ARCS Oregon Chapter new member Kenda Singer and her husband Ken Singer are 2020 recipients of the University of Oregon Pioneer Award. 

The UO Pioneer Award was established in 1979 to recognize those individuals who have been true agents of progress. Each year, the Pioneer Award is presented to individuals who have been outstanding pioneers in business, philanthropy, communication, politics and the arts.

Kenda is a UO alum, who then graduated from the Physician’s Assistant Program at Duke University. Kenda worked in Eugene in the clinical areas of primary care, women’s health and dermatology.  She provided general medical care for women’s athletics at UO for 20 years.  Ken is an orthopedic surgeon, retired from the Slocum Center, who was also the orthopedic surgeon for the Ducks for 30 years. 

The Singers have supported Eugene area high school students with college scholarships through their family foundation.  They have been significant donors at UO, endowing chairs for the Science Library and the Department of Physiology, supporting libraries, Oregon Humanities Center, intercollegiate athletics and Judaic Studies.  

Before Kenda became a member of ARCS Oregon she and Ken funded the Kenda and Ken Singer ARCS Foundation Oregon Scholar Award Endowment, in the newly approved UO Dept. of Human Physiology.  The first scholar award from their UME will be in Fall 2021. 

Kenda’s membership in ARCS was sponsored by Joan Foley and Renee Gordon.  We are so happy to have Kenda as a member in Eugene, where we have 3 new ARCS members this year.