(From the Spring 2011 Oregon Stater)
Friends and supporters of OSU headed to the annual Destination OSU celebration in Rancho Mirage, Calif., this spring to celebrate the university and to honor alumni for service to the university.
James G. Youde, ’62, and Judith Atwood Youde, ’62, received the OSUAA Dan Poling Service Award.
Outstanding universities depend upon the loyal service of alumni and friends – and Dan W. Poling, a 1928 graduate who joined the faculty of his alma mater in 1937 and served for more than five decades, was a shining example to thousands of Oregon Staters as dean of men, mentor, teacher and friend.
The Poling Award honors those who have volunteered a significant amount of time to OSU, demonstrating their abiding love for the university and its traditions as they carry on the legacy of “Dean Dan,” as he was affectionately known.
The Youdes founded Northwest Economic Associates, Inc., a natural resource and economic consulting firm based in Vancouver, Wash. They have served extensively in volunteer roles on campus, making a combined contribution few alumni couples can equal. Both have served on the OSUAA Board of Directors, the E.R. Jackman Fellows Committee in the College of Agricultural Sciences and the OSU Foundation Board of Trustees.
Judith currently serves on the OSU Library Advisory Council, while Jim is a member of the College of Agricultural Sciences Campaign Cabinet. He also is a founding board member of Farmers Ending Hunger, an organization that solicits donations of crops from growers for distribution through local food banks and social service agencies.
Norbert J. Wellman, ’54, received the Martin Chaves Lifetime Achievement Award from OSU Athletics. Co-founder of Ferguson Wellman Capital Management in Portland, he was a starting pitcher when OSU played in the NCAA College World Series in 1952. His firm now manages $2.8 billion in assets and has received multiple corporate philanthropy awards from the Portland Business Journal as well as the Oregon and Southwest Washington Chapter of the Association of Fundraising Professionals.
In 2007 Wellman was named a Lifetime Trustee for his outstanding leadership on the OSU Foundation Board of Trustees. Recently he has led efforts to create an endowment for OSU baseball in honor of Coach Pat Casey. He and his wife, Ann Ridings Wellman, ’55, live in Portland.
Sam Wheeler, ’50, of Vancouver, Wash., was honored with the Lifetime Trustee Award, which is conferred by the OSU Foundation on individuals who have demonstrated outstanding service to the foundation and the university. Starting in 1978, Wheeler, retired senior vice president of Willamette Industries and president of the Wheeler Foundation, served nearly two decades on the OSU Foundation Board of Trustees and was a member of the steering committee that led the successful four-year FourSight! effort, the university’s first sustained major gift initiative and an early precursor to today’s Campaign for OSU.
He served on the 4-H Foundation Board and College of Science Advanced Materials Research Advisory Board. He also served on boards for a wide variety of organizations including Keep Oregon Green, the World Forestry Center, Columbia River Maritime Museum, Oregon Historical Society, DePaul Treatment Center and Lewis and Clark College. In 2007 he was recognized with the alumni association’s E.B. Lemon Distinguished Alumni Award.
