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Chair
Vice Chair
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Oregon Humanities board members should be willing to advise and support the organization's work in a number of ways. Board members serve renewable three-year terms and attend three general meetings per year that are held in various locations around the state. The Oregon Humanities board has financial oversight of the organization, takes an active role in fundraising, sets policy, approves new program initiatives, and promotes awareness of the organization.
Oregon Humanities invites nominations for its board of directors. Oregon Humanities is a tax exempt, nonprofit organization and an independent affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH). It is supported by NEH funds as well as gifts from area foundations, corporations, and individuals.
Oregon Humanities is looking for nominees who are committed to public service and interested in making the humanities widely available to audiences across the state. Nominees should be supportive of the organization’s mission and principles.
Candidates must be nominated by someone other than themselves. Letters of nomination should include the candidate’s name and address; a brief description of why this person should serve on the Oregon Humanities Board of Directors, including his or her experience and interest in the public humanities. A curriculum vitae or resume should also be included.
Please send the above information to Oregon Humanities, Attn: Nominations Committee, 813 SW Alder Street, Suite 702, Portland, Oregon 97205. All nominees will be notified in writing of the receipt of their materials. Successful candidates will be contacted by the Nominations Committee chair.
Robert Z. Melnick is director of John Yeon Centers and Professor of Landscape Architecture at the University of Oregon in Eugene, where he has taught since 1982. He was elected to the board in winter 2002. Robert’s professional work is focused on the understanding and protection of significant historic and cultural landscapes. He is a fellow of the American Society of Landscape Architects and is the author of many articles on landscape preservation.
John Frohnmayer was the chair of the National Endowment for the Arts during the first Bush administration. A lawyer, author, and ethicist, John was elected to the board in summer 2007. He has published two books: Leaving Town Alive, an account of his experience at the NEA, and Out of Tune: Listening to the First Amendment, a text for high school and college courses, which was also turned into a musical. John continues to speak around the country on issues of art, constitutional law, ethics, and leadership, and works on his farm in Corvallis.
Kathleen Davis was the regional development director in Medford for the Oregon Community Foundation before retiring. She was elected to the OCH board in summer 2007. Her extensive community activities include board membership for the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, the Oregon Arts Commission, the Oregon Alliance for Arts Education, and the Southern Oregon Estate Planning Council.
David Gutterman is an assistant professor at Willamette University in Salem, where he lives. David teaches courses on political theory, dissent in American politics, and religion and politics. He has published work on the conversion narrative of George W. Bush, belief in American life, and gender and politics. David was elected to the board in summer 2007.
Ed Battistella of Ashland was elected to the board in winter 2009. He is a professor of English and writing at Southern Oregon University and has served as dean of the School of Arts & Letters. Battistella is coeditor-in-chief of Wiley-Blackwell’s online journal Linguistics and Language Compass and is the author of several books, including Do You Make These Mistakes in English? He has contributed to Oregon Humanities magazine, most recently in the fall 2008 issue on the theme of civility.
Jay Casbon is CEO and vice provost at Oregon State University, Cascades, in Bend. The governor appointed him to the board in fall 2007. Jay’s professional experiences include careers in private and public education. Jay recently edited Teaching with Fire: Poetry that Sustains the Courage to Teach to help teachers in public schools restore their faith in the profession.
Paul currently practices mediation and arbitration of civil actions, and was a trial lawyer for more than forty years. He is an active member of the Oregon State Bar Association and Oregon Mediation Association. Paul is a founder of the Oregon Law Related Education Project and for twenty years has been a trustee of the Gordon Foundation, which awards grants to children. We was appointed to the board in November 2009.
Christine Dupres is an enrolled member of the Cowlitz Indian Tribe of SW Washington and is the Sustainability Officer at Native American Youth and Family Center (NAYA) in Portland. Christine was elected to the board in fall 2008, and before joining NAYA worked at the Lewis & Clark College Graduate School of Education and Counseling on an “Indigenous Ways of Knowing Project.” Social justice work and working with Native populations are her passions.
