Alumni
November 6, 2024
Today, the University of Portland community mourns the passing of Albert (Al) Corrado, ’55, ’01 Hon., who died at home October 8 surrounded by his wife, Sue, and his family.
Athletics
Alumni
July 13, 2023
After a storied career spanning two decades, Rapinoe leaves a venerable legacy as an icon of women’s soccer.
Development
Alumni
April 4, 2023
Advancing the legacy and the enduring impact he created alongside his late wife, Amy Dundon-Berchtold, University of Portland (UP) alumnus Jim Berchtold ’63 has announced an $18 million dollar estate gift that will primarily fund scholarships and tuition assistance for future UP students.
Portland Magazine
Alumni
June 1, 2022
While scrambling to find toilet paper during the first March of the COVID-19 pandemic, Sarah Mooney ’96 received a call from her program director. He gave her the classic, anxiety-inducing phrase: “I’ve got good news and I’ve got bad news.” The good news was that she won the 2019 Correctional Services Contractor of the Year award for the GED tutoring program she manages. The bad news was that she could no longer go to work. Columbia River Correctional Facility was on lockdown.
Commencement
Portland Magazine
Alumni
June 1, 2022
At this year’s Commencement, Kunal Nayyar—UP alum from the class of 2003 and professional actor known best for his role in the sitcom The Big Bang Theory—addressed the graduates of 2022. He told them that anything is possible, and he was so funny, warm, and charming that it was hard not to believe him. What follows is a lightly edited excerpt of his speech.
Alumni
Portland Magazine
December 6, 2021
Danny McGarry '17 shares his favorite winter drink and the memories that go along with it as part of University of Portland's 25 Days 'til Christmas.
Portland Magazine
Alumni
November 24, 2021
For Ryan Szto ’21, the joy of engineering begins with the simple notion of being in the field. “I hated sitting behind a desk at school,” he says, “so I didn’t want to do that at work.” Ryan is a product validation engineer at Daimler, a truck manufacturer, whose offices are ten minutes away from campus. There, Ryan is working in the growing field of Daimler’s electric-powered semi-trucks.
Portland Magazine
Alumni
June 9, 2021
Recent graduate and set designer Kat Yo ’21 brings her passion for sustainability and Korean folklore—and her dazzling imagination—to UP’s stage.
Portland Magazine
Alumni
June 9, 2021
When David Austin graduated from UP’s newly minted MBA in Nonprofit Management program in 2013, he earned the Moreau Fellows Award for Outstanding Service and Leadership for his work with Mercy Corps. Turns out, that was just a hint of much—much—bigger things to come.
Portland Magazine
Alumni
June 9, 2021
In some ways, the pandemic changed the focus of Tara Benavente’s day-to-day work. In other ways, she is doing what she has always done since she graduated from UP in 2014—bringing her abiding belief in hospitality to the community where she lives.
Alumni
Portland Magazine
June 9, 2021
Dawn Nelson ’82, longtime kindergarten teacher for Portland Public Schools, says she’s “failing at retirement.” The main reason she hasn’t had too much downtime in the last year is her booming cookie business.
Portland Magazine
Alumni
June 9, 2021
Sometimes the student and the parent end up learning a thing or two.
Alumni
Portland Magazine
May 26, 2021
Thoughts from Graduating Senior, Devonna Begay ’21.
Portland Magazine
Alumni
May 26, 2021
Gina Amato Yazzolino ’96 is UP’s—no, your—new director of alumni and parent relations, and she has hit the ground running here on The Bluff.
Alumni
May 24, 2021
UP alum Conor Eifler’s play “You Cannot Undo This Action,” received the Angus Bowmer Award for Drama from the 2021 Oregon Book Awards. Eifler’s psychological thriller was inspired by conversations with the Ida B. Wells High School community about social media and how it’s affecting the lives of adolescents. In exploring these issues, “You Cannot Undo This Action” aims to spark dialogue about our rapidly evolving digital world.
