, Killgore says. “They want experiential learning here. Students learn to be creative, how to think on their feet and not be afraid to fail. That’s the most important thing – to know how to get up again after you fail.” And Linfield, unlike a large university, allows Kill-gore to be both a coach and a professor. For him, the roles are inseparable. “So many research questions of interest come from athletics,” he says. “I see examples every day. I take these into the classroom and on to research with my students, which then gets applied to athletics. It goes full circle. Linfield is just a superlative place for that.” Next, Killgore will compete for the Northwest District Alliance for Health, Physical Education, Rec-reation, and Dance Teacher of the Year, College and University Level, to be announced at the organization’s annual conference Aug. 4-5 in Missoula, Mont.

– Beth Rogers Thompson

Garry Killgore, professor of health and human performance, involves his students in collaborative research projects in physiol-ogy and biomechanics. His work as a teacher, coach and re-searcher was recognized when he was named Oregon Teacher of the Year by the Oregon Association of Physical Education.

Linfield to host playoffs Linfield College has been se-lected as one of the eight regional host sites for the 2009 NCAA Divi-sion III baseball playoffs. The tour-nament will be held May 13-17 at Roy Helser Field. It marks the first time Linfield will host a regional since joining the NCAA in 1998. “This is a wonderful oppor-tunity to showcase our campus and baseball facility,” said Scott Carna-han ’73, director of athletics. The regional will be staged in McMinnville regardless of whether Linfield’s baseball team is competing. Last season, Linfield won the North-west Conference title, competed in the Central Regional tournament and

advanced to the eight-team NCAA Finals, placing fifth nationally.

Soccer coach leads siblings When Dominic Doty takes the reins as Linfield College head wom-en’s soccer coach, he’ll be leading two very familiar players. Included on the Wildcat team are Doty’s twin sisters, Rennika and MacKenzie, both ’10. Doty spent the fall as assistant men’s soccer coach and is in his second year as an assistant men’s basketball coach under his father, Larry Doty ’79. “I’ve grown up teaching, di-recting and coaching my sisters in everything they do, or at least I like to think I have,” Doty said. “My hope is that we can bring

the program to a place where we have an opportunity to compete for a conference championship every year.”

Super video work Ryan Devlin ’05, a video in-tern with the Arizona Cardinals, took part in the team’s efforts dur-ing the Super Bowl. As a video intern, Devlin edits team practice and opponent video, scouts oppos-ing special teams units and man-ages college video. He also creates scout books for coaches and play-ers to use on the sideline. Devlin served on the Linfield College football coaching staff from 2003 to 2007.

Brynn Hurdus ’11: steady swing on and off the greenSport: Golf

Hometown: Gig Harbor, Wash.

Major: Environmental studies

GPA: 3.93

Athletic achievements: Top finishes in collegiate competi-tion; placed in state all four years of high school.

Favorite sports memory: “When I holed my second shot from the fairway on a par 5 for a double eagle to win the tournament!”

Favorite professor: Dana Libonati, adjunct professor of music. “He connects with his students. I take jazz piano les-sons with him and he has so much experience in music, I just want to absorb all of it!”

Balancing sports and academics: “I am an avid believer of the well-rounded individual. While education is the foundation of literally everything, I also believe it is incredibly important to discover different interests, and more importantly, one’s passion in life. I make a point to manage my time so I can do everything I love. If the passion is there, everything will fall into place – and you can accomplish it all with a smile.”

Why Linfield? “As a small liberal arts college on the West Coast, it seemed perfect for me. After visiting the campus and meeting golf coach Karly Mills, I knew Linfield was the place for me.”

Learned: “There is more to life than just textbooks, and there is more to life than just sports. Both are vital in growing as an individual, and I would never compromise one or the other. With such a broad sense of so many different things, I feel like I can do anything.”

Will miss about Linfield: “The incredible people I have met.”

‘Cat Tracks

2 2 - L I N F I E L D M A G A Z I N E

Find your Facebook group Linfield’s Facebook commu-nity is exploding. Make the most of your Linfield network by join-ing your classmates online. Find the groups that fit your interests – alumni, Portland Campus com-munity, international chapter; re-gional groups for alumni living in the Bay Area, Bend, Los Angeles and Seattle; and reunion groups for the classes of 1979, 1989, 1999 and 2000. Join the fun at www.support.linfield.edu/facebook

Class spirit, atten-dance honored Classmates from 1958 rallied together to win two new alumni awards. The class of 1958 won both the Class Spirit award, recognizing the class with the highest percent-age of giving during 2008, and the

Class Act award for having the high-est attendance at Homecoming. Special recognition goes to the class of 1988, which donated the most money. Ignite your own class and be one of next year’s winners.

Network with Portland Wildcats Expand your professional network, Wildcat style. Join the Linfield Professionals Network, organized by Sabrina (Hendricks) Park ’97, founder and owner of In-trinsic Design, a full service inte-rior design firm in NW Portland. Interested professionals will gather monthly for a social hour hosted by Portland-area alumni. Bring your business cards and come pre-pared to promote yourself or your business while socializing with fellow Wildcats. The first gathering will be held Thursday, March 19, at 6 p.m. at Intrinsic Design. To learn more

or to host a future gathering, visit www.support.linfield.edu/network.

