This is a list of notable former and current faculty and staff members of Oregon State University (OSU), a four-year research and degree-granting public university in Corvallis, Oregon in the United States. The university traces its roots back to 1856 when Corvallis Academy was founded. [1] It was not formally incorporated until 1858 when the name was changed to Corvallis College, and wasn't chartered until 1868, when the name was changed to Corvallis College and Agricultural College of Oregon. [1] [2] The university changed names several more times, adopting its current name in 1961. [i] Faculty and staff from each of these eras may be included on the list, and more than 2,900 people are currently employed there. [3]
Name | Worked | Position and notability | Reference |
---|---|---|---|
Ira S. Allison | Professor of geology, namesake of Lake Allison, author | ||
Edward Allworth | 1925–1963 | Former secretary of the OSU Alumni Association; former secretary of the Memorial Union Board of Governors; former manager of the Memorial Union; Medal of Honor recipient | [4] |
John B. Anderson | 1986 | Former visiting professor; former U.S. Representative of Illinois (1961–1981); presidential candidate in the 1980 presidential election | [5] |
Scott Baker | ?– | Associate Director of the Marine Mammal Institute | [6] |
Kelly Benoit-Bird | 2004–2018 | Former Professor in the College of Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences; studies trophic interactions in the marine ecosystem using active underwater acoustics; winner of a Genius Grant from the MacArthur Fellows Program | [7] |
Abram Samoilovitch Besicovitch | 1964 | Visiting professor of mathematics in 1964; worked mainly on combinatorial methods and questions in real analysis, such as the Kakeya needle problem and the Hausdorff-Besicovitch dimension | [8] |
Marcus Borg | 1979– | Professor of philosophy; biblical scholar | [9] |
Ernest J. Briskey | 1979–1986 | Former dean of agriculture and food science researcher | [10] |
James Cassidy | 2004– | Instructor of soil science; a founding member of the band Information Society | [11] |
Sharyn Clough | 2003– | Associate professor of philosophy; author of two books | [12] |
Jack Corliss | 1977–1983 | Former professor of oceanography; contributed to the discovery of black smokers and the resulting contributions to the theory on the origin of life | [13] |
Brent Dalrymple | 1994–2001 | Former dean of the College of Oceanic and Atmospheric Sciences; author; member of United States National Academy of Sciences; winner of National Medal of Science | [14] |
John R. Dellenback | 1949–1951 | Former professor, former U.S. Representative of Oregon (1967–1975) | [15] |
Sigmund Eisner | Professor emeritus, Chaucer scholar | [16] | |
Kelly Falkner | 1992-2011 | Former Professor, College of Earth, Oceanic and Atmospheric Sciences | [17] |
Sally Hacker | 1977-1991 | Sociologist | [18] |
Joel Hedgpeth | 1965–1973 | Former director of the Yaquina Biological Laboratories of the OSU Marine Science Center; marine biologist; environmentalist; author | [19] |
Octave Levenspiel | 1966–1991 | Emeritus Professor of chemical engineering; author of five books; member of National Academy of Engineering | [20] |
Ted Lewis | ?–1993 | Former professor of computer science; author of 30 books; former Editor-in-Chief of IEEE Software magazine and Computer magazine | [21] |
Jane Lubchenco | 1977– | Professor of zoology; ecologist; member of the United States National Academy of Sciences.; in 2009 was confirmed by the U.S. Senate as the first woman to serve as the administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration | [22] |
Bernard Malamud | 1949–1961 | Former professor; author; Pulitzer Prize recipient for novel The Fixer , later to be made into an Academy Award-nominated film | [23] |
Ed McClanahan | 1958–1962 | Former English professor; author of eight novels; essayist | [24] |
Conde McCullough | 1916–1919 | Former professor of engineering; designed most of Oregon's coastal bridges along U.S. Route 101 | [25] |
Lois Sather McGill | 1945—1983 | first female faculty member in the Department of Food Science and Technology | [26] |
Joseph Millar | ?— | English professor, author, and poet | [27] |