Alumni
March 25, 2021
The University of Portland (UP) has announced the appointment of Gina Amato Yazzolino as its new director of alumni and parent relations effective April 12. UP Vice President for University Relations J. Bryce Strang made the announcement today, concluding an extensive search process. Yazzolino, a 1996 graduate of UP, succeeds Craig Swinyard, Ph.D. ’98, who stepped away from the position last December after six years to rejoin his University academic colleagues as an associate professor in the Department of Mathematics.
Alumni
Portland Magazine
March 9, 2021
Got questions about your camellias? Jim Nuccio ’72, co-owner of an 85-year-old family-run California nursery, has answers.
Alumni
Portland Magazine
March 9, 2021
The woodshop at the Holy Cross Court has become a place of refuge, especially during these days of endless video conferences. The stacks of maple, red oak, and cherry and our saws, planes, and chisels beckon us to imagine and create.
Nursing
Portland Magazine
Alumni
February 17, 2021
UP’s resident epidemiologist—Andrew Lafrenz ’02—has been working seven days a week since April. Not only is he directing the School of Nursing’s newest major in integrative health and wellness studies, but he has also been offering his expertise to local entities during the pandemic.
Portland Magazine
Alumni
January 21, 2021
On a crab processor boat, in 1988, in the middle of a storm off the coast of Alaska, Kara Breuer ’95, MAT ’06 made a promise that if she survived, she’d go to college. It took the crew about 17 hours to make it home.
Portland Magazine
Alumni
January 21, 2021
Airline captain Anderson Johnson III ’90 has seen it all from the cockpit of his 747. From meteor showers and space shuttle launches, to watching the sun chase down the horizon near the North Pole. These days, Johnson is now focused on what he is carrying in the cargo of his UPS plane—the COVID-19 vaccine.
Alumni
Business
December 1, 2020
The Portland Business Journal Forty Under 40 class for 2020 includes University of Portland alumni DJ Widmer ’02 and Rachel Rapinoe ’08. Both were chosen from a pool of 300 Portland-area entrepreneurs, innovators, and rising stars in the local business community.
Alumni
Education
October 27, 2020
University of Portland alum Sara Wyffels ’06 was named 2021 Arizona Teacher of the Year by the Arizona Educational Foundation during a virtual award ceremony. Wyffels, who has been teaching for 14 years, currently teaches Spanish Level 2 and International Baccalaureate and Advanced Placement levels 5 and 6 at Chandler High School. Wyffels received her Master of Arts in Teaching from the University of Portland’s School of Education in 2006.
Portland Magazine
Alumni
October 21, 2020
Kaia Sand ’94, executive director of Street Roots, the award-winning weekly social justice newspaper, admits she’s an “all-in” kind of a person. A poet and a journalist, she looks at the poet-physician William Carlos Williams as an example— someone who did house visits for patients and wrote poetry on prescription pads.
Portland Magazine
Alumni
Education
September 23, 2020
John Stewart ’06 teaches ninth grade English and junior-level advanced placement (AP) language and serves as chair of the English department at Clackamas High School in Clackamas, OR. His 15-year career as a teacher has been marked by many challenges and rewards, but the closure of Oregon schools due to the COVID-19 outbreak has presented a unique set of challenges and impressions. We spoke to John shortly before the end of the spring 2020 semester.
Portland Magazine
Alumni
Nursing
August 27, 2020
Bailey Saleumvong '08 is a travel nurse currently based in Los Angeles. He cares for critically ill COVID patients and sees signs of hope even amid the pandemic.
Portland Magazine
Alumni
Education
July 14, 2020
Renee Espinoza graduated from UP in 2009, then went on to get her master’s in curriculum and instruction with an ESL endorsement in 2010. She went to work for Portland Public Schools that year and currently teaches second grade at Astor Elementary School, mere blocks from the UP campus in North Portland. We reached out to Renee to share her insights and experiences during the switch to distance learning in March 2020.