Nominate a winner Linfield is brimming with over-achievers. You know the type – committed, hardworking, innovative and generous. Nomi-nate your favorite over-achiever for a Linfield alumni award. Presentations will be made at Homecoming 2009. Hon-ors include Alumni Ser-vice Award, Distinguished Alumna/Alumnus Award, Walker Service Award, Outstanding Young Alumna/Alumnus Award and Lloydena Grimes Award for Excellence in Nursing.

Find out more:

Alumni News


My family just returned from a trip to the San Diego area, where it be-came clear to me that Linfield alumni truly are everywhere. On the day of our departure, right after we boarded a shuttle to the Portland terminal, another early morning traveler spied my husband’s Linfield sweatshirt and asked him if he had attended Linfield. My husband, an Oregon Stater (yes, I married out-side the faith), gave his usual reply, “I didn’t, but my wife did.” The passenger

told me that he graduated in the mid-1990s and played football for both Ad Rutschman ’54 and Ed Langsdorf. Later that day, as

we toured the Midway maritime museum, we heard the greeting “Go Cats” and chatted with an alum-nus who graduated in the mid-1980s. Three days later, midway through our return trip, a flight at-

tendant eyed my husband’s gear and asked, “Did you attend Linfield?” Turns out our flight attendant was an

alumnus from the mid-1970s, and though he studied the sciences, spent much of his time in the theatre. This trip was proof for me that either the world is very small or our alumni network is very large – perhaps a bit of both. My husband may not wear that sweatshirt on our next trip, but you can bet I’ll be wearing one. Say hello

if you see me – I love catching up with alumni. It’s your Linfield – wear it proudly wherever you are.

– Debbie (Hansen) Harmon ’90

Linfield alumni are everywhere

Celebrating the classes of 1949, 1959, 1969, 1979, 1984, 1989 and 1999, as well as education

majors of all ages.

Save the date!Homecoming 2009

October 16-17

Remember your college days? Isn’t it time that you revisited your alma mater and relived those memories? Call up your college friends and make plans to attend Linfield’s Homecoming. Come see how the campus has changed and how much of what you remember remains the same. Take a stroll down memory lane, and we hope that lane leads you to Linfield.

www.linfield.edu/alumni/homecoming.php • 503-883-2547

Office of College Relations • Linfield College • 900 SE Baker Street • McMinnville, OR 97128-6894

www.linfield.edu/alumni on the Web on the Web

Pencil us inPalm Springs luncheonMarch 16, 11:30 a.m.

Join President Thomas L. Hellie and Linfield alumni, parents and friends for lunch at the home of Lloyd Swenson, for-mer professor of economics.

Easter egg huntApril 11, 10 a.m.

Bring your children or grand-children to the Oak Grove for an egg hunt.

Bay Area alumni BBQApril 18, 2 p.m.

Join Linfield friends for a barbe-cue hosted by Phil Judson ’65.

50-year Club luncheonMay 6, 11 a.m., Jonasson Hall

Celebrate with alumni who graduated from Linfield 50 years ago or more.

Bellingham receptionMay 17, 3 p.m.Bellwether Hotel

Join us for a reception for Linfield

alumni hosted by Fred and Anne (Moore) Wicknick ’79 and ’81.

Oregon Shakespeare FestivalJuly 30 - Aug.2

See five productions and gain insights during pre-show discus-sions by Ken Ericksen, professor of English.

For more information:




1930-39 Dorothea (Wilkens) Dirks ’35 of Lodi, Calif., is living at The Vintage, a retirement com-munity. Enid (Emery) Larsen ’39 of Happy Valley celebrated her 90th birthday with family and friends.

1950-59 Viola (Washburn) Allan ’53 of Anaheim, Calif., recently edited Bâtie sur le roc (Built on the Rock), a history of the Christian church in Congo through 1960. She translated from Kikongo into French. Richard Schneider ’57 of Athens, Ala., is executive director of the Indian Student Scholarship Fund and CEO of the Institute of Global Education. He lives half the year in Vijayawada in the state of Andhra Pradesh in India. Jessie (Tuttle) Nunn ’57 of Buckley, Wash., and her husband, Charles, celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary with a trip to Hawaii, a gift from their children. Juanita (Brayton) McAul-liffe ’59 of Pittsford, N.Y., is retired. Lila (Fisher) McQueen ’59 of Sweet Home is a clinical psychologist, practicing with her husband, Dean.

