Portland State University
Encyclopedia
Portland State University (PSU) is a public state urban university
Urban university
An urban university is a U.S. term for institution of higher learning that is socially involved and serves as a resource for educating the citizens of the city or region in which it is located...

 located in downtown
Downtown Portland
Downtown Portland, the city center of Portland, Oregon, United States, is located on the west bank of the Willamette River. It is in the northeastern corner of the southwest section of the city and is where most of the city's high-rise buildings are found....

 Portland, Oregon
Portland, Oregon
Portland is a city located in the Pacific Northwest, near the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers in the U.S. state of Oregon. As of the 2010 Census, it had a population of 583,776, making it the 29th most populous city in the United States...

, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

. Founded in 1946, it has the largest overall enrollment of any university in the state of Oregon
Oregon
Oregon is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is located on the Pacific coast, with Washington to the north, California to the south, Nevada on the southeast and Idaho to the east. The Columbia and Snake rivers delineate much of Oregon's northern and eastern...

, including undergraduate and graduate students. It is also the only public university in the state that is located in a major metropolitan city. Portland State is part of the Oregon University System
Oregon University System
The Oregon University System consists of seven public, four-year universities in the State of Oregon administered by the Chancellor of the OUS, who is appointed by the Oregon State Board of Higher Education...

.

The athletic teams are known as the Portland State Vikings
Portland State Vikings
Portland State Vikings is the nickname of the NCAA-affiliated, intercollegiate athletic teams representing Portland State University of Portland, Oregon...

 with school colors of green and white. Teams compete at the NCAA Division I Level, primarily in the Big Sky Conference
Big Sky Conference
The Big Sky Conference is an intercollegiate college athletic conference affiliated with the NCAA's Division I, with football competing in the Football Championship Subdivision. The BSC was founded in 1963. Member institutions are located in the western United States in the states of Arizona,...

. Schools at PSU include the Portland State University School of Business Administration
Portland State University School of Business Administration
The Portland State University School of Business Administration is located in Portland, Oregon. It offers bachelor’s, master’s, and post-baccalaureate degrees as well as certificate and minor programs in business...

, Graduate School of Education, School of Fine and Performing Arts, School of Social Work, College of Urban and Public Affairs, Maseeh College of Engineering and Computer Science, and the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences.

History

The University was established as the Vanport Extension Center in June 1946 to satisfy the demand for higher education in Portland for returning World War II veterans. Classes were held in the vacated-for-summer Vanport Junior High School. This first summer session had 221 students. Over 1410 students registered for the 1946 fall term, which was delayed until October 7 due to a lack of space. Since population in Vanport City, Oregon was decreasing after World War II, the extension center was able to use buildings created for other purposes: two childcare centers, a recreation building with three classrooms, and a shopping center, which required substantial modification to house a library, offices, and six classrooms. Lincoln and Jefferson high schools were used after school hours, as well as the University of Oregon
University of Oregon
-Colleges and schools:The University of Oregon is organized into eight schools and colleges—six professional schools and colleges, an Arts and Sciences College and an Honors College.- School of Architecture and Allied Arts :...

's dental and medical schools, located in Portland, and at Vanport Junior High School.

Following the Vanport Flood of 1948, the college became known as "the college that wouldn't die" for refusing to close after the flood. The term was coined by Lois Hennessey, a student who wrote about the college and the flood in the Christian Science Monitor, though students nicknamed the school "The college without a future." (Hennessey, coincidentally, was the mother of poet Gary Snyder
Gary Snyder
Gary Snyder is an American poet , as well as an essayist, lecturer, and environmental activist . Snyder is a winner of a Pulitzer Prize for Poetry...

.) The school occupied Grant High School in the summer of 1948, then to hastily converted buildings at the Oregon Shipyard, known as the Oregon Ship. In 1953, the school moved to downtown Portland and occupied the vacated buildings of Lincoln High School on SW Broadway street, including the "scabby" Lincoln Hall
Lincoln Hall (Portland, Oregon)
Lincoln Hall is a building containing a theatre and classrooms at Portland State University in Portland, Oregon. It was originally home to Lincoln High School.-History:...

, then known as "Old Main." The school changed its name to the Portland State Extension Center between December 1951 and February 1952, and in 1955, the Center changed its name to Portland State College to mark its maturation into a four-year degree-granting institution. Students and faculty had begun calling the school "Portland State College" by 1952, however. It was also called "The U by the Slough". By 1956, the veterans had subsided, and baby food was no longer stocked in the bookstore.

Portland State University's growth for the next couple of decades was constricted under the Oregon University System's 1929 ruling that no public university or college in Oregon could duplicate the programs offered by another, with grandfathered exclusions for the University of Oregon
University of Oregon
-Colleges and schools:The University of Oregon is organized into eight schools and colleges—six professional schools and colleges, an Arts and Sciences College and an Honors College.- School of Architecture and Allied Arts :...

 and Oregon State University
Oregon State University
Oregon State University is a coeducational, public research university located in Corvallis, Oregon, United States. The university offers undergraduate, graduate and doctoral degrees and a multitude of research opportunities. There are more than 200 academic degree programs offered through the...

.
Nevertheless, graduate programs were added in 1961 and doctoral programs were added in 1968. The institution was granted university status by the Oregon State Board of Higher Education
Oregon State Board of Higher Education
The Oregon State Board of Higher Education is the statutory governing board for the Oregon University System. The board is composed of eleven members appointed by the Governor of Oregon and confirmed by the Oregon State Senate...

 in 1969, becoming Portland State University.

In 1994 PSU did away with the traditional undergraduate distribution system and adopted a new interdisciplinary general education program known as University Studies. This program has been controversial both on and off campus due to some evidence that University Studies does not produce students who are adept at writing at the college level, but it is one of the programs at Portland State that has garnered national attention for its successful retention of first-year students. U.S. News & World Report
U.S. News & World Report
U.S. News & World Report is an American news magazine published from Washington, D.C. Along with Time and Newsweek it was for many years a leading news weekly, focusing more than its counterparts on political, economic, health and education stories...

has on multiple occasions listed University Studies as a "Program to Look For". In 2003 Portland State was approved to award degrees in Black Studies. That same year the university opened a center housed in a new building to support Native American students.