Alvin O'Konski | 1929–1931 | Former professor, former U.S. Representative of Wisconsin (1943–1973) | [28] |
Linus Pauling | 1922 | Former undergraduate faculty; 1954 Nobel Prize in Chemistry; 1962 Nobel Peace Prize recipient; the only person to win two unshared Nobel Prizes | [29] |
William Luther Pierce | 1962–1965 | Former assistant professor of physics; author of two books; later a notable white supremacist | [30] |
George Poinar Jr. | 1995– | Professor of entomology; his work extracting DNA from insects fossilized in amber was the inspiration for the novel and film Jurassic Park | [31] |
Dana Reason | 2008- | Director of the Popular Music Studies Program and acclaimed Canadian pianist and composer | [32] |
Heidi Schellman | 1957 | Professor of Physics, Head of Physics Department, particle physicist | [33] |
Katharine Jefferts Schori | 26th Presiding Bishop of the US Episcopal Church; earned B.S. in biology from Stanford University in 1974, a M.S. in oceanography in 1977 and a Ph.D. in oceanography in 1983, from Oregon State University; visiting assistant professor at OSU's Department of Religious Studies; visiting scientist at OSU's Department of Oceanography | [34] | |
Bernadine Strik | 1987-2021 | Horticulturist | [35] |
Douglas Warrick | Assistant professor of biophysics; has had two papers published in Nature | [36] | |
Angelicque White | 2009–2018 | Former Associate Professor in the College of Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences; studies elemental cycling in oligotrophic marine ecosystems; currently the Director of the Hawaii Ocean Time-series (HOT) Program at the University of Hawaii at Manoa | [37] |
Ernest H. Wiegand | 1919–1952 | Former professor of food science, developed the modern Maraschino cherry | [38] |
William Appleman Williams | 1968–1986 | Former history professor; author; historian | [39] |
Roger J. Williams | ?–1939 | Former professor of chemistry; author of 22 books; discovered several B vitamins and pantothenic acid; former member of the United States National Academy of Sciences; President of the American Chemical Society | [40] |
James Withycombe | 1898–1914 | Former director of the OSU College Experiment Station, former Governor of Oregon (1915–1919) | [41] |
Name | Worked | Position and notability | Reference |
---|---|---|---|
F. King Alexander | 2020-2021 | 20th President of Oregon State University | [42] |
Benjamin L. Arnold | 1872–1892 | 3rd President of Oregon State University | [42] |
Frank L. Ballard | 1940–1941 | 10th President of Oregon State University | [42] |
John M. Bloss | 1892–1896 | 5th President of Oregon State University | [42] |
John V. Byrne | 1984–1995 | 16th President of Oregon State University | [42] |
Joseph Emery | 1872 | 2nd President of Oregon State University (acting) | [42] |
William A. Finley | 1865–1872 | 1st President of Oregon State University | [42] |
Thomas M. Gatch | 1897–1907 | 7th President of Oregon State University | [42] |
Francois A. Gilfillan | 1941–1942 | 11th President of Oregon State University (acting) | [42] |
James H. Jensen | 1961–1969 | 13th President of Oregon State University | [42] |
Rebecca Johnson | 2021- | 21st President of Oregon State University (acting) | [42] |
William Jasper Kerr | 1907–1932 | 8th President of Oregon State University | [42] |
John D. Letcher | 1892 | 4th President of Oregon State University (acting) | [42] |
Robert W. MacVicar | 1970–1984 | 15th President of Oregon State University | [42] |
Henry B. Miller | 1896–1897 | 6th President of Oregon State University | [42] |
George W. Peavy | 1932–1940 | 9th President of Oregon State University (acting from 1932 to 1934) | [42] |
Edward John Ray | 2003—2020 | 19th and current President of Oregon State University | [43] |
Paul G. Risser | 1995–2002 | 17th President of Oregon State University | [42] |
August L. Strand | 1942–1961 | 12th President of Oregon State University | [42] |
Timothy P. White | 2002–2003 | 18th President of Oregon State University (acting) | [44] |
Roy A.Young | 1969–1970 | 14th President of Oregon State University (acting) | [42] |
Name | Worked | Position and notability | Reference |
---|---|---|---|
Pat Casey | 1995—2018 | Former head coach of the Oregon State Beavers baseball team | [45] |