1960-69 Ted and Elsie (Thrasher) Henry ’60 and ’89 of McMinn-ville celebrated their 50th wed-ding anniversary with a recep-tion at Youngberg Hill Winery hosted by their children. Roberta (Lattin) Denton ’60 of Santa Cruz, Calif., and her husband, James, celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary. Louise (Steele) Markum ’61 of Azle, Texas, is retired. She volunteers working with seniors. Gordon Kaufman ’62 of Mill Creek, Wash., received a master of arts in military his-tory from Norwich University in June. He will teach a naval

history class at the Creative Re-tirement Institute at Edmonds Community College. Gary Stevens ’63 of Kodiak, Alaska, was elected president of the Alaska State Senate. Eugene and Beverly (Bryson) Gilbertson ’63 and ’64 live in Seaside. Eugene was inducted into the Seaside High School Hall of Fame honoring his years of service as the high school librarian and track coach. Joanne (Poppe) Hester-man ’64 of Phoenix, Ariz., works at the Arizona Mining and Mineral Museum. Merrily (Smith) Jones ’64 of Petersburg, Alaska, is retired. Alice (Fogde) Greenwood ’65 of Gig Harbor, Wash., works for Design Construction Ser-vices. Marilyn Reiher ’65 of Lake Oswego worked as a techni-cal writer in California for 20 years and recently relocated to Oregon. Marcia (Gipson) Christian ’65 of Brush Prairie, Wash., is as-sistant superintendent for Battle Ground School District. Kathleen (Dillin) Thomp-son ’66 of Cody, Wyo., is event coordinator for the Million Dol-lar Art Show and Sale, connect-ed to the Buffalo Bill Historical Center. Rick Pullen ’67, ’68 of Yorba Linda, Calif., is dean of the College of Communications at California State University at Fullerton. He received the 2008 Linfield Distinguished Alumnus Award. Carol (Smith) Hosler ’68 of Kearney, Ariz., is a member of Friends of Women, Environ-ment and Health (WEH). The group raises funds to support the work of Hosler’s Linfield room-mate, Ruth (Musunu) Titi ’69 of Eda, Cameroon. Hosler and others raised funds to pay for a truck for use by the WEH, which also hosted Linfield nurs-ing students during a January Term class. Carol (Adams) Gleason ’68 of Corvallis is a volunteer with Friends Without Borders,

doing humanitarian work in Cambodia. She has raised money for medical supplies and has traveled to Angkor Hospital to work with landmine victims. Kathryn (DeVore) Johnston ’69 of McMinnville is an interior designer with DeVor DeCor.

1970-79 Berni (Stuller) Duckrow ’70 of Milwaukie recently moved back to Oregon after 38 years in the tropics and is teach-ing at a community college. Daniel and Carolyn (Jones) Franklin ’69 and ’70 live in Lake Stevens, Wash. Both have served as school counselors for 19 years, Carolyn with Monroe School District and Daniel with Marysville School District. Mark Erickson ’74 of Astoria is a high school special education teacher in the Astoria School District. Debra Leith ’74 of Seattle, has joined Cooley Godward Kronish LLP. Tom Branigar ’74 of Abilene, Kan., has relocated to Salem. He retired as archivist at the Eisenhower Presidential Library and Museum and 30-year volunteer at the Dickinson County Historical Society. Donald Firesmith ’75 of Pittsburgh, Pa., is the author of The Method Framework for Engi-neering System Architectures. Virginia (Dickie) Abbott ’75, ’83 of Medford performs musical programs in retirement homes. Jay Buse ’75 of Oregon City was inducted into the West Linn High School Athletic Hall of Fame. As a Linfield football player, he was named NAIA second team All-American and second team Little All-American by the Associated Press. Candy Dahl ’75 of Sacra-mento, Calif., married Ed Gold-man Jan. 26. Betsye (Green) Ackerman ’76 of Santa Fe, N.M., is a self-employed CPA. Rick and Renee (Weidmann) Coen, both ’77,

live in Roseburg. Rick is first vice president, wealth manage-ment for Smith Barney and a member of the Roseburg City Council, where he serves as council president and Economic Development Commission chair. Curt Shepard ’78 of Beverly Hills, Calif., is director of chil-dren, youth and family services for the L.A. Gay and Lesbian Center. John Davidson ’78 of Ti-gard, CEO of Davidson Benefits Planning, was a sponsor of two recent Linfield events, the Wild-cat Open and baseball alumni gathering. David Baca ’78 of Portland is managing partner of Davis Wright Tremaine LLP, which has 530 lawyers in eight offices in the U.S. and one in Shanghai. Douglas Ainge ’78 of Hills-boro is a social studies teacher at Banks High School.

1980-89 Leslea Smith ’81 of Hills-boro is in the master’s of fine arts in low residency program in poetry at the University of Alaska, Anchorage. Brenda Powell ’83 of Cha-grin Falls, Ohio, was named one of Cleveland’s best physicians in family medicine. She works at the Cleveland Clinic Founda-tion. Lonny Anderson ’84 of North Bend is director of qual-ity services at Bay Area Hospital. He oversees process improve-ment and regulatory compliance to improve clinical and customer outcomes. David Nicewonger ’84 of Auburn, Wash., and Rudy Van Pelt ’84 of Freemont, Calif., are involved with Team in Train-ing, a fundraising organization affiliated with the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. They have participated in marathons and served as mentors and cap-tains to assist others in training and fundraising. Last spring, Nicewonger helped coach the Tacoma team and Van Pelt helped in the San Francisco area,

and both coached teams at the Nike Women’s Marathon in San Francisco. Nicewonger’s team had 38 participants who raised over $125,000 and Van Pelt’s had 147 who raised $365,000.