In 2004 Dr. Fariborz Maseeh
Fariborz Maseeh
Fariborz Maseeh is a pioneer in the field of micro-electro mechanical systems and philanthropist who founded IntelliSense in 1991 and later sold it in 2000. He is founder and managing principal of Picoco LLC, an investment management firm which invests in various assets and manages several...

 donated, through The Massiah Foundation, $8 million to the College of Engineering and Computer Science. The college was renamed the Maseeh College of Engineering and Computer Science. This was the largest single donation to the University at the time and this gift along with others led to, in May 2006, the opening of a new engineering building, the "Northwest Center for Engineering, Science and Technology" which houses much of the College. The LEED gold-certified engineering building reflects the university's increased emphasis on engineering, science and technology. The 130000 square feet (12,077.4 m²) facility includes classrooms, offices and 41 research and teaching labs.

In May 2004, Portland State announced a joint offering with Oregon Health & Science University
Oregon Health & Science University
Oregon Health & Science University is a public university in Oregon with a main campus, including two hospitals, in Portland and a smaller campus in Hillsboro...

 (OHSU) to establish the nation's first biomedical informatics program.

In early 2005, Representative Mitch Greenlick
Mitch Greenlick
Merwyn R. "Mitch" Greenlick is a Democratic politician from the U.S. state of Oregon. He represents District 33 of the Oregon House of Representatives.-Early life and career:...

 and others introduced legislation in the Oregon House of Representatives
Oregon House of Representatives
The Oregon House of Representatives is the lower house of the Oregon Legislative Assembly. There are 60 members of the House, representing 60 districts across the state, each with a population of 57,000. The House meets at the Oregon State Capitol in Salem....

 that would have merged Portland State and OHSU. The legislation was met with resistance as it was opposed by the presidents of both universities. Consequently, the bill died. Again, in March 2007, Representative Greenlick introduced HB 3034, a proposal which would remove Portland State from the Oregon University System
Oregon University System
The Oregon University System consists of seven public, four-year universities in the State of Oregon administered by the Chancellor of the OUS, who is appointed by the Oregon State Board of Higher Education...

 and merge its governance with OHSU into a Portland Metropolitan Universities Board. A legislative hearing was held on March 19 where representatives from PSU and OHSU opposed the proposal.

In September 2008 the James F. and Marion L. Miller Foundation awarded Portland State University a $25 million challenge grant. The grant is the largest amount in the history of the Foundation and at Portland State. Both the $25 million Miller grant and the funds raised to match it must be used exclusively for sustainability programs. Today, Portland State’s sustainability research and education, led by Robert Constanza, director of the Portland State Institute for Sustainable Solutions, is focused on four primary areas of inquiry: creating sustainable urban communities, the integration of human societies and the natural environment, implementing sustainability and mechanisms of change and measuring sustainability. Since 1998, the Miller Foundation has also contributed more than $5.3 million to Portland State.

Academics

Portland State is the largest and fastest growing school in the Oregon University System
Oregon University System
The Oregon University System consists of seven public, four-year universities in the State of Oregon administered by the Chancellor of the OUS, who is appointed by the Oregon State Board of Higher Education...

.
The university is ranked among The Best 376 Colleges in its 2012 edition, "Best in the West",
and as a "College With a Conscience"

by the Princeton Review. Portland State's MBA was ranked in the top 100 by the "Princeton Review".

In recent years, Portland State has increasingly added more doctoral programs as it has grown from its original mission as a liberal arts undergraduate college into a more broad-based research university. Recently added doctorates are Mathematics, Biology, Chemistry, Applied Physics, Computer Science, Applied Psychology, Engineering & Technology Management, Mechanical Engineering, and Sociology.

Portland State awarded a total of 5,206 degrees for the 2009-10 academic year, including 3,532 bachelor degrees, 1,625 master degrees and 50 doctoral degrees.

U.S. News & World Report currently ranks Portland State University in the fourth tier in 2007 as a research university.

Portland State University School of Business Administration ranks 22nd on a list of the Global Top 100 Schools in the 2007–2008 edition of 'Beyond Grey Pinstripes,' a biennial ranking of business schools conducted by the Aspen Institute Center for Business Education.

The Portland State University School of Business Administration is also ranked in other surveys, such as the Princeton Review's Best 294 Business Schools.

Planetizen
Planetizen
Planetizen is a planning-related news website owned by Urban Insight of Los Angeles, California. It features user-submitted and editor-evaluated news and weekly user-contributed op-eds about urban planning and several related fields...

 currently ranks Portland State University's graduate Urban & Regional Planning Program, at the Nohad A. Toulan School of Urban Studies and Planning, within the top 25 best urban planning programs in the nation.