Ralph Coleman | 1923–1928, 1930–1931, 1938–1966 | Former head coach of the Oregon State Beavers baseball team | [45] |
Fielder Jones | 1910 | Former head coach of the Oregon State Beavers baseball team; former manager of the Chicago White Sox and Baltimore Orioles | [45] |
Dan Spencer | 1997–2007 | Former associate head coach of the Oregon State Beavers baseball team; current Texas Tech Red Raiders baseball head coach | [46] |
Name | Worked | Position and notability | Reference |
---|---|---|---|
Michael Holton | 1995–1996 | Former assistant coach of the Oregon State Beavers men's basketball team; former NBA player | [47] |
Jay John | 2002–2008 | Former head coach of the Oregon State Beavers men's basketball team | [48] |
Ritchie McKay | 2000–2002 | Former head coach of the Oregon State Beavers men's basketball team | [48] |
Ralph Miller | 1970–1989 | Former head coach of the Oregon State Beavers men's basketball team and Basketball Hall of Fame member | [48] |
Kevin Mouton | 2002–2008 | Former interim head coach and assistant coach of the Oregon State Beavers men's basketball team | [49] |
Eddie Payne | 1995–2000 | Former head coach of the Oregon State Beavers men's basketball team | [48] |
Craig Robinson | 2008—2014 | Former head coach of the Oregon State Beavers men's basketball team; former head coach of the Brown Bears | [50] |
LaVonda Wagner | 2005—2010 | Former head coach of the Oregon State Beavers women's basketball team | [51] |
Name | Worked | Position and notability | Reference |
---|---|---|---|
Dee Andros | 1965–1975 | Former head coach of the Oregon State Beavers football team | [52] |
Joe Avezzano | 1980–1984 | Former head coach of the Oregon State Beavers football team; current special teams coach for the Las Vegas Raiders | [52] |
Bill Bloss | 1893, 1897 | Former head coach of the Oregon State Beavers football team | [52] |
Tommy Code | 1896 | Former head coach of the Oregon State Beavers football team | [52] |
Sam Dolan | 1911–1912 | Former head coach of the Oregon State Beavers football team | [52] |
Paul Downing | 1895 | Former head coach of the Oregon State Beavers football team | [52] |
Dennis Erickson | 1999–2002 | Former head coach of the Oregon State Beavers football team; former head coach of the Seattle Seahawks and the San Francisco 49ers; current head coach of the Arizona State Sun Devils football team | [52] |
Craig Fertig | 1976–1979 | Former head coach of the Oregon State Beavers football team | [52] |
Fred Herbold | 1902 | Former head coach of the Oregon State Beavers football team | [52] |
Guy Kennedy | 1894 | Former head coach of the Oregon State Beavers football team | [52] |
Dave Kragthorpe | 1985–1990 | Former head coach of the Oregon State Beavers football team | [52] |
Thomas L. McFadden | 1903 | Former head coach of the Oregon State Beavers football team | [52] |
Sol Metzger | 1909 | Former head coach of the Oregon State Beavers football team | [52] |
F. S. Norcross | 1906–1908 | Former head coach of the Oregon State Beavers football team | [52] |
Jerry Pettibone | 1991–1996 | Former head coach of the Oregon State Beavers football team | [52] |
Joseph Pipall | 1916–1917 | Former head coach of the Oregon State Beavers football team | [52] |
Tommy Prothro | 1955–1964 | Former head coach of the Oregon State Beavers football team; College Football Hall of Fame member | [52] |
Mike Riley | 1997–1998, 2003—2014 | Former head coach of the Oregon State Beavers football team; former head coach of the San Diego Chargers Current University of Nebraska–Lincoln head coach | [52] |
George Schildmiller | 1910 | Former head coach of the Oregon State Beavers football team | [52] |
Paul J. Schissler | 1924–1932 | Former head coach of the Oregon State Beavers football team | [52] |
Allen Steckle | 1904–1905 | Former head coach of the Oregon State Beavers football team | [52] |
Highland Stickney | 1899 | Former head coach of the Oregon State Beavers football team | [52] |
Lon Stiner | 1933–1942, 1945–1948 | Former head coach of the Oregon State Beavers football team | [52] |
Kip Taylor | 1949–1954 | Former head coach of the Oregon State Beavers football team | [52] |
Name | Worked | Position and notability | Reference |
---|---|---|---|
