UPbeat

News for and about University of Portland faculty and staff.

Amy Dundon-Berchtold

Prayers For Amy Dundon-Berchtold

University of Portland regent and longtime benefactor Amy Dundon-Berchtold passed away on Monday, March 16. A visionary real estate entrepreneur and investor, Amy, along with her husband Jim Berchtold ’63, gave generously to the University of Portland. In 2011, Amy and Jim created the Dundon-Berchtold Institute for Moral Formation and Applied Ethics, which offers classes, public events, and student-faculty research support. From the success of that endeavor, Amy and Jim provided the lead gift for the University’s first new academic building in 25 years, Dundon-Berchtold Hall. This new academic building has transformed the University of Portland campus, with classrooms, faculty offices, formal and informal gathering areas, and state-0f-the-art teaching resources.

After earning her bachelor’s degree from the University of Southern California and a master’s degree from the University of California Irvine, Amy went on to a remarkably successful 40-year career buying, selling, and renovating properties. A dedicated philanthropist, Amy Dundon-Berchtold has also contributed to other endeavors, including the Boys & Girls Club of Garden Grove, the University of Southern California, the Injured Marine Semper Fi Fund, and many, many other worthy causes. Amy was elected to the University of Portland’s Board of Regents in 2013 and received an honorary doctorate from UP in 2019.

Please keep her husband Jim and their family in your thoughts and prayers.

 

 

University Announces 2019 Commencement Speaker, Honorees

The University of Portland has announced the speaker and honorees to be recognized during the 2019 Commencement ceremonies, to be held in the Chiles Center on Sunday, May 5. Commencement I begins at 10 a.m. and is for all graduates of the Pamplin School of Business, Shiley School of Engineering, and School of Nursing. Commencement II starts at 3 p.m. and is held for undergraduate and graduate students of the College of Arts and Sciences and School of Education. 

Receiving the University’s highest honor, the Christus Magister Medal, is Sr. Alberta Dieker, O.S.B. As one of the Benedictine Sisters of Mount Angel, Sr. Dieker has devoted her life to faith, scholarship, and service. She spent more than 45 years teaching history and other subjects, first as an elementary school teacher in Silverton and Mount Angel and then as a faculty member for Mount Angel College, Mount Angel Seminary, and Eastern Oregon University. She is also the author of A Tree Rooted in Faith: A History of Queen of Angels Monastery, published in 2007. Sr. Dieker is renowned for her leadership skills, having served as president of Mount Angel College, president and founding member of the Oregon Catholic Historical Society, and executive secretary of the American Benedictine Academy.  Sr. Dieker will receive her Medal in absentia at Commencement II.

Honorary doctorate recipients will be:

  • Mary Carlin Yates, Commencement I and II.Retired Ambassador Mary Carlin Yates, the speaker for both ceremonies and an honorary doctorate recipient, is a North Portland native who served for 31 years as a career member of the United States Foreign Service. Her distinguished career, which began in 1980, included serving twice as U.S. Ambassador, to the Republic of Ghana from 2002 to 2005 and to the Republic of Burundi from 1999 to 2002. In Burundi, she worked extensively to bring stability and an end to hostility through a peace process led by the former president of South Africa Nelson Mandela. She also served as a political officer and public affairs counselor in Rwanda during the genocide crisis of the early 1990s. After her retirement, she served as the Charge d’Affaires in Sudan for the Department of State until 2012. Today, Ambassador Yates is director of the Atlantic Council in Washington, D.C., and a member of the Oregon State University Honors College Board of Regents.
  • Amy Dundon-Berchtold, Commencement I. Amy Dundon-Berchtold’s first real estate transaction was selling her own house. Her second was an apartment building, and the third was an industrial warehouse–an illustrious beginning to what would become a 40-year career as a real estate investor in Southern California. Dundon-Berchtold, a member of the University of Portland’s Board of Regents, and her husband, Jim Berchtold ’63, wanted to create a place where all UP students could engage in discussions around personal values and beliefs. In 2011, this vision was realized with the creation of the Dundon-Berchtold Institute for Moral Formation and Applied Ethics, offering classes, public events, and student-faculty research support. From the success of that endeavor, Jim and Amy provided the lead gift for the University’s first academic building in 25 years, which was named Dundon-Berchtold Hall in their honor and will open in summer 2019.
  • Susan Sygall, Commencement II. As CEO of Mobility International USA (MIUSA), Susan Sygall has spent more than 38 years advancing the rights of people with disabilities around the world. Sygall, who became disabled after a car accident, went to Australia as a Rotary Scholar and a wheelchair rider. The experience made her realize that people with disabilities were not only excluded from leadership programs, but were also unable to access services that could improve their health and education. Upon returning to the University of Oregon, she and another graduate student co-founded MIUSA in 1981 to promote international exchange for students with disabilities. In 1995, Sygall was the driving force behind Congress funding the National Clearinghouse on Disability and Exchange, and that same year she led a delegation of 350 women with disabilities to the International Women’s Conference in Beijing, which is now seen as the start of the disabled women’s movement.
  • Mucki (Pei Ling) Tan ’80, Commencement I. After graduating with a degree in business in 1980 from the University of Portland, Mucki (Pei Ling) Tan returned to Jakarta, Indonesia, to become a manager with the Rodamas Group, a company his father founded in 1951. Together, Tan and his father expanded into a diverse portfolio of joint ventures worldwide, including the food industry, construction materials manufacturing, consumer goods, and real estate. Tan devotes particular attention to educational initiatives in Indonesia but has also supported his alma mater, with gifts toward such endeavors as Dundon-Berchtold Hall and the Beauchamp Recreation and Wellness Center.
  • Robert Watzke, M.D., Commencement II. Dr. Watzke is renowned for his dedication as a retina researcher and specialist¾ a career that has spanned six decades. He developed new and innovative examination techniques, pioneered the use of lasers to conduct complex retinal surgery, and mentored more than 350 retinal specialists. Dr. Watzke was also instrumental in the development of the Casey Eye Institute at Oregon Health & Science University, where he focused on retina and vitreous disease. He is heralded for both his surgical skill and his commitment to national randomized trials, especially related to diabetic retinopathy and macular photocoagulation. In 2016, the Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences department at that university created the Robert C. Watzke Endowment in his honor.

For more information contact the president’s office at x7107 or leadem@up.edu.

 

Dundon-Berchtold Hall Construction Cameras

Board of regents member Amy Dundon-Berchtold and Jim Berchtold ’63 have donated $15 million to fund the Dundon-Berchtold Institute for Moral Formation and Applied Ethics and serve as a lead gift towards the construction of a new academic center, Dundon-Berchtold Hall. The new building will house classrooms, faculty offices, selected key programs, gathering spaces, and the Brian Doyle auditorium. It is the first construction of a new building in the middle of campus since Franz Hall was built in 1995. Two cameras have been installed to view  the construction of Dundon-Berchtold Hall. Please use this link and this link.

Major Dundon-Berchtold Gift Announced

dundonberchtolds

University of Portland president Rev. Mark L. Poorman, C.S.C., announced a $15 million commitment from board of regents member Amy Dundon-Berchtold and Jim Berchtold ’63. The donation will fund the Dundon-Berchtold Institute for Moral Formation and Applied Ethics and serve as a lead gift towards the construction of a new academic center which will be the future home of the Dundon-Berchtold Institute and be named Dundon-Berchtold Hall.

Dundon-Berchtold Hall, as the new academic center, will also house classrooms, faculty offices, selected key programs, and a gathering space. The University will now be seeking additional gifts to complete the academic building, expected to cost $30 million.

In recent years the Dundon-Berchtolds made a commitment to create an endowment to fund the Dundon-Berchtold Institute for Moral Development and Applied Ethics. The initiative includes the Character Project, an ethics class where students engage in guided discussions as to how personal value systems and beliefs can influence moral character; the Dundon-Berchtold Applied Ethics Program, which pair students with faculty to conduct research projects related to professional and applied ethics in a variety of academic disciplines; and bringing renowned speakers to campus, including Meg Jay and David Brooks.

For more information contact the development office at hanna@up.edu.