Colleges and schools

Portland State University's academic programs are organized into seven major academic units:
  • College of Liberal Arts and Sciences - An array of undergraduate, graduate, and certificate programs in over 20 majors, including Anthropology, Applied Linguistics, Biology, Black Studies, Chemistry, Chicano/Latino Studies, Communication, Conflict Resolution, Economics, English, Environmental Programs, Foreign Languages and Literatures, Geography, Geology, History, International Studies, Mathematics and Statistics, Native American Studies, Philosophy, Physics, Psychology, Science Education, Sociology, Speech and Hearing Sciences, and Women's Studies.
  • Portland State University School of Business Administration - Undergraduate and graduate majors include Business Administration, Financial Analysis, and International Management. Postgraduate and certificate programs include Accounting, International Business Studies, and Food Industry Management. The school also offers doctoral programs as part of the Systems Science doctoral program.
  • Graduate School of Education - Graduate programs in initial and continuing licensure, Education (Early Childhood, Elementary, Middle Level, and High School), Educational Leadership, and various specialization programs.
  • Maseeh College of Engineering and Computer Science - Undergraduate and graduate programs include Civil, Computer, Electrical, Environmental, and Mechanical Engineering, as well as Computer Science. Graduate programs also include Engineering Management, Manufacturing Engineering, Systems Engineering, Software Engineering, and Technology Management. The school also offers doctoral programs as part of the Systems Science and the Environmental Sciences and Resources doctoral programs.
  • School of Fine and Performing Arts - Undergraduate programs include Architecture, Art, Art History, Arts Studies, Film, Film Studies, Music, Theater Arts, and Dance. Graduate studies include Architecture, Art, Music, Theater Arts, and Secondary Art Education.
  • School of Social Work - The school offers programs in Social Work at the undergraduate and graduate levels, Undergraduate Child and Family Studies, and Doctoral social work programs.
  • College of Urban and Public Affairs - This college is organized in a series of subsidiary schools focusing on various aspects of Urban and Public Affairs:
    • School of Community Health - Undergraduate and graduate studies in Health Studies and Community Health. The school also offers a graduate certificate in Gerontology.
    • Mark O. Hatfield School of Government - Undergraduate and graduate studies in Criminology/Criminal Justice, Political Science, and Public Administration. Institutes include the Criminal Justice Research Policy Institute, Executive Leadership Institute, Institute for Nonprofit Management, National Policy Consensus Center, Institute for Tribal Administration, and the Center for Turkish Studies.
    • Nohad A. Toulan School of Urban Studies and Planning - Undergraduate programs include a major and minor in Community Development, and minors in Real Estate Development and Sustainable Urban Development. Graduate certificates include Real Estate Development, Transportation, and Urban Design. Graduate studies include Urban Studies, as well as Urban and Regional Planning. Institutes include the Center for Urban Studies, Institute of Portland Metropolitan Studies, Center for Population Research Census, Center for Real Estate, and the Center for Transportation Studies.


In addition, Portland State University, through the School of Extended Studies, offers continuing education and special learning activities, including credit courses, degree-completion programs, distance-learning courses, noncredit community programs, relicensure, certifications, high school courses, summer programs, and online study.

Student life

Portland State differs from the other universities in Oregon partially because as an urban institution it attracts a student body older than other rural universities. In the 2009-2010 school year, it was reported that the average age of an attending undergraduate student was 25 years. A significant percentage of Portland State's classes are offered at night and Saturdays. Indeed, some programs only offer night classes. PSU also delayed the development of its campus for decades after its founding. The institution sold land in a neighboring block soon after its move to downtown Portland, and delayed the construction of student housing until the early 1970s.

While the mean age of students is 27, increasing traditional enrollment is lowering the average student age. Mixed-use building projects (commercial, educational, residential) by the university preserve downtown shops and businesses while transforming the university from a "commuter campus" to a mix between a commuter and a traditional campus. Recently completed residences include the Stephen Epler Hall and The Broadway. Further steps toward increasing housing capacity — and university control over its own housing — are being taken with plans for further construction, and with PSU taking over management of the residence halls it currently owns. Optional residential and social opportunities exist with a small but active Greek system, which includes Alpha Chi Omega
Alpha Chi Omega
Alpha Chi Omega is a women's fraternity founded on October 15, 1885. Currently, there are 135 chapters of Alpha Chi Omega at colleges and universities across the United States and more than 200,000 lifetime members...

, Alpha Epsilon Pi
Alpha Epsilon Pi
Alpha Epsilon Pi , the Global Jewish college fraternity, has 155 active chapters in the United States, Canada, United Kingdom and Israel with a membership of over 9,000 undergraduates...

, Alpha Phi Alpha
Alpha Phi Alpha
Alpha Phi Alpha is the first Inter-Collegiate Black Greek Letter fraternity. It was founded on December 4, 1906 at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York. Its founders are known as the "Seven Jewels". Alpha Phi Alpha developed a model that was used by the many Black Greek Letter Organizations ...

, Kappa Sigma
Kappa Sigma
Kappa Sigma , commonly nicknamed Kappa Sig, is an international fraternity with currently 282 active chapters and colonies in North America. Kappa Sigma has initiated more than 240,000 men on college campuses throughout the United States and Canada. Today, the Fraternity has over 175,000 living...

, Phi Delta Theta
Phi Delta Theta
Phi Delta Theta , also known as Phi Delt, is an international fraternity founded at Miami University in 1848 and headquartered in Oxford, Ohio. Phi Delta Theta, Beta Theta Pi, and Sigma Chi form the Miami Triad. The fraternity has about 169 active chapters and colonies in over 43 U.S...

, Phi Sigma Sigma
Phi Sigma Sigma
Phi Sigma Sigma , colloquially known as "Phi Sig," was the first collegiate nonsectarian fraternity, welcoming women of all faiths and backgrounds...

, Alpha Kappa Psi
Alpha Kappa Psi
ΑΚΨ is the oldest and largest professional business fraternity. The Alpha Kappa Psi Fraternity was founded on October 5, 1904 at New York University, and was incorporated on May 20, 1905...

 and Phi Gamma Nu
Phi Gamma Nu
Phi Gamma Nu is a co-ed professional business fraternity with the intent to prepare its members for professional endeavors in a business workplace. The organization cultivates professional behavior in it members through a variety of activities and committees...

.

In March 2007, Portland State University took over the managing of the on-campus housing at Portland State University. College Housing Northwest, which has previously managed the on-campus housing buildings (including The Broadway, Stephen Epler Hall, West Hall, King Albert, St. Helens, Montgomery Court, and Ondine) for over 30 years, will still maintain its off-campus housing (including Goose Hollow, The Palidian, The Cambrian, and Clay).

The student government
Students' union
A students' union, student government, student senate, students' association, guild of students or government of student body is a student organization present in many colleges and universities, and has started appearing in some high schools...

 is the Associated Students of Portland State University (ASPSU). In addition to a student body President and Vice President, there is a Student Fee Committee, a 25-member Student Senate chaired by the Vice President, and a Judicial Board which rules on ASPSU constitutional questions. There are also a number of university committees that have student members appointed by the ASPSU President. Portland State also participates in the Oregon Student Association
Oregon student association
The Oregon Student Association , a non-profit organization, was established in 1975 to represent, serve and protect the collective interests of students in post-secondary education in the U.S. state of Oregon....