Mark Banker | 1997–1998, 2003— | Current defensive coordinator for the Oregon State Beavers football team; former defensive coordinator for the San Diego Chargers | [53] |
Rich Brooks | 1963–1964, 1965–1970 | 1994 Paul "Bear" Bryant Award winner; 1996 Home Depot Coach of the Year; former assistant coach of the Oregon State Beavers football team; former head coach of the St. Louis Rams; current head football coach for the Kentucky Wildcats | [54] |
John Cooper | 1963–1964 | Former assistant coach of the Oregon State Beavers football team; former head coach of the Ohio State Buckeyes football team | [55] |
Jim Gilstrap | 1997–1998, 2003–2007 | Former assistant coach of the Oregon State Beavers football team; former head coach of the Ottawa Rough Riders | [56] |
Danny Langsdorf | 1997–1998, 2005— | Current offensive coordinator and quarterback coach for the Oregon State Beavers football team; former offensive coordinator for the New Orleans Saints | [57] |
Bronco Mendenhall | 1989–1990, 1995–1996 | Former assistant coach of the Oregon State Beavers football team; current head football coach of the BYU Cougars | [58] |
Name | Worked | Position and notability | Reference |
---|---|---|---|
Randy Couture | 1993–1998 | Former assistant coach and strength and conditioning coach for the Oregon State Beavers wrestling team; mixed martial artist; Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Hall of Fame member | [59] |
Les Gutches | 1996–1999, 2001–? | Former assistant coach of the Oregon State Beavers wrestling team; two-time NCAA champion; 1998 Goodwill Games gold medalist; bronze medalist at the 1999 World Championships; 1996 Olympic U.S. wrestling team member | [60] |
Robin Reed | 1925–1926 | Former head coach of the Oregon State Beavers wrestling team; 1924 Summer Olympics gold medalist; National Wrestling Hall of Fame member | [61] |
Greg Strobel | 1981–1983 | Former assistant coach of the Oregon State Beavers wrestling team; two-time NCAA champion; current head wrestling coach at Lehigh University | [62] |
Dale O. Thomas | 1957–1990 | Former head coach of the Oregon State Beavers wrestling team; National Wrestling Hall of Fame member | [61] |
Jim Zalesky | 2006— | Current head coach of the Oregon State Beavers wrestling team; three-time NCAA champion; National Wrestling Hall of Fame member | [63] |
Name | Worked | Position and notability | Reference |
---|---|---|---|
Slats Gill | 1926–1966 | Former head coach of the Oregon State Beavers baseball and men's basketball teams; Basketball Hall of Fame member | [45] [48] [64] |
W. H. Hargiss | 1918–1920 | Former head coach of the Oregon State Beavers football and men's basketball teams | [48] [52] |
R. B. Rutherford | 1920–1923 | Former head coach of the Oregon State Beavers football and men's basketball teams | [48] [52] |
E. J. Stewart | 1911–1916 | Former head coach of the Oregon State Beavers baseball, football, and men's basketball teams | [45] [48] [52] |
Name | Worked | Position and notability | Reference |
---|---|---|---|
Terry Liskevych | 2006— | Current head coach of the Oregon State Beavers women's volleyball team; former head coach of the U.S. Olympic women's volleyball team | [65] |
Mariusz Podkościelny | 1997–2003 | Former head coach of the Oregon State Beavers women's swimming team and competitor at the 1988 Summer Olympics | [66] |
Oregon State University (OSU) is a public land-grant research university based in Corvallis, Oregon. OSU offers more than 200 undergraduate-degree programs along with a variety of graduate and doctoral degrees through all 11 colleges. It has the seventh-largest engineering college in the nation for 2023. Undergraduate enrollment for all colleges combined averages over 32,000 while an additional 5,000 students are engaged in post-graduate coursework through the university. In 2023, over 37,000 students were enrolled at OSU – making it the largest university in the state. Out-of-state students typically make up over one-quarter of the student body. Since its founding, over 272,000 students have graduated from OSU. The university is classified by the Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education as an "...R1: Doctoral University," with "...very high research activity."