1990-99 Cindy Davis ’90 of Canby is assistant vice president of clini-cal services at Willamette Falls Hospital. Paul Dean ’90 of Olympia, Wash., is athletic director at Timberline High School. Elizabeth Fournier ’91 of Boring has published the book All Men are Cremated Equal: My 77 Blind Dates, a fact-filled memoir humorously chronicling her year-long serial blind dating spree. Fournier is the director of Cornerstone Mortuary and is married and has a daughter. Don Hakala, Jr. ’91 of Eu-gene was inducted into the West Linn High School Athletic Hall of Fame. As a Linfield basketball player, he was a first team NAIA district All-Star all four years. Christopher B. Nash ’91 of Yuma, Ariz., a marine lieuten-ant colonel serving as senior embedded military advisor to the Afghan border police, was awarded the Bronze Star Medal with valor for his actions while engaged in operations against Al Qaeda and Taliban forces in Afghanistan. Tisha Gilreath Mullen ’92 of Lincoln, Neb., was recognized by the University of Nebraska Board of Regents for meritori-ous service and dedication to improving the quality of the university. Anne Marie Flora ’92 of Lake Oswego married Jason R. Lowe Nov. 8. Allison (Merringer) Sansom ’92 of Astoria is the nursing home administrator for Clatsop Care Center. Wayne Roberts ’93 is the head of the financial advisor recruiting department at the headquarters of Edward Jones in St. Louis, Mo. Scott Sherbourne ’93 of

Jacksonville is the Southern Or-egon branch manager of Western State Insurance Agency. John Strehl ’93 of Las Vegas, Nev., is science department co-ordinator at Valley High School. He teaches chemistry I-III in the international baccalaureate program. Jennifer (Gyovai) Beauchemin ’93 of Tigard and her husband, Brad, had twin daughters, Emma Margaret and Camille Marie, Dec. 30. They have one other daughter. Suzanne Hansen ’93 of West Linn has studied child development for over 20 years and is a baby sleep coach. Scott Safford ’93 of Corval-lis is on the staff at the Geary Street Clinic in Albany and sees patients at the Heartspring Wellness Center in Corvallis. He has a master’s and doctorate in clinical psychology and has taught undergraduate psychol-ogy courses at Oregon State University. Joelle (Leeper) Davis ’94 of Tualatin opened a consulting business, DNA Consulting. She is a member of the Tualatin City Council and is also a Washington County alternate to the Demo-cratic Party of Oregon. Allison Love Sheller ’94 of Tempe, Ariz., and her husband Erik, had a son, AugustFinley, July 27, their first child. Allison teaches elementary school part time. Dawn (Sargent) Shuey ’94 of Beaverton and her husband, Todd, have one daughter, Ad-dison Rae. Candy Gormley ’94 of McMinnville had a surprise birthday gift from her husband, Ed, retired McMinnville mayor. He established an endowed scholarship at Linfield in her name to provide financial as-sistance to a woman returning to college after an interruption in her formal education, a path Gormley herself followed.

Kevin Robinson ’94 of Tigard and his wife, Kathryn, had a son, Braden Jeffrey, June 22, their first. Kristen (Cowlthorp)

Sanderson ’95 of Hillsboro and her husband, Wayne, had a daughter, Emily Ann, Aug. 13, their second child. Michelle Formway ’95 of McMinnville is an officer with the McMinnville Police Depart-ment. Jon Hinrichs ’95 of Tualatin and his wife, Bridget, had a daughter, Jaelyn Brianna, Sept. 25, their third child. Ryan Derry ’96 of Sher-wood, a police officer with the Portland Police Bureau, received a commendation for helping pull an injured passenger from a car accident seconds before the car exploded. Noah Brockman ’96 of Portland married Julie Hansen Sept. 27. He is a consultant and is also a lead business advisor and instructor at the Portland Com-munity College Small Business Development Center. Aaron and Alicia (Cordell) Brown, both ’96, of Sherwood, had a son, Landon Brown, April 28, their second child. Amy Blaser ’96 of Shady Cove and her husband, Jason Alberding, have a daughter, Liv Alberding. Amy is a special agent with the Internal Revenue Service. Heidi (Harris) Garrett ’96 of McMinnville is an investment consultant with Wells Fargo Investments LLC. Ryan and Jennifer (Jones) Gardner ’97 and ’96 of Cor-vallis had a son, Chase Hansen, July 10. They own and operate Visual People Design, a Web site and graphics art design firm. Casey and Jennifer (Ballas) Powell ’97 and ’96 of Walla Walla, Wash., had a daughter, Cailyn Taylor, July 3. Erik and Jennifer (Cutts) McLaughlin ’96 and ’95 live in Pendleton where Erik is the general manager of the Hamley Steakhouse. They received the 2008 Linfield Alumni Service Award. Veronica (Calkins) Heller ’96 of Castle Rock, Wash., and her husband, Judson, have a son, Thatcher. Peter and Anneli (Ahl-

