Executive Board & Committee Chairs
Officers & Committee Members
Lawrence J. (Larry) Sawyer:
President
Committee:Program
(Chair)
Thirty-one years of staff service in PSU AV Services as an AV
Technician. Retired as a management service Supervising AV Technician in
1997.
Clarence Hein: President-Elect
Committee: Program (Chair)
Clarence Hein retired in 2001 from the PSU President’s Office where he worked in community relations and did writing and research on university and public higher education policy. A native Portlander, he graduated from then Portland State College in 1965. As a student, he served as Editor of The Vanguard while working on daily newspapers and radio news in Portland.
Following graduation he worked in public relations for the Oregon Education Association. He earned a Master’s Degree in communications from the University of Washington in 1969 and continued working in newspapers and radio and television news in New York and Seattle. In 1978, Hein returned to Portland and to Portland State as Director of News and Information Services. He worked directly with five university presidents prior to his retirement. His son and daughter-in-law each hold two degrees from PSU and his wife, Becky, studied accounting at Portland State. She currently is Chief Financial Officer of the PSU Foundation.
Committee: Membership (Chair)
Marge
Terdal got her BA in English and History from Taylor University in 1959, MA in
English from Michigan State University in 1963, and Ph.D. in Curriculum &
Instruction from University of Oregon in 1985.
She began teaching English as a Second Language at Portland State University in 1973. After earning her Ph.D. she joined Portland State's new Department of Applied Linguistics, where she developed and taught courses for students in the TESL Certificate and MA TESOL programs. She was active in the local and international TESOL organizations, and taught in short-term programs in China, Germany, Hungary, and Costa Rica.
After retirement as Emerita Professor in 2001, she continued to teach in Germany, China, Qatar, and Ukraine. Marge and her husband, Leif, a retired OHSU clinical psychologist, travel internationally each year, volunteer with their church and Friendship Force, and spend as much time as possible with grandsons in Portland and Oklahoma. Marge also is active in the RAPS Book Group and RAPS Hikers.
Committee: Regional Retirement Association,
(Chair)
Robert Vogelsang came to PSU as chair of the Speech
Communication department in fall of 1970. Previously he had been on the faculty
(full & part time) for 14 years in Speech, Theatre & Communication
Disorders at Washington State University. Vogelsang held the department chair
post for nine years, and during that time was Executive Secretary of the Western
Speech Communication Association from 1969 - 76.
Vogelsang has been an educational puppeteer since 1954 & belonged to
local, national, and international puppet associations. The majority of his
career has been spent in teaching and research in teacher training in Speech
Communication & Theatre Arts. Vogelsang was president of Western Speech
Communication Association in 1980 - 81. That year he was also awarded a
Fulbright Fellowship as an exchange professor to West Germany.
He has
been active since retirement doing volunteer work in the Communication
department, with REPPS (now RAPS), and with the University of Washington
Retirement Association (UWRA). He recently completed a three-year tenure as
Executive Secretary/Treasurer of the North West Communication Association
(NWCA). Robert has previously served as President of RAPS from 2002-2003. He
is currently the Retirement Associations Committee Chair, which is working to
form a coalition between retirement associations in Oregon. Robert is married
to Barbara Exner Vogelsang, they have two grown daughters and a son. Vogelsang
is a caregiver who enjoys gardening and dear granddaughters – Teagan and Kiri
Isabella.
Joan Shireman:
Secretary
Joan has slowly re-traced the Oregon Trail over her
life-time, growing up in New Hampshire, spending many years in Chicago, and then
moving to Portland. She got her BA at Harvard/Radcliffe in 1956, and her MA and
PhD at the School of Social Service Administration of the University of Chicago
in 1959 and 1968. It was during her doctoral studies that she met her husband,
Charles, and it was his desire to move close to fly fishing streams after his
retirement that led to the move to Portland in 1985. Charles died in 2006 after
many years of good fly fishing.
At Portland State, Joan's major research and curricular interests were in child welfare, particularly foster care and adoption. She was instrumental in the development of a curriculum in child welfare at the School of Social Work, and then in the development of the Child Welfare Partnership (now the Center for the Improvement of Child Welfare Services). She led the development of the PhD in Social Work and Social Research, and served as Director of the program for several years. She spent a year as a visiting scholar in Scotland at the University of Edinburgh. She co-authored two books, and then in the year before retirement tried her hand as sole author of a book, Critical Issues in Child Welfare, published by Columbia University Press.
