UPbeat

News for and about University of Portland faculty and staff.

John Beckman

You Must Be Joking! Brian Doyle Scholarships, 2016-2017

U of P - students and faculty on a white background

Five University of Portland students have been awarded $3,333 Brian Doyle Scholarships in Gentle & Sidelong Humor, having agreed to publicly share a project that “brings the community together in laughter, acts as a statement that the cultural bias to cruel humor and constant irony is shallow, promotes helpless giggling, and insists gently that true humor is a weapon against violence and greed,” as set forth by donor John Beckman ’42, who began the scholarships with his wife Patricia as part of the RISE Campaign. The recipients are:

  • Molly Kerns, who will borrow a page from the Portsmouth Sinfonia, which chose to take skillful musicians and have them play several well-known pieces after switching instruments with each other. The results are music that is just recognizable and entirely hilarious.
  • Isabelle Pisani, who proposes to create a short film titled “I could never be a nurse” with the help of the School of Nursing, to provide a comical glimpse into the life of a student nurse.
  • Alana Laanui, who intends to produce and share a video working with some of the Holy Cross priests on campus. She will show them how to use Snapchat and record their reactions to some of the more popular filters.
  • Guadalupe Zamora-Resendiz, whose idea is to conduct a project combining the lyric theater, music, actUP, and improv clubs on campus in a music/theater production where the students of these clubs, as well as other UP students who wish to participate, present scenes ranging from Shakespeare to more modern works to improv and works from opera to musical theater.
  • Sawyer Hudson proposes broadcasting a comedy podcast talkshow at KDUP, inspired by alternative comedy podcasts like “Comedy Bang Bang,” “improv4humans,” and audience participation shows like “Wait, Wait, Don’t Tell Me.”

For more information contact Denise Stack, development, at stack@up.edu.

RISE Campaign Closes, Exceeds Goal by $7 Million

RISE150University of Portland has successfully completed its RISE Campaign, raising nearly $182 million and exceeding its goal by almost $7 million, making it one of the largest funding campaigns ever for a Pacific Northwest private college or university.

The campaign, which began in 2007 and was publically launched in 2010 with a goal of raising $175 million, had more than 19,300 donors and raised money for such essentials as annual and endowed scholarships, faculty grants and development, construction of buildings and major renovations.

Campaign highlights include raising $48.6 million to establish more than 200 new annual and endowed scholarships and provide financial assistance for 5,595 students. Another $74.5 million was raised to construct or renovate 12 buildings on campus. Schools and programs received $24.7 million in campaign support, faculty grants and development $8.6 million, athletics $2 million, and a total of $22.6 million was received as unrestricted funds.

Co-chairs of the RISE Campaign were University regent Nancy K. Bryant, a community leader and volunteer in the Portland area, and alumnus Patrick Becker, Jr., ’88, president of Portland-based Becker Capital Management, Inc.

A key component of the campaign was the Donald P. Shiley School of Engineering, which began its rise when the late Donald Shiley, a 1951 University graduate, and his wife, University regent Darlene Shiley, made a lead gift of $12 million in 2007 to renovate the building. Their support, along with that of hundreds of other generous alumni and friends—notably engineer, entrepreneur, and inventor Ed Sweo, a 1956 graduate and University regent, and his wife, Sharon—allowed Shiley Hall to open in 2009 with 28,000 additional square feet for labs, classrooms and offices. Darlene Shiley later pledged an additional $8 million gift, bringing the Shileys’ total giving to the University to more than $20 million, the largest gift in University history. The landmark $8 million gift was made to fund engineering student scholarships, as well as faculty research and development.

Other capital projects included Bauccio Commons, a new and renovated student dining facility; a new campus bell tower; a renovated Science Hall, which was renamed Don V. Romanaggi, M.D. Hall; the Clark Library; and the Chapel of Christ the Teacher. The construction of Schoenfeldt and Fields Halls, two new student residence halls, has enabled 310 more students to live on campus. Funds were raised to upgrade athletic facilities, including the Chiles Center and Joe Etzel Field, and support performing and fine arts and student activities programs. The University also purchased 35 acres of Willamette River-front property adjacent to campus to provide for future expansion of facilities.

