Rev. Paul Waldschmidt C.S.C.

From Our Past

December 11, 2015

A number of the University’s legendary Holy Cross priests passed away over the years during the month of December, including:

Father Art Schoenfeldt, C.S.C., died on December 9, 2007 at Holy Cross House in Notre Dame, Indiana. He was 77 years old. Known to students, alumni, faculty, and staff alike as “Padre,” Fr. Schoenfeldt served and lived at the University of Portland from 1978 until a few months before his death. In the earlier of these years he served as resident director of Christie Hall, but his ministry to students and staff continued through his years of residence in Mehling Hall and at Holy Cross Court. He was a native of Portland and graduated from Columbia Prep when the school was still located on the Bluff. Schoenfeldt Hall, a student residence funded in part by a gift from his family, is named in Padre’s honor.
Father Michael O’Brien, C.S.C., died on December 16, 2003, at the age of 92. He had served at the University of Portland as a faculty member in the English department, as chairman of the department, and as vice president for academic affairs from 1969 to 1976. He enjoyed a reputation as a popular, inspiring, and witty member of the University community. He had earlier served as the dean of studies under an older title and as resident director of the Salzburg Program.
Father John L. VanWolvlear, C.S.C., died on December 21, 1995 at Notre Dame, Indiana, at the age of 73. He was playing a game of tennis at the time, “and no doubt Van was winning,” according to Rev. George Bernard, C.S.C., in a eulogy for his good friend. Fr. Van, as he was universally called, came to Portland in 1965 and served in several posts, notably as director of admissions. He remained at Portland until 1973 when he was appointed resident director of the Salzburg Program. Many alumni and colleagues will remember his booming voice and habit of roaring with laughter at the conclusion of his many stories.

Also, the Christmas season has always had special meaning to the University, most obviously due to its long association with the fathers and brothers of the Congregation of Holy Cross. For many years the University hosted an annual Christmas party for children of faculty and staff, complete with visits from Santa Claus. The duty of putting on the Santa suit was shared among University faculty and administrators for many years, and during the 1960s and 1970s the suit was often donned by University president Rev. Paul Waldschmidt, C.S.C. (pictured), who had a special gift for channeling the spirit of Old Saint Nick.

For more information on UP history see the University Almanac at www.up.edu/almanac.

From Our Past

August 18, 2013

August 24, 1891 marked the cornerstone dedication of West Hall, home of the Methodist-sponsored Portland University. West Hall, now renamed Waldschmidt Hall, was a five-story multi-purpose structure in “Richardsonian Romanesque” style designed for classrooms, offices, dining and dormitory living. The architects, McCraw, Martin and White, were influenced by the nationally-known architect, H.H. Richardson, and possibly patterned the structure as a simplified version of Sever Hall at Harvard. A Portland architectural commission eventually designated the building an historical landmark in the 1960s. It was red brick with ground floor masonry of random coursed grey stone, approximately 85 by 135 feet, with two projecting bays in front and one in the rear. The chapel, dining hall and kitchen occupied the first floor, while the second floor contained classrooms, offices, and library. The third and fourth floors were used for dormitory purposes with the fifth or attic floor serving eventually as a small game room and scientific laboratory-museum. Methodist Bishop Oscar P. Fitzgerald laid the cornerstone on August 24, 1891, and the construction cost of the building was $32,500, according to the Report of the Oregon Annual Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church in August 1892. One of the University’s great iconic structures, West Hall was completely refurbished in 1991-1992 and renamed in honor of Rev. Paul Waldschmidt, C.S.C., who served as president of the University from 1962 to 1978.

For more University history see the University Almanac at www.up.edu/almanac.

James Peña, residence life, was honored with the 2020 New Professional Award from the Northwest Association of College and University Housing Officers. The award celebrates James’ contributions to Residence Life, the campus community, and the student affairs/residence life profession outside of UP.

Jakob Kotas, mathematics, had his article, “Atmospheric CO2,” Systemic Initiative for Modeling Investigations and Opportunities with Differential Equations” published by SIMIODE, an education community where modeling comes first in teaching differential equations, in January 2020.

Martin Cenek, Shiley School of Engineering, had his article, “‘One Size Does Not Fit All’: A Roadmap of Purpose-Driven Mixed-Method Pathways for Sensitivity Analysis of Agent-Based Models” (with coauthors Arika Ligmann-Zielinska, Peer-Olaf Siebers, Nick Maglioccia, Dawn Parker, Volker Grimm, Eric Jing Du, Nazia Arbab, Uta Berger, Rajiv Paudel, Derek Robinson, Piotr Jankowski, Li An, Xinyue Ye, and student coauthor Viktoriia Radchuk) published in Journal of Artificial Societies and Social Simulation, 23 (1) 6. January 2020.

Bob Butler, environmental studies emeritus, Jenda Johnson, Earth Sciences Animated, and Wendy Bohon, IRIS education specialist, published “Haiti 2010 – 10 Years Later,” an animation feature which explores plate tectonics, earthquake damage, and rebuilding efforts after the devastating magnitude 7.0 earthquake in Haiti on January 12, 2010. Animation can be found on the IRIS website at this link or on YouTube at this link.

Christina Ivler, Shiley School of Engineering, had her presentation, “Development and Simulation of Damage Tolerant Control Laws for a Compound Helicopter,” (with Joe Horn, Eric Johnson) published in Proceedings of the AIAA SciTech Conference, Orlando, FL, January 2020. She presented “Development and Flight Validation of Unmanned Aerial System Handling Qualities Requirements for Multicopters” (with Declan Kerwin, Kevin Truong, Joel Otomize) at the same conference.

Simon Aihiokhai, theology, presented “Solitude, Identity, and Vocation” at the University of Portland’s spring semester retreat for resident assistants on January 9, 2020. He presented “Christian Identity as an Invitation to Become the Medium of God’s Life in the World: In Memory of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.,” a reflection given at the 2020 MLK Celebration Mass at Saint Andrew Parish, Northeast Portland, OR, on January 12, 2020.

Matthew Kuhn, Shiley School of Engineering, had his article, “Linear-frictional contact model for 3D discrete element simulations of granular systems” (with coauthors Ali Daouadji, Kiichi Suzuki) published in International Journal for Numerical Methods in Engineering, 2020, volume 121, No. 3, pp. 560-569. DOI 10.1002/nme.6216 (February 2020).

Aziz Inan, Shiley School of Engineering, had his piece, “My View: Franklin’s life a nice piece of Pi,” published in the January 17, 2020 edition of the Portland Tribune. See the article using this link.

Nicole Hanig, performing and fine arts, performed a recital (“Social Justice in Art Song”) with pianist Susan McDaniel as part of the Twilight Concerts at the Cathedral series in Limerick, Ireland on January 17, 2020. She also offered a Master Class in voice practice on January 18.

Jane Scott and Susan Stillwell, nursing, had their article, “Sensitive Versus Specific Search Strategy to Answer Clinical Questions,” published in Journal of Nursing Education, 59(1), 22-25.

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