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Kristin Watkins Receives 2026 President's Award

Kristin Watkins is the chapter's other recipient of the 2026 ARCS Foundation Oregon Presidential Award. She has been a steadfast champion of ARCS Oregon since 2015. She is vice president for donor engagement and chief marketing officer at the Oregon State University Foundation, where she leads communications and marketing, donor stewardship, annual giving, and legislative advocacy, as well as the Foundation's fundraising strategy for the Portland region. Before joining the OSU Foundation in 2014, she served as executive officer of the Portland Community College Foundation and associate vice president of college advancement at PCC. A summa cum laude graduate of Virginia Tech with a master's in public affairs from the University of Minnesota, she is also currently a doctoral candidate in adult and higher education at Oregon State, and her service extends to the boards of the Portland Metro Chamber and Portland Pioneer Square, with past leadership at Neighborhood House and CASE District VIII. Throughout these years she has been one of our chapter's most generous champions—opening doors at OSU and beyond, connecting ARCS Oregon to scholars, faculty, and donors, and lending venues, expertise, and her considerable network time and again. Her support has never been transactional; it springs from a deep belief in investing in the next generation of scientists and trusting that those investments will compound in ways we cannot always see. A loyal friend, a generous colleague, a connector, and a quiet force in this chapter, Kristin Watkins could not be more deserving of this special award.