One of the final capital projects is currently under construction and named for Rev. E. William Beauchamp, C.S.C., who served as UP’s president from 2003-2014: the Beauchamp Recreation and Wellness Center. This project was made possible by lead gifts from University regent Mary Boyle and her husband Tim, and also through the Ann and Bill Swindells Charitable Trust. Fundraising for the center received a boost from alumnus Rich Baek ’93 M.E., ’02 MBA, a member of the University’s board of regents. Baek made a challenge gift to young alumni that eventually led to gifts by more than 750 recent graduates.

Another campaign highlight was a $4 million gift from regent Amy Dundon-Berchtold and Jim Berchtold ’63, to establish the Dundon-Berchtold Fund for Moral Development and Applied Ethics. The fund, created to deepen the school’s focus on developing ethical leaders, was spearheaded by Fr. Mark Poorman, C.S.C., who plans to continue teaching his popular class, the Character Project.

Also, as a result of the continued support and estate plan of John ’42 and Patricia Beckman, the University started the Humor Project, a multi-disciplinary effort to study and promote humor as a “spiritual and revolutionary energy in every field of endeavor, from business to politics to the arts and beyond.”

Beyond the dollar amount raised, another key measure of the campaign’s success is a 63 percent increase in annual donors, from 4,175 in fiscal year 2006 to 6,800 in 2014. Additionally, over the course of the campaign, undergraduate student enrollment has increased 31% from 2,753 in 2007 to 3,612 (expected) in 2014.

For more information on the success of the RISE Campaign, please see the Salute to Heroes video at http://tinyurl.com/lxpot87, or contact development at hanna@up.edu.

Spring 2014 Commencement, May 4

commencement4 copyThe University is preparing for a record number of graduates in its 2014 spring commencement exercises on Sunday, May 4, set for 1:30 p.m. , in the Chiles Center. University president Rev. E. William Beauchamp, C.S.C., will confer an anticipated 818 bachelor’s degrees on Sunday. Also participating will be 111 students who expect to be awarded bachelor’s degrees at the end of the summer, for an all-time record 929 undergraduate students. Anne Thompson, NBC News’ Chief Environmental Affairs correspondent, will deliver the commencement address and receive an honorary doctorate.

The University will hold a separate commencement ceremony for an anticipated 212 graduate students on Saturday, May 3, at 12:30 p.m., in the Chiles Center. Fr. Beauchamp will be the commencement speaker. No tickets are required for graduate commencement.

Tickets are required for all undergraduate commencement events. Please visit this site (http://tinyurl.com/axmryjw) for ticket information. For those unable to attend, the University will be providing a free live web stream of both Saturday’s and Sunday’s ceremonies at www.up.edu/commencement/video.

Receiving the University’s highest honor, the Christus Magister Medal, is Carolyn Woo, president and CEO of Catholic Relief Services (CRS), which reaches some 130 million people in nearly 100 countries annually with its relief and development work. Before joining CRS in 2012, Woo was dean and professor at the University of Notre Dame’s Mendoza School of Business, and a vice president and professor at Purdue University.

Receiving honorary doctorates at the University’s May 4 commencement: Anne Thompson, NBC environmental affairs correspondent since 2007. She has traveled the world in that capacity, reporting on pollution, alternative fuels, global warming, land usage and new technologies, among many other topics. She began her broadcasting career at WNDU-TV in Indiana after her graduation from the University of Notre Dame.

John Beckman, of the Class of 1942, was instrumental in the invention of the photo-finish camera. Beckman, along with his wife Patricia, is a noted philanthropist to musical, historical, communal and educational causes in Oregon. He and Patricia are the founders of the University’s Humor Project, a multi-disciplinary effort to study and foment humor as a “spiritual and revolutionary energy in every field of endeavor, from business to politics to the arts and beyond.”