, the statewide student lobbying non-profit.

The fully student-run newspaper
Student newspaper
A student newspaper is a newspaper run by students of a university, high school, middle school, or other school. These papers traditionally cover local and, primarily, school or university news....

 at Portland State is the Daily Vanguard
Daily Vanguard
The Daily Vanguard is an independent student newspaper for Portland State University. The newspaper is now generally referred to as simply the Vanguard.-Publishing:...

, established in 1946. Student-run broadcasters run radio station KPSU, and television station PSU TV. The Portland Review is a literary magazine of poetry, fiction, and art published by PSU's Student Publications Board since 1956. Additional student newspaper
Student newspaper
A student newspaper is a newspaper run by students of a university, high school, middle school, or other school. These papers traditionally cover local and, primarily, school or university news....

s at PSU are The Rearguard, an alternative-monthly newspaper, and The Spectator.

The 1.3 million volume Branford Price Millar Library
Branford Price Millar Library
The Branford Price Millar Library is the library of Portland State University in Portland, Oregon, United States. Built in 1968, the academic library was doubled in size in 1991 and houses over 1 million volumes...

 is located in the center of campus, and offers an open microcomputer lab. The Branford Price Millar Library is a repository for federal documents.

Portland State University has mass transit by MAX Green Line
MAX Green Line
The MAX Green Line is a light rail route in the MAX Light Rail system in Portland, Oregon, United States, extending to Clackamas, Oregon. Construction began in early 2007, and the line opened on September 12, 2009. The average daily ridership in June 2010 was 19,500 increasing to 23,200 by April...

, MAX Yellow Line
MAX Yellow Line
The MAX Yellow Line is a 5.8-mile route in the Metropolitan Area Express light rail system in Portland, Oregon. The route, which opened May 1, 2004, runs between Portland State University , in downtown Portland, and the Portland Expo Center...

, Portland Streetcar
Portland Streetcar
The Portland Streetcar is a streetcar system in Portland, Oregon, that opened in 2001 and serves areas surrounding downtown Portland. It is currently a single line that is almost long and serves some 12,000 daily riders, but a second line is expected to open in 2012.As with the heavier-duty MAX...

, Trimet
TriMet
TriMet, more formally known as the Tri-County Metropolitan Transportation District of Oregon, is a public agency that operates mass transit in a region that spans most of the Portland metropolitan area in the U.S. state of Oregon...

 buses, and by Oregon Health & Science University
Oregon Health & Science University
Oregon Health & Science University is a public university in Oregon with a main campus, including two hospitals, in Portland and a smaller campus in Hillsboro...

 and Portland Community College
Portland Community College
Portland Community College is Oregon's largest community college, located in Portland, United States. It serves over one million residents in the five county area of Multnomah, Washington, Yamhill, Clackamas, and Columbia...

 shuttles on SW Harrison Street at SW Broadway.

Among a number of student managed club sports on campus are the PSU Rugby Club, the PSU Ice Hockey Club and the PSU Lacrosse Club.

Athletics

Portland State is a member of the Big Sky Conference
Big Sky Conference
The Big Sky Conference is an intercollegiate college athletic conference affiliated with the NCAA's Division I, with football competing in the Football Championship Subdivision. The BSC was founded in 1963. Member institutions are located in the western United States in the states of Arizona,...

 since 1996, Pac-12 Conference in wrestling, and the Pacific Coast Softball Conference
Pacific Coast Softball Conference
The Pacific Coast Softball Conference is an NCAA Division I conference that only sponsors women's softball. The conference was founded in 2002 as a six-team league, composed of Loyola Marymount University, Portland State University, California State University, Sacramento, Saint Mary's College of...

. PSU competes at the NCAA
National Collegiate Athletic Association
The National Collegiate Athletic Association is a semi-voluntary association of 1,281 institutions, conferences, organizations and individuals that organizes the athletic programs of many colleges and universities in the United States...

 Division I level in basketball, women's volleyball, golf, soccer, wrestling, tennis, softball, indoor and outdoor track and field, and cross country. Football competes at the Division I AA (or Football Championship Subdivision) level.

Prior to joining Division I, the school won NCAA National Division II championships in women's volleyball and wrestling. The school has also placed second twice nationally in football and once in women's basketball at the Division II level.

Portland State's colors are green and white, and its mascot is the Viking personified as "Victor E. Viking".
Among the two more notable former Portland State athletes are Freeman Williams
Freeman Williams
Freeman Williams is a retired American college and professional basketball player. He was the 1978 NCAA men's basketball Division I scoring champion, and the Portland State University all-time scoring leader. Williams was the NCAA Division I national men's basketball individual scoring leader in...

 and Neil Lomax
Neil Lomax
Neil Vincent Lomax is a former American football quarterback.-College career:Lomax was a standout college player at Portland State University, going from fifth-string freshman quarterback on partial scholarship to emergency starter to NCAA legend...

. Freeman Williams was the NCAA Division I national men's basketball individual scoring leader in 1977 and 1978. Neil Lomax was a record setting quarterback who went on to star for the St. Louis Cardinals in the NFL in the mid-1980s. Football's "Run & Shoot" offense was first implemented at the college level at PSU by coach Darryl "Mouse" Davis. An assistant coach at Portland State,
Davis took over as Head Coach in 1975 following the departure of Ron Stratten. Behind his revolutionary new “Run-and-Shoot” offense (developed in the late 1960s at Hillsboro (OR)HS) and a strong-armed quarterback named June Jones, Davis led the Viking program to new heights - an 8-3 record, including a perfect 5-0 home mark. Davis' quarterback protégés were Lomax and June Jones.

Home games for football are held off-campus at Jeld-Wen Field, and home games for basketball are held on-campus at the Peter Stott Center. In 2008, the men's basketball team earned their first ever bid into the NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship
NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship
The NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship is a single-elimination tournament held each spring in the United States, featuring 68 college basketball teams, to determine the national championship in the top tier of college basketball...