Alumni
Nursing
Portland Magazine
June 9, 2020
A nurse makes home visits during the pandemic. What does she see? Body, Mind, Emotion, Spirit, Dream.
Alumni
Portland Magazine
Nursing
June 9, 2020
For many years I wasn’t able to articulate the value of a liberal arts education. But right now, particularly for nursing and particularly around COVID-19, I think about the value of the liberal arts education, about how I had courses in philosophy and ethics, how I feel very grounded in ethical decision-making.
Alumni
Portland Magazine
June 9, 2020
Kenechi “Kene” Anigbogu ’18 was a member of the 100th group of American Peace Corps volunteers to serve in Morocco. His Peace Corps service was cut short by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Portland Magazine
Alumni
Army ROTC
June 9, 2020
When 1st. Lt. Beth Biggs ’18 received her orders on March 29, she was ready. She was in the Army ROTC program during her time at UP and is now part of the Oregon Army National Guard 141st Brigade Support Battalion’s COVID-19 response team, distributing personal protective equipment (PPE) throughout Oregon.
Alumni
Portland Magazine
June 9, 2020
Those among you who have attended a Rock the Bluff concert, a mainstay event at UP since 2012, probably didn’t know you have Sean Ducey ’13, ’19 MBA to thank for the tradition. He was only a junior when he founded the annual concert and learned that event planning and behind-the-scenes work was his calling.
Portland Magazine
Alumni
June 9, 2020
At the start of her four years at University of Portland Diana Salgado Huicochea ’20 felt overwhelmed and alone. Though a cradle Catholic, Diana had never attended Mass celebrated in English, and, unable to respond to the prayers, she felt like an imposter. Yet she returned, took pictures of the missal, and after finishing homework, practiced responses aloud nightly until she memorized them.
Portland Magazine
Alumni
June 9, 2020
Every day—even now, especially now—Fedele Bauccio ’64, ’66 is feeding people who need healthy food. In March he partnered with World Central Kitchen to feed passengers and crew quarantined on the Grand Princess cruise ship.
Portland Magazine
Athletics
Alumni
June 9, 2020
The University’s new baseball stadium will need to wait until next season for its premiere, so we’re taking this opportunity to look back on the blood, sweat, and puddle suckers that got us here.
Portland Magazine
Alumni
June 9, 2020
Engineering alum Evan Fontaine ’18, ’19 works in the prostheses lab at Oregon Health and Science University (OHSU) with a clear mission in mind: to make better prosthetics for growing and active children. Case in point: he and his team are working to set up a young patient to throw the first pitch at the National Softball Championship.
Alumni
Portland Magazine
June 9, 2020
On March 11, ESPN NBA reporter Malika Andrews ’17 landed in New York after a long flight from Los Angeles. Although she’d been scheduled to cover a game in Milwaukee, ESPN was pulling reporters back home. She did not yet know that the NBA would suspend its season due to concerns about COVID-19, or that she would be reporting on it that night.
Alumni
Portland Magazine
February 21, 2020
Rob Justus ’87 has a track record of building Portland-area housing—512 units and counting—for individuals on a fixed income. He’s just getting started.
Nursing
Alumni
Portland Magazine
February 16, 2020
The Blanchet House has a long history with the University of Portland. Three alumnae--nursing professor Kelly Fox '90, Volunteers of America Oregon president and CEO Kay Toran '64, and nurse practitioner Emily Harrington '03, '06--are working to strengthen that relationship with the soon-to-open Harrington Health Clinic--a nurse-led clinic staffed with UP nursing students.
Alumni
February 14, 2020
The Portland Business Journal recently named University of Portland alum Scott Hatley ’01 as one of their “Executives of the Year.” Hatley is the executive director and co-founder (along with fellow UP alum Vail Horton '02) of Portland-area non-profit INCIGHT.