Carol Edelman founded her own architectural firm, Edelman Associates, in Portland in 1970. She was appointed to the board by the governor in fall 2002. She recently retired after more than thirty years as managing partner, specializing in space planning and interior design. She serves on the board of Ecotrust and designed the Ecotrust offices and the Ecotrust Conference Center which was given a gold-level Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification. Carol is also past chair of the national board of the American Crafts Council.
Miriam Feuerle is the founder of Lyceum Agency, which represents best-selling authors, including Elizabeth Gilbert, Ursula Le Guin, James Howard Kunstler, and Jonathan Lethem. She was elected to the board in winter 2008. Miriam has worked as a consultant to nonprofits in the fields of philanthropy and program development, research, strategic planning, and arts and culture and has taught classes through Portland State University’s Institute for Nonprofit Management.
Gillian D. Floren is vice president of marketing and business retention at Green Light Greater Portland, a consortium of private sector leaders dedicated to growing a sustainable and vibrant economic future for the Portland-metropolitan area. Previously, she was the editor and then publisher of Oregon Business magazine. She has taught journalism courses for Duke University’s young writers program. Gillian was elected to the board in fall 2008.
Sara Hopkins-Powell is executive dean and vice provost of the College of Health Professions at Pacific University in Hillsboro. Prior to that post she was president of Southern Oregon University, where she worked and taught for twelve years. She was elected to the board in spring 2004 and has more than thirty-three years of experience as an educator, consultant, and manager in a variety of healthcare settings.
Jeremy Kaye is a creative director of Ziba Design in Portland, where he most recently led teams responsible for building the company’s business in Japan and China, including athletic shoe company Li-Ning. He has also worked with clients such as Nike, Patagonia, and Banana Republic. He was elected to the board in fall 2009.
Barbara Mahoney was elected to the board in summer 2007 and is an author and historian and former development director. Her book Dispatches and Dictators: Ralph Barnes for the Herald Tribune received the 2003 Oregon Book Award for General Nonfiction. Barbara is former chair of the Oregon Arts Commission and a former member of the Oregon Historical Society Press editorial advisory board.
Win McCormack is founder and publisher of the literary journal Tin House and lives in Portland. He was appointed to the board by the governor in fall 2002. He has been investing in magazines since the 1960s when he helped create Mother Jones. Win serves on the Editorial Advisory Board of the magazine and as an official of the Democratic Party of Oregon.
Ben Moorad is the cofounder of Write Around Portland, a nonprofit organization providing writing workshops and opportunities for humanities-based interaction to low-income, socially isolated individuals. Ben has many years of nonprofit governance experience and has worked as a consultant on fundraising and board development. Ben has been a partner and a community advocate for OCH for nearly ten years. He was elected to the board in summer 2007.
Gretchen Schuette is president emeritus of Chemeketa Community College and a former Commissioner of Oregon Community Colleges. She has also served on the state’s Board of Higher Education. Her career has been devoted to serving public education in Oregon in K–12, community college, and university sectors. Gretchen was appointed to the board by the governor in fall 2008.
Jennifer Viviano is a Portland-based graphic designer with twenty years of experience with arts and culture clients including Oregon Humanities, Oregon Arts Commission, Oregon Historical Society, and Northwest Business for Culture and the Arts. She was elected to the board in fall 2009.
Rich Wandschneider is the founding director of Fishtrap Inc., an educational nonprofit that promotes writing and writers in the West in Enterprise, where he lives. Rich was elected to the board in winter 2009. He has served on the Editorial Advisory Board of the magazine since 2007. Rich is currently working to establish a Fishtrap Endowment. He writes a regular column for the Wallowa County Chieftain and has written for the Oregonian, High Country News, Portland Magazine, and High Desert Journal.