.

Notable faculty and staff

  • Randy Hanson
    Randy Hanson
    Randy Hanson began the 2009 season as a National Football League assistant coach for the Oakland Raiders. Hanson was put on a paid leave-of-absence in August 2009 following an alleged incident with Head Coach Tom Cable where Hanson suffered a broken jaw and two cracked teeth...

     - secondary football coach and special teams coordinator
  • David Maier
    David Maier
    David Maier is a professor of computer science at Portland State University.He has been chairman of the program committee of ACM SIGMOD. He also served as an associate editor of ACM Transactions on Database Systems...

     -- Maseeh Professor of Computer Science, ACM Fellow
  • Chet Orloff - professor of Urban Studies and Planning, director emeritus of Oregon Historical Society
    Oregon Historical Society
    The Oregon Historical Society is an organization that encourages and promotes the study and understanding of the history of the Oregon Country, within the broader context of U.S. history. Incorporated in 1898, the Society collects, preserves, and makes available materials of historical character...

  • Sergio Palleroni
    Sergio Palleroni
    Sergio Palleroni is an architect, professor, and at the new at Portland State University in Portland, Oregon. He is internationally known for his social and environmental activism, providing with his students and collaborators sustainable design solutions to communities in...

     - architect and co-founder of BASIC Initiative
  • Ivan Sutherland
    Ivan Sutherland
    Ivan Edward Sutherland is an American computer scientist and Internet pioneer. He received the Turing Award from the Association for Computing Machinery in 1988 for the invention of Sketchpad, an early predecessor to the sort of graphical user interface that has become ubiquitous in personal...

     -- Director, Asynchronous Research Center (ARC), Turing award
    Turing Award
    The Turing Award, in full The ACM A.M. Turing Award, is an annual award given by the Association for Computing Machinery to "an individual selected for contributions of a technical nature made to the computing community. The contributions should be of lasting and major technical importance to the...


Notable alumni

  • Jean M. Auel
    Jean M. Auel
    Jean Marie Auel is an American writer. She is best known for her Earth's Children books, a series of novels set in prehistoric Europe that explores interactions of Cro-Magnon people with Neanderthals...

     - author of The Clan of the Cave Bear
    The Clan of the Cave Bear
    The Clan of the Cave Bear is an historical novel by Jean M. Auel about prehistoric times set before the extinction of the Neanderthal race after 600,000 years as a species, and at least 10-15,000 years after Homo sapiens remains are documented and dated in Europe as a viable second human species...

  • Bree Schaaf Boyer
    Bree Schaaf Boyer
    Bree Schaaf is an American skeleton racer who competed from 2002 to 2007, then switched over to bobsleigh since 2007. Her best Skeleton World Cup finish was sixth at Calgary in November 2006.-Early years:...

     - U.S. Olympic Bobsledder, 2010 Winter Olympics, Vancouver BC
    2010 Winter Olympics
    The 2010 Winter Olympics, officially the XXI Olympic Winter Games or the 21st Winter Olympics, were a major international multi-sport event held from February 12–28, 2010, in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, with some events held in the suburbs of Richmond, West Vancouver and the University...

  • Ken Butler
    Ken Butler
    Kenneth Lee "Ken" Butler is an artist and musician, as well as an experimental musical instrument builder. His Hybrid musical instruments and other artworks explore the interaction and transformation of common and uncommon objects, altered images, sounds and silence...

     - artist and experimental musician
  • Tony Curtis - backup tight end for the Dallas Cowboys
    Dallas Cowboys
    The Dallas Cowboys are a professional American football franchise which plays in the Eastern Division of the National Football Conference of the National Football League . They are headquartered in Valley Ranch in Irving, Texas, a suburb of Dallas...

  • Issa
    Issa (Senegalese singer)
    Issa is a singer, songwriter, and record producer. Born in Dakar, Senegal, his musical style blends various styles, including contemporary contemporary R&B, pop, and reggae....

     - singer, songwriter and producer signed with Akon
    Akon
    Aliaune Damala Badara Thiam, better known as simply Akon , is a Senegalese American R&B recording artist and songwriter.According to Forbes, Akon grossed $21 million in 2010, $20 million in 2009 and $12 million in 2008. He rose to prominence in 2004 following the release of "Locked Up", the first...

  • Dave Jansen
    Dave Jansen
    David Hendrik Jansen is an American mixed martial artist. He currently fights for the WEC. He defeated Richard Crunkilton via unanimous decision at WEC 43 on October 10, 2009....

     - Wrestler and mixed martial artist
  • Mark Dacascos
    Mark Dacascos
    Mark Alan Dacascos is an American actor and martial artist. He won numerous karate and various styles of kung fu championships between the ages of 7 and 18....

     - actor and martial artist
  • Carolyn Davidson
    Carolyn Davidson
    Carolyn Davidson is a graphic designer best known as the creator of the Nike "swoosh".Davidson designed the swoosh in 1971 while a graphic design student at Portland State University. Phil Knight, who was teaching an accounting class at the university, noticed Davidson working on an assignment, and...

     - creator of the Nike
    Nike, Inc.
    Nike, Inc. is a major publicly traded sportswear and equipment supplier based in the United States. The company is headquartered near Beaverton, Oregon, which is part of the Portland metropolitan area...

     swoosh
    Swoosh
    Swoosh is the symbol of the athletic shoe and clothing manufacturer Nike. It is among the most easily recognized brand logos in the world.-History:...

  • D. Scott Davis - Chairman and CEO, United Parcel Service of America.
  • Paul De Muniz
    Paul De Muniz
    Paul J. De Muniz is an American judge in the state of Oregon. He is the first Hispanic Chief Justice in the history of the Oregon Supreme Court. He was elected to the court in 2000, and elected as Chief Justice in 2006. He won re-election in May 2006 for another six-year term on the state's...