malm) Schalock ’96 and ’97 of Charleston, Mass., had a son, Björn Oliver, Nov. 15. Leonard G. Cooke ’96 of Glen Allen, Va., is director of the Virginia Department of Crimi-nal Justice Services. Rich Neel ’97 of Portland and his wife, Elise, had a daugh-ter, Everley Rose, Aug. 12, their first. Liz Chick ’97 of Tacoma, Wash., and her husband, Cort Ockfen, had a daughter, Signe Chick Ockfen, April 13. Eden (Reed) Francis ’97 of Sherwood and her husband, Perry, had a son, Perry Reed, May 16. Susan McDaniel ’97 of Mc-Minnville presented an alumni recital at Linfield College in October. Benjamin Sapp ’97 of Los Alamos, N.M., and his wife, Tara, have a daughter, Abigail Kay. Darcie LaMotte-Waage ’97 of Portland, and her husband, Casey Waage, had a daughter, Bennett Marie, Sept. 13, their first. Jackson Vaughan ’97 and Shelly Steinke ’06 of McMinn-ville were married July 19. He is Linfield’s head softball coach, and she is an elementary teacher in Sheridan. Rachel (Lefebvre) Williams ’98 of Camas, Wash., was in-ducted into the Clatskanie High School athletic Hall of Fame. Amy (Casterline) Langdon ’98 of Salem is the resource development director of Boys and Girls Club of Albany. Grant and Samantha (Ken-nett) Eggleston ’96 and ’98 of Lake Oswego have a son, Ro-nan, and a daughter, Riley. Grant works for Paramount Equity Mortgage. Brandi Dougherty ’98 of New York, N.Y., had her book, The Littlest Pilgrim, on the New York Times best-seller list for children’s paperbacks. James Pfrehm ’99 of Ithaca, N.Y., is an assistant professor of German at Ithaca College. He received his Ph.D. in German and linguistics from the Univer-

Class NotesClass Notes


Robert Gaffney ’06 of McMinnville is attending law school at Willamette University. Lindsey Orser ’06 of Kirk-land, Wash., teaches first grade in Lake Washington School District. Rachel Nielson ’06 of Los Angeles, Calif., and her husband, Stephen Muneton, had a daugh-ter, Risa Joy, July 25. Tracy Skelton ’06 of McMinnville married Blake Zumwalt Sept. 13. Kalei Kadau ’06 of Portland married Jason Halstead June 1.

She is a nurse at the Portland Veterans Medical Center. Jenna (Swearingen) Kaluza ’06 of Seattle, Wash., is the state director for the national Federa-tion of Independent Business/Oregon. Dustin Blumenstein ’06 of Scio teaches second grade in the Scio School District. Stephanie Pulliam ’07 is working on her master’s in social work at the University of Texas at Austin. Denae Croucher ’07 is an intern at the Oregon Zoo.

Matthew Charlton ’07 of Boise, Idaho, is a rehabilitation technician at St. Luke’s Idaho Elks Rehabilitation Services in Meridian. Tyler Legary ’07 of Uni-versity Place, Wash., married Stephanie Gilcrest July 21. Kimberly Hartman ’08 of McMinnville is a first grade teacher at Gubser Elementary School in Keizer. Ann (Larkin) Waldrop ’08 of Bandon is an accountant at Hough MacAdam & Wartnik LLC.

Caitlyn Jordan ’08 is a high school athletic trainer at McNary High School in Salem. Kara Bonham ’08 is work-ing on a master’s in athletic training at the University of Hawaii. Jim Welch ’08 of Lewisville, Texas, is an in-house composer for FUNimation Entertainment, an anime company. Courtney Worthington ’08 married Nabil Zerizef ’08 Aug. 9. They live in Portland, where Courtney is a research assistant at Oregon Health and

Class Notes Class Notes

sity of Wisconsin at Madison. Mindy Welton-Mitchell ’99 of Framingham, Mass., and her husband, J.C. Mitchell, had a son, Anselm John, July 26. She is senior pastor of the First Baptist Church. Rachelle (Huston) Quinn ’99 of Camas, Wash., is audit ser-vice manager at KPMG. She was on the team that completed the Linfield College audit last year. Nicole Robbins ’99 of Eildon, Victoria, Australia, is working for Outdoor Educa-tion Group, leading youth from grades three through 12 on out-door education and adventure programs. Ko Kagawa ’99 of Portland is a partner in the Kame Japa-nese Restaurant in McMinnville. Kristin (Lee) Henry ’99 of Hillsboro and her husband, Craig, had a son, Matthew Clark, Aug. 31. Jeffrey and Nicole (Nolte) Barker, both ’99, of Tigard had a son, Ezra Miles, April 3. Matthew and Amanda (Schuette) Fischer ’99 and ’00 of Prineville had a daughter, Sophie Grace, July 8. Alison Trimble ’99 of Bend and Rob Emerson ’01 were married Aug. 1.