James Popham, of the Class of 1953, is a professor of education emeritus at UCLA, an internationally renowned scholar on testing methods and efficacy, and the author of many books. UCLA has honored him as one of its best 20 professors of the 20th century. Popham has been president of the American Educational Research Association, is the founding editor of the journal Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis, and is a popular speaker who is often in demand for his humor as much as for his expertise in educational evaluation and measurement.

Ed Ray, president of Oregon State University since 2003, has directed a remarkable era at one of the state’s largest public universities. During his tenure, the school has raised more than $1 billion for students and faculty, developed a national reputation for research in science, opened and expanded the Oregon State U/Cascades campus in Bend, and successfully grappled with declining public funding.

Most Reverend Alexander Sample, the eleventh Archbishop of Portland in Oregon, was twice appointed a bishop by Pope Benedict XVI – first to the Diocese of Marquette, Michigan, in 2005, and then to Portland in 2013, succeeding Most Reverend John Vlazny.

For more information contact university events at 7523 or events@up.edu.

2014 Honorary Doctorates, Christus Magister

The University of Portland will honor the following individuals at Commencement on Sunday, May 4:

woo150Carolyn Woo (pictured) has been chosen to receive the Christus Magister Medal, the University’s highest honor. Woo is president and CEO of Catholic Relief Services, which reaches some 130 million people in nearly 100 countries annually with its relief and development work. Before joining CRS in 2012, Woo was dean and professor at the University of Notre Dame’s Mendoza School of Business (recognized as the best in America for undergraduate and ethics education during her tenure) and a vice president and professor at Purdue University, where she earned all three of her degrees.

John Beckman, of the University of Portland’s Class of 1942, will receive an honorary doctorate. He was instrumental in the invention of the photo-finish camera; is a superb photographer; is a serious amateur cosmologist, pianist, and theoretical mathematician; is a licensed pilot; for many years ran a ranch in California; and, with his wife Patricia, is a noted philanthropist to musical, historical, communal, and educational causes in Oregon. He and Patricia are the founders of the University’s Humor Project, a multi-disciplinary effort to study and foment humor as a “spiritual and revolutionary energy in every field of endeavor, from business to politics to the arts and beyond.”

James Popham, of the University of Portland’s Class of 1953, will receive an honorary doctorate. Popham is a professor of education emeritus at UCLA, an internationally renowned scholar on testing methods and efficacy, and the author of many books. UCLA has honored him as one of its best 20 professors of the 20th century. Jim has been president of the American Educational Research Association, is the founding editor of the journal Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis, and is a wonderfully wry and witty speaker, as much in demand for his humor as for his expertise in educational evaluation and measurement.

Ed Ray, president of Oregon State University since 2003, will receive an honorary doctorate. Ray has directed a remarkable era at one of the state’s largest public universities; during his tenure the school has raised more than $900 million for students and faculty, developed a national reputation for research in science, opened and expanded the Oregon State U/Cascades campus in Bend, and successfully grappled with declining public funding.

Most Reverend Alexander Sample, the eleventh Archbishop of Portland in Oregon (the fourth, Alexander Christie, was the founder of the University of Portland in 1901), will receive an honorary doctorate. Sample was twice appointed a bishop by Pope Benedict XVI – first to the Diocese of Marquette, Michigan, in 2005, and then to Portland in 2013, succeeding Most Reverend John Vlazny. A Montana native, Archbishop Sample earned his undergraduate and graduate degrees in metallurgical engineering at Michigan Tech, before being ordained a priest in 1990, and serving widely as a parish priest before his elevation.

Anne Thompson, NBC News’ Chief Environmental Affairs correspondent since 2007, will receive an honorary doctorate. She has traveled the world reporting on pollution, alternative fuels, global warming, land usage, and new technologies, among many other topics. She has also been the network’s chief financial correspondent and national news reporter, and was an award-winning reporter for WDIV-TV in Detroit and KSDK-TV in Saint Louis. She began her broadcasting career at WNDU-TV in Indiana, after her graduation from the University of Notre Dame. At the invitation of University president Father Bill Beauchamp, C.S.C., Thompson will deliver the University’s 2014 Commencement Address.

For more information contact the president’s office at 7101 or simek@up.edu.