     - Oregon Supreme Court
    Oregon Supreme Court
    The Oregon Supreme Court is the highest state court in the U.S. state of Oregon. The only court that may reverse or modify a decision of the Oregon Supreme Court is the Supreme Court of the United States. The OSC holds court at the Oregon Supreme Court Building in Salem, Oregon, near the capitol...

     Chief Justice
  • Clint Didier
    Clint Didier
    Clint Bradley Didier is a former professional American football player. He was a tight end in the National Football League for the Washington Redskins from 1982 to 1987 and for the Green Bay Packers from 1988 to 1989...

     - former NFL tight end, Super Bowl XVII
    Super Bowl XVII
    Super Bowl XVII was an American football game played on January 30, 1983 at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California to decide the National Football League champion following the strike-shortened 1982 regular season...

     Champion
  • David James Duncan
    David James Duncan
    David James Duncan is an American novelist and essayist, best known for his two bestselling novels, The River Why and The Brothers K...

     - novelist, essayist
  • Mike Erickson
    Mike Erickson
    Mike Erickson is a businessman and politician in the U.S. state of Oregon. He ran unsuccessfully for two different seats in the Oregon House of Representatives in 1988 and 1992, and was the Republican nominee for the United States House of Representatives in Oregon's 5th congressional district in...

     - frequent candidate for elected office and entrepreneur
  • Dan Frantz
    Dan Frantz
    Daniel Lee Frantz is a former American football kicker for the Chicago Rush of the Arena Football League. He was released by them on June 3, 2008...

     - American football player for the Chicago Rush
    Chicago Rush
    The Chicago Rush is an arena football team based in Rosemont, Illinois. It is a member of the Central Division of the National Conference of the Arena Football League. The team was founded in 2001 and is co-owned by Mike Ditka, the Hall of Fame player and coach.The Rush have qualified for the...

  • Katie Harman
    Katie Harman
    Katie Marie Harman-Ebner is a classical vocalist and stage actress who is best known as Miss America 2002 and former Miss Oregon 2001. She is from the city of Gresham in the U.S. state of Oregon.-Road to Miss America:...

     - 2002 Miss America
    Miss America
    The Miss America pageant is a long-standing competition which awards scholarships to young women from the 50 states plus the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands...

  • Adam Hayward
    Adam Hayward
    Adam Hayward is an American football linebacker for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.-Early life:A linebacker at Marina High School, Adam was unnerved by the idea of playing the position of Safety for Colorado State University, He took a year off from football at Colorado to take care of some family issues...

     - linebacker for Tampa Bay Buccaneers
    Tampa Bay Buccaneers
    The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are a professional American football franchise based in Tampa, Florida, U.S. They are currently members of the Southern Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League – they are the only team in the division not to come from the old NFC West...

  • Darick Holmes
    Darick Holmes
    Darick Holmes is a former American football running back in the NFL who played for the Buffalo Bills from 1995–1998, for the Green Bay Packers in 1998 and for the Indianapolis Colts in 1999....

     - a former NFL running back
    Running back
    A running back is a gridiron football position, who is typically lined up in the offensive backfield. The primary roles of a running back are to receive handoffs from the quarterback for a rushing play, to catch passes from out of the backfield, and to block.There are usually one or two running...

  • June Jones
    June Jones
    June Sheldon Jones, III is the American football head coach for Southern Methodist University.-Playing career:Jones played the quarterback position on three college teams: Oregon , Hawaii , and Portland State . It is during his time at Portland State that he was introduced to the Run and Shoot...

     - head football coach, Southern Methodist University
    Southern Methodist University
    Southern Methodist University is a private university in Dallas, Texas, United States. Founded in 1911 by the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, SMU operates campuses in Dallas, Plano, and Taos, New Mexico. SMU is owned by the South Central Jurisdiction of the United Methodist Church...

  • Terence Knox
    Terence Knox
    Terence Knox is an American actor.Knox was born Terry Davis in Richland, WA, and attended Washington State University and Portland State University. He is perhaps best known for his roles as Dr. Peter White, the medical resident-turned rapist in the TV show St. Elsewhere, on which he appeared...

     - Actor
  • Jeff Lahti
    Jeff Lahti
    Jeffrey Allen Lahti was a Major League Baseball pitcher. He is an alumnus of Portland State University....

     - retired Major League Baseball
    Major League Baseball
    Major League Baseball is the highest level of professional baseball in the United States and Canada, consisting of teams that play in the National League and the American League...

     pitcher and 1982 World Series
    1982 World Series
    -Game 1:Tuesday, October 12, 1982 at Busch Stadium in St. Louis, MissouriThe Brewers' left-hander Mike Caldwell pitched a complete game shutout, allowing only three hits. The Brewers' offense was led by Paul Molitor, who had a World Series-record five hits and two RBIs...

     Champion
  • Joseph LeBaron
    Joseph LeBaron
    Joseph Evan LeBaron is the previous United States Ambassador to Qatar and former United States Ambassador to Mauritania . He was sworn in as Ambassador to Qatar on July 18, 2008, in a ceremony at the Simon Benson House of Portland State University in Portland, Oregon. PSU Interim President...

     - current U.S. Ambassador to Qatar
    Qatar
    Qatar , also known as the State of Qatar or locally Dawlat Qaṭar, is a sovereign Arab state, located in the Middle East, occupying the small Qatar Peninsula on the northeasterly coast of the much larger Arabian Peninsula. Its sole land border is with Saudi Arabia to the south, with the rest of its...

  • Neil Lomax
    Neil Lomax
    Neil Vincent Lomax is a former American football quarterback.-College career:Lomax was a standout college player at Portland State University, going from fifth-string freshman quarterback on partial scholarship to emergency starter to NCAA legend...

     - National Football League
    National Football League
    The National Football League is the highest level of professional American football in the United States, and is considered the top professional American football league in the world. It was formed by eleven teams in 1920 as the American Professional Football Association, with the league changing...

     quarterback, played for St. Louis/Arizona Cardinals
    Arizona Cardinals
    The Arizona Cardinals are a professional American football team based in Glendale, Arizona, a suburb of Phoenix. They are currently members of the Western Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League...