Dan McGinty To Head Dundon-Berchtold Institute

McGinty_Dan_2009-web copyDan McGinty, who has served for the past ten years as special assistant to the provost for academic advising to athletes, has been named as director of the Dundon-Berchtold Institute for Moral Formation and Applied Ethics, according to Thomas Greene, provost. This administrative position is funded through a generous gift from Amy Dundon and Jim Berchtold. McGinty will provide leadership for strategic planning, program coordination, and new outreach efforts for the Institute. He has been involved with the initiative from its inception and has demonstrated a passion for this important work in extending ethics as a centerpiece of the University. For more information contact the provost’s office at 7105 or staten@up.edu.

$4M Dundon-Berchtold RISE Campaign Gift

D-B 150The University of Portland has announced a RISE Campaign donation of $4 million from Amy Dundon-Berchtold and Jim Berchtold ’63, to create an endowment for the Dundon-Berchtold Fund for Moral Development and Applied Ethics. The gift, which was announced at the recent annual retreat of the board of regents, will have a significant and lasting impact on the University, according to president-elect Rev. Mark Poorman, C.S.C., who was instrumental in the creation of the fund. The gift will create an endowment, providing for sufficient operating funds and an endowed directorship.

The Berchtolds provided seed money two years ago to create an initiative that focuses on character formation and applied ethics. The initiative includes “The Character Project,” which offers a venue for students to engage in guided discussions as to how personal value systems and beliefs can influence moral character. Fr. Poorman created a similar program at the University of Notre Dame, where he previously team-taught a class with University regent Carolyn Woo. Amy Dundon-Berchtold is also a member of UP’s board of regents.

Amy Dundon-Berchtold became familiar with the Portland community and University of Portland largely through her husband, Jim Berchtold, a 1963 UP graduate. The couple met following the loss of both of their spouses. The couple began discussing the idea of moral formation and applied ethics during a University trip in 2011 that included several priests from the Congregation of Holy Cross. During discussions on that trip with Fr. Poorman and others, the couple made an on-the-spot exploratory gift of $25,000. Several months later, after the initial project was fine-tuned, the couple donated $500,000 to bring Fr. Poorman’s vision to reality.

The Dundon-Berchtold gift is part of the University’s RISE Campaign, which was announced in December 2010 and seeks to raise $175 million by 2014. The campaign has raised more than $172 million to date and is one of the largest development campaigns ever for a Pacific Northwest private college or university. For more information contact the development office at 7395 or hanna@up.edu.

Dundon-Berchtold Initiative

The University of Portland recently launched the first semester of the Dundon-Berchtold Initiative in Applied Ethics, funded by Amy Dundon-Berchtold and Jim Berchtold ’63, and designed to ensure that the University meets its “aspirations both to form the moral character of its students and to conduct sustained ethical reflection in applied aspects of business, science, engineering, education, health care and the arts.” The initiative began in January 2013 after seven faculty fellows and seven student scholars were selected. The faculty-student groups will work on distinct ethics projects over the course of the semester:

  • Brian Adams and Colin Mahoney ’15, business administration: “Issues in Finance: Planning a Financial Ethics Symposium”
  • Timothy Doughty and Jordan Schiemer ’14, engineering: “Ethical Resources for Engineers: What To Do When You Don’t Know What To Do”
  • Karen Eifler and Cady Anderson ’13, education: “Ethics from the Teaching Trenches: A Principled Framework for Differentiated Instruction”
  • Deana Julka and Georgia Wilson ’13, psychology: “Ethical Issues Related to the Adoption of Physical Activity Programs in Various Social Settings”
  • Jeff Kerssen-Griep and Danielle Christensen ’13, communication studies: “Exploring Ethics in Organizational Decision-Making Practices at the University of Portland”
  • Lorretta Krautscheid and Molly Brown ’14, nursing: “Micro-Ethical Decisions in Clinical Practice Settings: A Qualitative Investigation of Student Nurse Experiences”
  • Jacquie Van Hoomissen and Tiffany Chau ’13, biology: “Ethical Issues Related to the Adoption of Physical Activity Programs in Various Social Settings.”

For more information on the initiative go to http://tinyurl.com/bz2ssvl.