The Oregon State Beavers are the athletic teams that represent Oregon State University, located in Corvallis, Oregon. The Beavers compete at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I level as a member of the Pac-12 Conference. Oregon State's mascot is Benny the Beaver. Both the men's and women's teams share the name, competing in 7 NCAA Division I men's sports and 9 NCAA Division I women's sports respectively. The official colors for the athletics department are Beaver Orange, black, and white.
Oregon State University's College of Engineering is the engineering college of Oregon State University, a public research university in Corvallis, Oregon. U.S. News & World Report ranks OSU's engineering college 69th in the nation for 2024. The ranking makes the college one of the top two in the Northwest, while the college's nuclear engineering school ranks 12th nationally.
The Oregon State Beavers football team represents Oregon State University in NCAA Division I FBS college football. The team first fielded an organized football team in 1893 and is a member of the Pac-12 Conference.
Leslie Lyle Gutches is an American former wrestler and coach. His accomplishments include becoming a World Champion in freestyle wrestling at the 1997 World Wrestling Championships, the Dan Hodge Trophy as the nation's best college wrestler in 1996, becoming the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) champion in the 177 lb. weight division in both 1995 and 1996, earning All-American status in 1994, 1995 & 1996, becoming a member of the 1996 United States Olympics freestyle wrestling team and winning numerous other tournaments and honors.
Oregon State University–Cascades (OSU–Cascades) is a branch campus of Oregon State University (OSU) in Bend, Oregon. It is the only university in Central Oregon that offers both baccalaureate and graduate programs. OSU–Cascades also offers professional pathways and certificate programs. The 30-acre campus is the first public university to open in Oregon in more than 50 years. The campus plans to expand academically with new degree programs over a 10-year period.
The history of Oregon State University in Corvallis, Oregon, United States, began in the era of the Oregon Territory. At first a private school, the college later became a state supported agricultural institution. Nineteen presidents have led the school over the years while the school has been transformed from a single building to a campus of 577 acres (2.34 km2) and approximately 30,000 students in 2015.
William Herbert Bloss, Sr. was the first American football coach at Oregon Agricultural College in 1893 and again in 1897. He also was the quarterback of the 1893 team. Bloss was heralded by contemporaries as a "great coach" and one of the fiercest players on the field of the first two decades of football in the Pacific Northwest.
KOAC is a radio station licensed to Corvallis, Oregon. The station is owned by Oregon Public Broadcasting, and airs OPB's news and talk programming, consisting of syndicated programming from NPR, American Public Media and Public Radio Exchange, as well as locally produced offerings.
The Oregon State University Foundation is an American private nonprofit corporation associated with Oregon State University in Corvallis, Oregon. The OSU Foundation is governed by a volunteer Board of Trustees.
Robert William MacVicar (1918–1998) was an American chemist and academic administrator who served as the chancellor of Southern Illinois University, and the 11th president of Oregon State University from 1970 and 1984.
John Gurley Flook (1839–1926) was an American farmer, politician, and businessman. Flook is best remembered as a member of the Oregon State Legislature who sponsored the bill establishing Oregon Agricultural College in Corvallis, Oregon — today's Oregon State University.
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Oregon State University's College of Liberal Arts is a liberal arts college at Oregon State University. The college is located on the Corvallis, Oregon main campus and offers students 66 academic programs. The college of liberal arts awarded just over a thousand undergraduate degrees in 2023, the second most of OSU colleges.
Andrew Millison is a Permaculture designer, instructor, and documentary videographer based out of the Pacific Northwest of the United States of America. He has been an instructor in the Horticulture Department at Oregon State University (OSU) since 2009 where he founded OSU Permaculture Design which runs the premiere online university Permaculture program in the world.
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Te May Ching (1923-2020) was a seed physiologist and worked for the OSU Crop Science Department from 1956 until her retirement in 1988.