     (1981–89)
  • Courtney Love
    Courtney Love
    Courtney Michelle Love is an American rock musician. Love is the lead vocalist, lyricist, and rhythm guitarist for alternative rock band Hole, which she formed in 1989, and is an actress who has moved from bit parts in Alex Cox films to significant and acclaimed roles in The People vs...

     - actress and frontwoman of alternative rock band Hole
    Hole (band)
    Hole is an American alternative rock band that originally formed in Los Angeles in 1989. The band is fronted by vocalist/songwriter and rhythm guitarist Courtney Love, who co-founded Hole with former songwriter/lead guitarist Eric Erlandson...

     (did not graduate)
  • Holly Madison
    Holly Madison
    Hollin Sue Cullen, professionally known as Holly Madison, is an American model, showgirl and television personality. She is widely known for being one of Hugh Hefner's girlfriends on the reality television series The Girls Next Door...

     - Playboy
    Playboy
    Playboy is an American men's magazine that features photographs of nude women as well as journalism and fiction. It was founded in Chicago in 1953 by Hugh Hefner and his associates, and funded in part by a $1,000 loan from Hefner's mother. The magazine has grown into Playboy Enterprises, Inc., with...

    model, Reality TV Star "The Girls Next Door
    The Girls Next Door
    The Girls Next Door, also known as The Girls of the Playboy Mansion, is an American reality television series broadcast on the E! cable television network...

    "
  • Fariborz Maseeh
    Fariborz Maseeh
    Fariborz Maseeh is a pioneer in the field of micro-electro mechanical systems and philanthropist who founded IntelliSense in 1991 and later sold it in 2000. He is founder and managing principal of Picoco LLC, an investment management firm which invests in various assets and manages several...

     - Pioneer in the field of micro-electro mechanical systems (MEMS) and philanthropist who founded IntelliSense in 1991
  • Charles Moose
    Charles Moose
    Charles Alexander Moose is an American law enforcement official and author. A native of New York City who grew up in North Carolina, he has served as the chief of police for Montgomery County, Maryland, and Portland, Oregon...

     - former police chief for Montgomery County, Maryland
    Montgomery County, Maryland
    Montgomery County is a county in the U.S. state of Maryland, situated just to the north of Washington, D.C., and southwest of the city of Baltimore. It is one of the most affluent counties in the United States, and has the highest percentage of residents over 25 years of age who hold post-graduate...

    , one of the sites of the Beltway Sniper attacks
    Beltway sniper attacks
    The Washington sniper attacks took place during three weeks in October 2002 in Washington, D.C., Maryland, and Virginia. Ten people were killed and three others critically injured in various locations throughout the Washington Metropolitan Area and along Interstate 95 in Virginia...

  • Jack Ohman
    Jack Ohman
    Jack Ohman is an American editorial cartoonist based in Portland, Oregon. He has been The Oregonian’s cartoonist since 1983 and his work is syndicated nationwide to over 300 newspapers by Tribune Media Services.-Biography:...

     - editorial cartoonist for The Oregonian
    The Oregonian
    The Oregonian is the major daily newspaper in Portland, Oregon, owned by Advance Publications. It is the oldest continuously published newspaper on the U.S. west coast, founded as a weekly by Thomas J. Dryer on December 4, 1850...

  • Steve Olin
    Steve Olin
    Steven Robert Olin was an American right-handed pitcher in Major League Baseball who played for four seasons in the American League with the Cleveland Indians. In 195 career games, Olin pitched 273 innings and posted a win–loss record of 16–19, with 48 saves, 118 games finished, and a 3.10 earned...

     - late Major League Baseball
    Major League Baseball
    Major League Baseball is the highest level of professional baseball in the United States and Canada, consisting of teams that play in the National League and the American League...

     pitcher
  • Pierre Ouellette
    Pierre Ouellette
    Pierre Ouellette is a science fiction author. He lives in Portland, Oregon. He wrote the science fiction thrillers The Deus Machine and The Third Pandemic . Writing under the name of Pierre Davis, his third novel A Breed Apart was published in 2009 by Bantam-Dell...

     - science fiction
    Science fiction
    Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...

     author
  • Bill Plympton
    Bill Plympton
    William "Bill" Calvin Plympton is an American animator, former cartoonist, director, screenwriter and producer best known for his 1987 Academy Award-nominated animated short Your Face. and his series of shorts Guard Dog, Guide Dog, Hot Dog and Horn Dog.- Biography :Bill Plympton was born in...

     - animator
  • Mike Richardson
    Mike Richardson (publisher)
    Mike Richardson is an American writer, film producer and the founder of Dark Horse Comics, a comic book publication company based in Milwaukie, Oregon.-Career:...

     - founder, Dark Horse Comics
    Dark Horse Comics
    Dark Horse Comics is the largest independent American comic book and manga publisher.Dark Horse Comics was founded in 1986 by Mike Richardson in Milwaukie, Oregon, with the concept of establishing an ideal atmosphere for creative professionals. Richardson started out by opening his first comic book...

  • Gordon Riese
    Gordon Riese
    Gordon Riese is a former college baseball pitcher in the 1960s who was inducted into the Portland State University Hall of Fame in 1997. He has spent the last 28 years as a Pac-10 Conference football official...

     - Portland State pitcher and Pac-10 Referee
  • R. William Riggs
    R. William Riggs
    Richard William Riggs is an American attorney and former judge in the state of Oregon. He is currently a senior judge for Oregon, and previously was the 94th justice of the Oregon Supreme Court serving from 1998 to 2006.-Early life:...

     - former Oregon Supreme Court justice
  • Barbara Roberts
    Barbara Roberts
    Barbara Kay Roberts is an American politician from the state of Oregon. A native of the state, she served as the 34th Governor of Oregon from 1991 to 1995. She is the first and, to date, only woman to be elected to that office. A Democrat, Roberts was also the first woman to serve as majority...