2000-08 Trevor and Michelle (Mal-lory) Phillips ’00 and ’01 live in Salem where he is an emergency room physician at the Salem Hospital. Michael and Julie (Hinderer) Cron ’00 and ’99 live in Ketchi-kan, Alaska, where he is a social studies teacher and she is the band director at Ketchikan High School. Kjelsty Hanson ’00 of Sylva, N.C., had a sculpture selected for a juried exhibition in Auck-land, New Zealand. Dawn Lowe-Wincentsen ’00 of Clackamas is co-author of the book Leadership Primer for New Librarians: Tools for Helping Today’s Early Career Librarians Become Tomorrow’s Library Leaders. Rob Gloeckner ’00 of Tu-alatin is the general manager for

FieldTurf Buildings and heads up planning for North America. Janet (Coddington) Lodge ’00 of Albany received the Lammers Professional Develop-ment Scholarship at the annual Oregon Business Education Association Conference. She is a faculty member at Linn-Benton Community College. Tyler Gottschalk ’01 of Petaluma, Calif., is an assistant soccer coach at the University of San Francisco. He received his master’s of sports management in May. Nathan and Clarissa (Johnson) Bay ’02 and ’00 of Klamath Falls, had a son, Curran Nathan, Oct. 30. Heather Thomas ’01 of McMinnville is a school nurse for the Willamette Education Service District. Dustin and Alison (Vaughan) Greer, both ’01, of Issaquah, Wash., had a daughter, Haley Makenna, Oct. 18. Tim Jacobs ’01 is football defensive coordinator at Lewis & Clark College. David Rath ’01 of Newberg is president of Evergreen Heli-copters. Jay Bacus ’01 of Salem mar-ried Lisa Giese. Whitney Schubert ’01 of Portland married Hans Gauger July 12. Kimo Mahi ’01 of Keizer married Stevie Ficker July 13. She is a health teacher for Salem-Keizer School District. Melissa (Biegel) Meeks ’01 of Salem and her husband, Will, had a son, William Edward III, May 26. Lural (Dod) Ramirez ’01 of Albany completed a master’s in teaching at Oregon State University and is the dual im-mersion program coordinator and a kindergarten teacher at Lincoln School in Corvallis. Claudia Sanz de Santamaria ’01 of Issaquah, Wash., received an accounting certificate from Bellevue Community College. Cheryl Munro ’01 of Verona, Wis., is a social worker for the University of Wisconsin

Medical Foundation. Lucas Litwiniuk ’02 of Inowroclaw, Poland, is attending the University of Oxford Said Business School. Brian Trowbridge ’02 of Dallas owns Northwest Land-scape and Tree Services and is the sales and marketing manager for OpenRoad Inc. Libby Mendenhall ’02 of Portland married Bret Provost May 3. She is working on a master’s degree in history at Portland State University. Andrea Goddard ’02 of Spokane, Wash., has released her first CD, This Road. She has earned her license as a medical health counselor. Laura Worzniak ’02 of Tigard has been attending nursing school at Linfield’s Portland Campus. Austin and Jillian (Ward) McFeeley, both ’02, of Everett, Wash., had a daughter, Kathryn Erynn, June 12. Kara (Heim) Buchheit ’02 of Salem teaches kindergarten at Rosedale Elementary and is the freshman volleyball coach at West Salem High School. Jessica Cousland-Wiltshire ’03 of Newberg and her hus-band, Jeff, had a daughter, Roxy, Feb. 22. Aaron Thornton ’03 of Astoria has been named one of the coaches of the East-West Shrine All-Star Game that will be played in August. He is head coach at Knappa High School. Alex Martin ’03 of Beaver-ton married Tracy Freeman ’08 Aug. 24. He received his master’s in athletic coaching education from West Virginia University and is the head tennis pro at the West Hills Racquet and Fitness Club in Beaverton. Douglas Lane ’03 of Kala-mazoo, Mich., married Diana Hidalgo ’03 Sept. 27. Lisa Eccles ’04 of Beaverton married Jeremy Taylor ’03 Aug. 9. She is a research assistant in the Biomedical Engineering Division at Oregon Health and Science University. Joann Thompson ’04 of Coos Bay is city recorder for North Bend.

Kirsten (Syrstad) Hum-bird ’04 of Cornelius and her husband, Jake, had a son, Parker, May 17. Danya Lusk ’04 of Boise, Idaho, received a master’s in dramaturgy and a graduate certificate in gender studies from the State University of New York at Stony Brook. Becky Gustav ’04 of Beaver-ton married Jerome Powell July 26. She is an elementary teacher in the Beaverton School District. Jennifer Aaby ’04 of Lynn-wood, Wash., married Devlin Piplic Sept. 6. Peter and April (Bolich) Gilbertson ’04 and ’02 of Sherwood had a son, Micah James, July 21. Nicole Duranleau ’04 of Kapolei, Hawaii, married Jacob Hope ’04 June 28. Amber Buhl ’04 of Tempe, Ariz., completed her master’s degree in physician assistant studies at the Arizona School of Health Sciences. Ian Erickson ’04 of Grants Pass has joined his father’s dental practice, Erickson Dental Care. Viktoria (Putintsev) Haddan ’05 of Albany com-pleted her master’s in teaching at Willamette University and now works for the Corvallis School District. Natalie Buchheit ’05 of McMinnville teaches first grade at Amity Elementary School. Michael Jenson ’05 of Eugene works at the Corvallis branch of Prudential Real Estate Professionals. Devon Parks ’05 of Albu-querque, N.M., is working on a master’s in physician assistant studies at the University of St. Francis in Albuquerque. Caitlin Opstad ’05 of Portland married Steven Lodzinski Nov. 15. Erin O’Loughlin ’05 of Bend is a firefighter with the U.S. Forest Service. Jordan Hollern ’05 of Great Falls, Mont., had a son Oct. 7. He is a financial advisor with Edward Jones. Erik Janssen ’05 of Bend is an agent for Country Financial.

