Officers and Directors

Oregon Leadership

An elected board of directors oversees all phases of ARCS Foundation Oregon. Officers of the Oregon board include President(s), President-elect in some years, VP Treasurer and Secretary.

Directors include VP Communications, VP Governance, VP Member Relations, VP Philanthropy, VP Program, VP Scholar Relations, and VP University Relations. In addition, the President appoints one to four Members-at-Large to serve on the Board. The fiscal year is July 1–June 30, with the annual meeting in May.

See our 2020-2021 Organizational Chart
See our Board Structure
Click here to see the 2019-2020 Year End Report

Officers and Board of Directors - July 1, 2020 to June 30, 2021

Julie Branford President	Anne Jarvis President Elect	Kris Mills Secretary	Elizabeth Bell VP Treasurer
Lara Cunningham Co-VP Communications	Paige Jackson Co-VP Communications	Sheila Goodwin Co-VP Member Relations	Nancy Haigwood Co-VP Member Relations
Aletha Anderson Co-VP Philanthropy	Beth McQueston Co-VP Philanthropy	Rachel Dresbeck Co-VP Program	Diana Gordon Co-VP Program
Meleah Ashford Co-VP Scholar Relations	Mary Strickler Co-VP Scholar Relations	Kris Kern Co-VP University Relations	Susan Smith Co-VP University Relations
Gigi Ditz Member-at-Large	Kate Joseph Member-at-Large	Elise McClure Member-at-Large	Lee Ragen Member-at-Large

Committees

Chair, Scholar Awards Luncheon	Gigi Ditz, Elise McClure, Caron Ogg
Long Range Plan	Sharon Hewitt, Jamie Anderson, Nancy Haigwood, Caron Ogg, Anne Yoo
Nominating Committee	Marilyn Lindgren, Sue McGrath, Lee Ragen, Barbie Rice, Mary Lou Schrader

Oregon Chapter Presidents

Front row: Leslie Workman 2008-2010; Sharon Hewitt 2004-2006; Ellen Richardson 2006-2008; Caron Ogg 2010-2012
Back row: Joan Foley 2015-2018; Julie Brandford 2018-present; Aletha Anderson 2014-2015, 2017-2018; Sue McGrath 2018-2019; Jean Josephson 2012-2014

Taylor Mighell, NGP Graduate Student, Presented with C.W. Cotterman Award
Taylor Mighell, NGP graduate student in Brian O'Roak's lab, was presented with C.W. Cotterman Award at the American Society of Human Genetics meeting in October. His donors are Susan and George Swindells.
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Nate Yoder's Paper Published in Nature, International Journal of Science
Congratulations to NGP student, Nate Yoder on his new paper in Nature! For the first time, researchers in the Vollum Institute have determined the atomic structure of an acid-sensing ion channel (ASIC) in a resting state at high pH. His donor is the Bechen Family Foundation.
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Elizabeth Holzenthal Receives Prestigious NSF Graduate Fellowship
Congratulations to OSU College of Engineering, ARCS scholar Elizabeth Holzenthal, School of Civil and Construction Engineering, coastal and ocean engineering. Elizabeth was recently named a recipient of an NSF Graduate Fellowship, (GRFP). Elizabeth, a first year scholar, is working on a project aimed at contributing to the development of a new generation of natural hazard engineering. Her donors are Diane and Dick Alexander.
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Kevin Watanabe-Smith Wins Statewide 3MT Competition
ARCS Scholar Kevin Watanabe-Smith, who studies cancer biology in Dr. Brian Druker's lab, took first place at the state's Three Minute Thesis (3MT) competition. Kevin was sponsored by the Allan Price Memorial ARCS Award.
ARCS Scholar Danielle Robinson Awarded 2016 Mozilla Fellowship for Science
Danielle Robinson, Ph.D. candidate in the OHSU School of Medicine Neuroscience Graduate Program, is one of four fellows selected worldwide to receive the Mozilla Fellowship for Science. Her donors are Ellen and Mark Richardson.