     - 34th Governor of Oregon
  • Harry Anastasiou
    Harry Anastasiou
    Harry Anastasiou a Cypriot American social and political scientist is a known pioneer in peace-building initiatives in Cyprus, Greece, Turkey, the Middle East and the European Union.-Biography:Harry Anastasiou is currently Professor and leading core faculty member of Portland State University's...

     Pioneer in peace-building initiatives across the world and author of two books
  • Betty Roberts
    Betty Roberts
    Betty Cantrell Roberts was a politician and judge in the U.S. state of Oregon. She was the 83rd Associate Justice of the Oregon Supreme Court, the highest state court in Oregon. She was the first woman on the Oregon Supreme Court, and had also been the first woman on the Oregon Court of Appeals...

     - first woman to serve on the Oregon Supreme Court
    Oregon Supreme Court
    The Oregon Supreme Court is the highest state court in the U.S. state of Oregon. The only court that may reverse or modify a decision of the Oregon Supreme Court is the Supreme Court of the United States. The OSC holds court at the Oregon Supreme Court Building in Salem, Oregon, near the capitol...

     and Oregon Court of Appeals
    Oregon Court of Appeals
    The Oregon Court of Appeals is the state intermediate appellate court in the U.S. state of Oregon. Part of the Oregon Judicial Department, it has ten judges and is located in Salem...

  • Deborah J. Ross
    Deborah J. Ross
    Deborah J. Ross , once Deborah Wheeler, is an American published science fiction and fantasy author.- Biography :Ross was born in April 1947 and grew up in California. She has always told stories, even as a very young child. Ross attended Portland State University, graduating in 1973...

     - science fiction
    Science fiction
    Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...

     and fantasy author
  • Richard Sanders (wrestler)
    Richard Sanders (wrestler)
    Richard Sanders was an Olympic wrestler from the United States. He won a silver medal in both the 1968 Mexico City Olympic Games, the flyweight division, and the 1972 Munich Olympic Games in Germany in the bantamweight division. Both medals were won in freestyle wrestling...

     NCAA, FILA
    Fila
    Fila or FILA may refer to:*Fila , a South Korean sportswear manufacturer* Fila , an island of Vanuatu*Fila, Iran, a village in Lorestan Province...

     abd Olympic wrestler
  • Lawrence Leighton Smith
    Lawrence Leighton Smith
    Lawrence Leighton Smith, a conductor and pianist, was born April 8, 1936 in Portland, Oregon.He studied piano with Ariel Rubstein in Portland and Leonard Shure in New York. He earned bachelor's degrees from Portland State University in 1956 and Mannes College of Music in 1959...

     - conductor and pianist
  • Esperanza Spalding
    Esperanza Spalding
    Esperanza Spalding is an American multi-instrumentalist best known as a jazz bassist and singer, who draws upon many genres in her own compositions...

     - jazz musician
  • Tom Trebelhorn - Major League Baseball manager
  • Ime Udoka
    Ime Udoka
    Ime Sunday Udoka is a Nigerian-American professional basketball player who last played for the San Antonio Spurs of the NBA. He plays internationally with the Nigeria national basketball team....

     - current small forward for the Sacramento Kings
    Sacramento Kings
    The Sacramento Kings are a professional basketball team based in Sacramento, California, United States. They are currently members of the Western Conference of the National Basketball Association...

     in the National Basketball Association
    National Basketball Association
    The National Basketball Association is the pre-eminent men's professional basketball league in North America. It consists of thirty franchised member clubs, of which twenty-nine are located in the United States and one in Canada...

  • Freeman Williams
    Freeman Williams
    Freeman Williams is a retired American college and professional basketball player. He was the 1978 NCAA men's basketball Division I scoring champion, and the Portland State University all-time scoring leader. Williams was the NCAA Division I national men's basketball individual scoring leader in...

     - retired National Basketball Association
    National Basketball Association
    The National Basketball Association is the pre-eminent men's professional basketball league in North America. It consists of thirty franchised member clubs, of which twenty-nine are located in the United States and one in Canada...

     guard
  • Norm Winningstad
    Norm Winningstad
    C. Norman Winningstad was an American engineer and businessman in the state of Oregon. A native of California, he served in the U.S. Navy during World War II before working at what is now Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory...

     - businessman and engineer
  • Jordan Senn
    Jordan Senn
    Jordan Senn is an American football linebacker for the Carolina Panthers of the National Football League. He was signed by the Indianapolis Colts as an undrafted free agent in 2008...

     - linebacker for Carolina Panthers
    Carolina Panthers
    The Carolina Panthers are a professional American football team based in Charlotte, North Carolina. They are currently members of the South Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League . The Panthers, along with the Jacksonville Jaguars, joined the NFL as expansion...


Awards

In 2006, Portland State was declared to be the nation's first Salmon Safe University by the nonprofit organization Salmon Safe. The award was given to recognize campus-wide efforts toward environmental sustainability by treating storm water runoff before it reaches the local watershed.

On June 3, 2008, The Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter Partner Foundation announced Portland State as the recipient of The Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter Partnership Award for Campus-Community Collaboration for their Watershed Stewardship Program. The program has led over 27,000 community volunteers donating a quarter million hours to install 80,000 plants and restore 50 acres (20.2 ha) of watershed along 2 miles (3.2 km) of river. Individual projects have been led and supported by 700 students working as part of class projects, resulting in two master's theses and three research articles.

College Bowl

Portland State's entry in the 1965 General Electric College Bowl
College Bowl
College Bowl was a format of college-level quizbowl run and operated by College Bowl Company, Incorporated. It had a format similar to the current NAQT format. College Bowl first aired on US radio stations in 1953, and aired on US television from 1959 to 1970...

 Team won the nationally televised quiz show that pitted teams of college students from across the country against each other. The team knocked off its competitors for five consecutive weeks, retiring as champions, and setting a new record for total points scored.
The University's Smith Memorial Student Union building was named after team member Michael J. Smith, who competed in the tournament while suffering from cystic fibrosis
Cystic fibrosis
Cystic fibrosis is a recessive genetic disease affecting most critically the lungs, and also the pancreas, liver, and intestine...

and died in 1968.

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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