Joan retired in 2003, though friends and family claim she has not been very successful at retiring. She continues to teach in the field of child welfare at both the undergraduate and graduate level, but only one course a quarter. And not every quarter. She chaired the committee that began the development of the Bachelor's program in Social Work, set to admit its first students in the fall of 2008. And she continues to work with some doctoral students. Volunteer work with the Citizen's Review Board and with a Juvenile Court diversion program gives an opportunity to put that child welfare knowledge to some practical use. In 2006 she was astounded to receive the PSU Alumni Association's Distinguished Faculty Achievement Award.
Joan has been active in the Bridge playing group of RAPS, and recently joined the Book Group. But mostly she and her old dog putter about the house and garden, spending time with grandchildren, and being glad to have settled at the end of the Oregon Trail.
Doug Swanson: Newsletter
Editor
Doug Swanson joined the RAPS Board in January 2007 as editor
of the RAPS Sheet, the organization's monthly newsletter. He was director of the
Office of Publications at Portland State before retiring in 2006 after nearly 27
years with the University. He was born in California and is a graduate of the
University of Oregon.
Doug lives in Tigard with his wife, Barbara. They have a daughter, Lauren. The family dog, Ladybird, admires Doug very much.
Priscilla Blumel: Board Member-at-Large
Biography and photo coming soon!
Susan Jackson: Board Member-at-Large
Susan Jackson graduated from Indiana University in 1972 and became a
Eighth Grade Social Studies Teacher. After living in Europe for two
years she moved to Portland in 1978 and began working for PSU in the
Audio-Visual Department. She became interested in the Music Materials
housed in A-V and the new hot item--Compact Discs. She enjoyed working
with the Music Department, faculty, staff and students and was pleased
when the Library created the Music Room and Susan and all the music
materials moved to their new home in Millar Library.
Susan retired from the Library in 2006 as a Library Technician after 28 years of very happy times at PSU.
Susan lives with her two cats, Jaspurr and Jasmine in Northwest
Portland. She enjoys volunteer work and Irish Dancing. She also likes puzzles and meeting interesting and creative folks like those who
attend RAPS gatherings!
Dawn White: Board
Member-at-Large
Dawn White’s link to Portland State goes back to
1967, when she began her studies as a freshman at the tender age of 16. Except
for a six-year period in the early 70s working at The Oregonian as a proofreader
and typesetter, Dawn has been continuously affiliated with PSU for over four
decades. She earned a B.A degree (with honors) in English and did graduate work
in Public Administration.
Dawn retired in spring 2008 after an extremely satisfying 30-year career in international education that included stints as study abroad adviser, director of education abroad, and director of international student and faculty services. She dipped her toe in the retirement pond in 2003, moving to a part-time position as Director of International Faculty Services, the role she held at retirement. In addition to extensive service to the university and community, Dawn was very active in her professional association, serving in leadership roles at both the regional and national levels and presenting at many conferences. She was the recipient of a Fulbright Scholar award to Germany in 1994.
Post-retirement activities include travels with husband Charlie (retired PSU professor of history), making quilts for family and charity, playing with grandchildren, and sprucing up the Portland White House. She’s still looking for the extra hours she thought she would have for various and sundry other pursuits.
Committee Chairs:
Bob Tufts
Committee:
Awards (chair)
Committee: Pictoral History Book
(Chair)
Mary Gordon-Brannan completed her BS and MS degrees in
Speech-Language Pathology at Purdue University in1965 and 1967, respectively and
her PhD in Communication Disorders and Sciences at Wichita State University in
1993. She is a professor emeritus at Portland State University and served on the
faculty in the Speech & Hearing Sciences Program from 1972 to 2002 in the
roles of clinical supervisor, professor, Program Director, and Acting Department
Chair.
During Winter, 2003, she taught at the Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, SC. Prior to working at PSU, she practiced as a speech-language pathologist in public schools in Minnesota and Oregon. She is the co-author of a major textbook in articulation/phonological disorders, Clinic Management of Articulatory and Phonological Disorders. Her primary areas of teaching and research include articulation/phonological disorders, phonetics, intelligibility, and articulation/phonological treatment efficacy.
Over the years, she was active in both state and national professional
associations. Mary has made several presentations at professional conferences,
as well as workshops and inservice presentations across the country. She is a
Fellow of the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association and the Oregon
Speech-Language and Hearing Association.
Mary is continuing some
professional activities by attending professional meetings and teaching
a bit. Mostly, she is enjoying traveling and retirement!
Steve
Brannan:
History Preservation Committee
(Chair)
Steve Brannan received his BS in 1957 from Portland State
College (PSC), MS in 1961 from Oregon College of Education in Elementary
Education and Psychology, and EdD in 1965 in Special Education from Colorado
State College. He came to PSC in 1966 to help found the teacher preparation
program in Special Education. He retired in 1992 as professor emeritus and
continued part-time as principal investigator of nationwide research grants in
his field until 2000. During his PSU career, Brannan was a teacher, author,
program chair, practicum supervisor, researcher, grant writer and director, and
coordinator of the PSU/Kiwanis Camp Program for campers with disabilities.