Homicide investiga-tion is much more than a job to Glen Klinkhart ’88. “It’s something you are, not something you do,” he said. “In order to be good at it, you have to give up a lot.” The Anchorage detec-tive’s most famous case took such a toll that Klinkhart is taking “a break from blood and guts.” He currently serves as assistant police

chief. And he’s writing a book, Finding Bethany. Bethany Correira was 21 in 2003, when her dis-appearance set off Anchorage’s biggest missing-person search ever. Exactly a year later, her body was found in the woods. Correira’s apartment manager, Mi-chael Lawson, was convicted of second-degree mur-der. Klinkhart broke the case, eliciting a confession from the gunman’s brother. Klinkhart has described the case on national television, including an extensive interview on ABC’s Dateline aired last year. The case had an uncanny link to personal tragedy. Correira was killed May 3, the birthday of Klinkhart’s sister, who was slain at age 16 the year Correira was born, 1981. During the year of searching for Correira, Klinkhart’s son, now 10, constantly asked about her. “We’d be driving along when I had a weekend off – her picture was on every lamp post and every stop sign,” Klinkhart said. “My son would be in the back seat, and he’d say, ‘Hey Dad, there’s Bethany.’ Dropping him off the first day at kindergarten, I was very aware at that moment in time what the Correiras had been through,

sending their daughter to the big city for college.” Klinkhart, who started a computer crime unit at the Anchorage Police Department and also owns a computer security company, was focused on comput-ers when he enrolled at Linfield. During college, he developed an interest in business. After receiving his business degree, Klinkhart started a computer graph-ics firm. He illustrated two books and worked in adver-tising before entering law enforcement. Partly influ-enced by his sister’s murder, he was seeking a new challenge and something more meaningful than mak-ing money. He found a niche as a detective: “All the domestic violence, along with child abuse, those are the cases where you could see an instant result – take a woman out of a potentially lethal situation and at least know for the night she was safe.” Assistant District Attorney Sharon Marshall, who worked closely with Klinkhart on the Correira case, described him as one of her favorite colleagues. “He is somebody I can always turn to – he finds the answers or finds somebody who can,” she said. “Glen puts 100 percent into any case he’s working on.” Besides his continued computer fascination, Klinkhart’s Linfield experience still affects him. “I think that one of the really wonderful things about Linfield that really stayed with me is the con-nections I made with people from all different places and the ability to spend quality time with people not cut from the same mold as you,” he said. “I had the opportunity to change course, to take classes in busi-ness, and they were interested in what I had to say about using computers. I was invited to help teach classes – an opportunity I would never have gotten at a large university.”


Glen Klinkhart: computer interest led to crime-solving

Glen Klinkhart ’88


Class Notes Alumni Profile

Mentor’s help offers hope

College was not on young José Gaitán’s radar while witnessing drug-dealing and murder in his central Seattle neighborhood. His career horizon expanded from bus driver (to see more of the city) to garbage collector (bet-ter union), before he decided on ferry deck hand as the perfect job. His father, an undocumented worker from El Salva-dor, was deported when Gaitán was 5. His mother strug-gled to support José and his younger brother and sister. As a child he experienced homelessness and hunger. Gaitán found his vision of a better future at Seattle First Baptist Church, where the late Walt Pulliam, a for-mer Linfield trustee, was Christian education minister. “Walt was just a phenomenal guy,” Gaitán said. “He and [pastor] Bernie Turner and others at that church had a strong commitment to social justice and inclusion.” Pulliam started a neighborhood youth program where Gaitán played basketball after school. That led to his joining a Boy Scout troop and learning “the Scouting way,” he said. “It had a very profound effect on me, and still does.” One day Pulliam asked if he’d thought about col-lege. Gaitán had no money and mediocre grades. But with his mentor’s encouragement, he obtained scholarships and a work-study position at Linfield. The college’s quiet at-mosphere was such a shock that he considered leaving, but Gaitán learned to appreciate having time to reflect

