PSU is Oregon’s Urban Research University

The new year has brought new challenges and some uncertainty to our campus as we navigate changing federal guidelines and keep a sharp eye trained on the civil rights of our students and our community.

In the midst of it all, one thing is more clear than ever: Portland State is here to serve. We serve our students, we serve our employees, we serve our city and we serve the entire state of Oregon.

This week, Vice President for Research and Graduate Studies Rick Tankersley and I had the pleasure of carrying that message to Salem as we testified in front of the House Higher Education and Workforce Development Committee in support of House Bill 2556. That bill, introduced by Rep. Dacia Grayber and Sen. Kate Lieber, formally designates PSU as Oregon’s urban research university.

This bill becoming law formalizes something that has been true for decades. The issues that Portland State addresses through its research are the pressing issues that cities across the state are facing — from climate change to housing and livability, from sustainable transportation systems to modernizing the power grid, from earthquake preparedness to cybersecurity.

Core to our values is collaboration which means that our faculty co-create research projects across disciplines, across institutions and alongside community partners.

For eight decades Portland State has served as Oregon’s urban anchor, creating a pipeline for innovation that serves our largest industries and spurs economic development. 

We look forward to continuing that work as the state’s designated urban research university, identifying our greatest challenges and finding the solutions that can be scaled across Oregon and move us confidently into the future.