In 1993 Steve became a life-time member of RAPS and, as president in 2000/2001, spearheaded inclusion of retired PSU staff as members, PSU funding for graduate student management of the RAPS office, and groundwork for RAPS taking a leadership role in furthering PSU's preservation and celebration of its history. Steve helped form the RAPS History Preservation Committee and initiated a campus-wide study leading to recruitment of a full-time archivist for the institution.
Steve and his wife, Mary, both retired to a floating home on the Willamette river and enjoy boating, photography, biking, skiing, writing, and travel, with recent trips to Spain and Greece. Steve and Mary are especially fond of their grandchildren, whom they visit often in Bend, Oregon, where the children all snowboard downhill on Mt. Bachelor while grandpa Steve continues to honor the tradition of skiing.
Vic Dahl:
Social/Friendship
Committee (Co-chair)
Vic Dahl began service at Portland State on
January 2, 1959, and retired on July 1, 1990. In addition to teaching history
courses nearly every term, Dahl served in various minor administrative posts in
the offices of the President, Dean of Faculty, International Programs, and
Graduate Studies, and with his wife Beryl's aid, fulfilled some assignments
abroad. Together they travel 3-4 months annually, his preference being the
Spanish-speaking world.
Dahl’s proudest bragging achievement at PSU was that after 1964 he was elected to serve on the President's Advisory Council every term for which he was constitutionally eligible. He used to be a gym rat, regularly playing handball and swimming, and was obsessed with auto mechanics and restoration, but aging has limited his activities--a lot! These days much of his time is devoted to reading the New York Times and yard maintenance.
Beryl A.
Dahl:
Social/Friendship Committee (Co-chair)
Beryl
A. Dahl has served Portland State University since 1959 as a Member and officer
of PSU Faculty Women's Association. During this time, Dahl allocated
scholarships to four students and subsequently delegated this function to PSU
Financial Aid Office. Other bequests to the University included purchase of one
of the first computer units for the library, hosting faculty receptions and teas
for newcomers, assisting the President's wife at campus events, and making
epaulets for graduating seniors.
Dahl held the offices of President, Vice President, Secretary and various committee memberships until the organization disbanded around 1995. Subsequently, Barbara Alberty and Dahl were assigned responsibility to administer the remaining account consisting of about $100,000. Dahl was also heavily involved with PSU Friends of History as a member of the Board of Directors, 1994-2002. She also served as Vice President, member-at-large, and a member of the Arrangements committee at various times.
As a Volunteer Aid, Dahl was involved in the management of study abroad programs in Yugoslavia (1970-72); Soviet Union (April 1971); Ecuador and Peru (July-August 1979); and Mexico (April-June 1985). She also collected teaching and research materials for spouse on field trips in Mexico, Guatemala, Ecuador, Peru, Chile, Argentina, and Brazil from 1979-1990.
Dahl is active in International and national travel on an annual basis; caring for her grandchildren; music, theatre, and artistic entertainment. She participates in community organizations and political party activities, and enjoys socializing with friends.
MiMi Bernal-Graves:
RAPS Office
Manager / Graduate Administrative Assistant
MiMi Bernal-Graves is
currently pursuing a Masters of Education degree, specializing in
Sustainability, at PSU. She received her undergraduate degree in Environmental
Studies with emphasis in Biology from Pacific University. While attending
Pacific University she held many positions with Theta Nu Alpha Sorority, and
during her tenure as President they were given the Community Service of the Year
Award. She also had the opportunity to present research regarding the effects of
organo-chlorine pesticides on Columbia River White Sturgeon at the National
Society of Toxicology.
She has worked with SOLV as a Site Coordinator, Field Volunteer and Office Volunteer. MiMi has volunteered as a Science Fair Judge for children here in the Portland Metro Area. Her activities outside of volunteer work include participation in the Lance Armstrong Livestrong annual bike ride, Race for the Cure, Lake Run and the Shamrock Run to name a few. MiMi enjoys participating in events which support organizations such as Doernbecher Children's Hospital and organizations which donate to cancer research.
A nice walk in the Portland Rose Garden, enjoying Portland Saturday Market, a day at the beach or a hike in the mountains are all activities MiMi enjoys in her spare time. She also likes to crochet, cook, garden, read and spend time with her husband. MiMi loves animals; she has two birds, a small dog, and a bunny that are all very spoiled.
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