and think, in addition to abundant food. “I had a wonderful academic experience there,” he said. “It was a values-based education; values were woven into the curriculum. The professors had a genuine interest not only in their subject matter but also in helping young people grow.” He learned to study, graduating magna cum laude with a history major and political science minor. Gaitán returned to Seattle and earned a law degree at the University of Washington. He now is managing mem-ber of The Gaitán Group, PLLC, a law firm specializing in corporate litigation. His clients include Walmart, Shell Oil, General Motors and Denny’s. Chemical Bank hired his firm to represent its bondholders in the $4.5 billion class-action lawsuit against Washington Public Power Supply System, 1983-96, then the largest bond default in history. Gaitán has appeared on the cover of Money maga-zine. He has met world leaders, including former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, Presidents Clinton and George H.W. Bush, former Attorney General Janet Reno and former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright. But the names Gaitán drops most are people he credits for his success. “I believe I got to be a lawyer because of the hard work of so many other people,” he said. “I believe there’s no such thing as a self-made man or woman. Everyone that goes to any college, including Linfield, should recog-nize that others have made sacrifices for that institution to survive and deliver a good education. We need to give back, in time or in wealth if we have it.” Gaitán continues to give back. A former Linfield trustee, he received the 2000 Alumni Service Award. He mentors first-year law students at the University of Wash-ington, where he has taught as an adjunct. He has served as president of the Hispanic National Bar Association and chaired the Washington State Commission on K-12 Ac-countability in Public Education (the A+ Commission). He chairs the Urban Enterprise Center, which promotes diversity in business. And he served as chairman of the board of the Safeco Field Public Facilities District, help-ing to get Seattle’s Major League Baseball stadium built in 1999. These are only a few of his many civic and profes-sional contributions – a list as lengthy as this entire article. “I have known José a long time, and I have a very high regard for him,” said Bernie Turner, a Linfield trustee. “His early life was very difficult, but he was able to make use of programs available through the church and com-munity that gave him a leg up on life. He saw the possi-bilities and made tremendous use of the help offered and his college experience.”


José Gaitán ’73, managing member of The Gaitán Group PLLC

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For more information, contact Craig Haisch ’95, director of planned giving , at 503-883-2675 or [email protected].

Science University and Nabil is a third grade teacher in Hills-boro. Casandra Kanable ‘08 of Fort Collins, Colo., is working on a master’s in environmental and natural resource economics at Colorado State University. She is also a research assistant in the Department of Agricul-ture and Resource Economics. Brihtani Lassiter ’08 of Anchorage, Alaska, is a member of the Harlem Ambassadors basketball team which presents basketball shows designed for family entertainment and to promote healthy lifestyle choices for young people. Jennifer Wismer ’08 of Gaston was named the first alternate for the Oregon Dairy Princess-Ambassador.

In memoriam Mabel (Youngberg) Weis ’33 of McMinnville, Oct. 8. Walter Weathers ’36 of Sa-lem, Oct. 14. Survivors include

wife Bernice (Broer) ’36. Ruth (Pfouts) Robins ’39 of McMinnville, Sept. 7. Philip McHarness ’40 of Salem, Dec. 10. Survivors in-clude brother Donald ’37 and son Stephen ’70. Gerald “Bud” Parsons ’42 of McMinnville, Aug. 25. Bernard “Bud” Monnes ’42 of Gresham, Oct. 28. Survivors include grand-daughter Elisa Anderson Morgan ’00. Louise (Pfouts) Parks ’42 of Salem, Nov. 29. Donald Ramseyer ’42 of Twin Falls, Idaho, Nov. 16. Gerald Parsons ’42 of Mc-Minnville, Aug. 25. Betty Sunde ‘42 of Ed-monds, Wash., Jan. 7. Jack Hoffman ’46 of Port-land, July 3. Emilie (Raue) Blomberg ’50 of Carnation, Wash., Aug. 8. Frank Smith ’50 of Idaho Falls, Idaho, Oct. 22. Robert Francis ’51 of Newberg, Nov. 17. George Waterbury ’51 of The Dalles, Sept. 16. Survi-

vors include granddaughter Haley ’00. Thomas Hughes ’52 of Fossil, Oct. 24. Ronald Ridenour ’53 of Roseburg, Dec. 5. Edward Beeler ’55 of Se-quim, Wash., Sept. 27. Vivian (Curtis) Graves ’50 of Meridian, Idaho, Sept. 21. Survivors include husband Robert ’51. Richard Swinney ’60 of Port Orchard, Wash., July 2. Survivors include wife June (Machamer) ’62. Ben Smith ’66 of McMinn-ville, Sept. 3. Darrell Catherman ’69 of Las Vegas, Nev., Sept. 2. Nonda Clark ’71 of Bend, Oct. 31. Survivors include brother Ned ’63. Cheryl Henderson ’72 of Orlando, Fla, Sept. 24. Barbara Painter ’76 of Col-orado Springs, Colo., April 13. Survivors include parents Gerry ‘50 and Jackie (Schaake) ‘54. Elizabeth (Roth) Hinds ’78 of Stayton, Aug. 21.

Thomas Bank ’84 of Ca-mas, Wash., Dec. 11.

GSH Joan (LeCocq) Cach GSH ’53 of Seattle, Wash., Dec. 31.

Friends and family

Walter Pulliam, trustee emeritus, of Mercer Island, Wash., Nov. 26. Survivors include son Walter ’75 and granddaughter Stephanie ’07.

Got news? Have you changed jobs? Received a promotion? Returned to school? Received another degree? Started a business? Did you get married or have a child in the last 12 months? If you have news for your classmates and other Linfield friends, visit us online at: www.linfield.edu/alumni

It’s your Linfield. Pass it on.

Graciela Gaona ’09 is one of more than 400 Linfield College recipients of the Oregon Opportunity Grant, which provides financial aid to Oregon’s neediest college students. This spring, they learned their grants had been cut by $80 this semester. Will you sponsor a student like Graciela today with a gift of $80 or more?

www.support.linfield.edu/give_now

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