Portland Magazine
Alumni
February 14, 2020
When Reid Richards '88 died of cancer, his family honored his memory by starting the Reid JK Foundation to provide resources to children in Hawaii who have lost a parent.
Alumni
Athletics
Portland Magazine
February 14, 2020
A wide support network helped Donald Wilson thrive at University of Portland. He's returned to The Bluff as a broadcaster for men's basketball and "pays it forward" by working with several non-profits in the Vancouver, WA, area.
Alumni
Athletics
Portland Magazine
February 12, 2020
From recreation tennis to the US Open, former Pilots tennis player Michael Dowse '89 now leads the US's national governing body for tennis.
Portland Magazine
Alumni
Athletics
February 10, 2020
Rey Ortiz '19 was a Major League Soccer SuperDraft pick for FC Cincinnati. He's proud to be making his dreams come true, and equally proud to be a first-generation college student at University of Portland.
Alumni
January 3, 2020
University of Portland alumna Jami Resch ’96 was named Portland police chief on Tuesday, December 31. Prior to this position, Resch was the assistant chief of the investigations branch and had previously served as the acting commander of North Precinct.
International Languages and Cultures
Psychology
Portland Magazine
Alumni
November 5, 2019
Lupita Ruiz-Tolento '13 is the director of institutional development for SembraMedia, a nonprofit that supports independent digital journalism in Latin America.
Portland Magazine
Alumni
November 4, 2019
95-year-old Neal Hook '49 is still going strong. Find out the secret to his long and happy life.
Engineering
Portland Magazine
Alumni
November 1, 2019
Juliana (Flores) Baza '13 earned a degree in mechanical engineering. After an internship at NASA, she took a job engineering bike helmets and was recruited by Nike to join its team as a shoe product engineer.
Alumni
Athletics
Portland Magazine
October 26, 2019
Rob Conner has been coaching track and cross country at University of Portland for 30 years. Along the way he's trained numerous All-Americans, tallied 34 conference titles, and led the men's team to three podium finishes in the national championships.
College of Arts and Sciences
Alumni
Portland Magazine
October 25, 2019
Nathan Sherfinski '05 spent the summer of 2010 answering calls to the White House Comment Line--an experience that taught him the art of listening.
Alumni
Portland Magazine
September 20, 2019
The old pile had to go, yes, but saying good-bye came a little harder than most of us expected. An ode to UP's gym-auditorium-swim center-intramural facility that graced campus from 1928 to 2017.
Alumni
Portland Magazine
June 24, 2019
Katherine Gamble rose to fame on the junior marksmanship circuit after an improbable perfect debut. She leaned into a carefully curated competition persona, but despite her successes, she questioned her place in the sport and her ambitions.
Alumni
Portland Magazine
Franz Center
June 21, 2019
University of Portland's Entrepreneur Scholars program is turning 20. More than 300 students have participated in the program. Some ideas are still going strong; some have lived a full life; some flopped and inspired the next idea. Here are stories of five alumni from the program.
Portland Magazine
Alumni
Franz Center
Engineering
June 21, 2019
Devin Ajimine recently graduated from University of Portland. He credits the Entrepreneur Scholars program with teaching him how to travel globally, network, and communicate clearly. Now a product manager at T-Mobile, Devin is also pursuing a master's in human centered design and engineering.
Alumni
Communication Studies
Franz Center
Portland Magazine
June 20, 2019
Molly (Sexton) Gowan '00, created an executive management seminar for parish priests for her Entrepreneur Scholar project. After graduation, she founded her own company and eventually found her way to corporate sales, noting that entrepreneurial skills are beneficial in every career.
Franz Center
Business
Portland Magazine
Alumni
June 20, 2019
Entrepreneur Scholar alum Thomas Iwasaki '14 designed a customizable bluetooth speaker for his project and went on to a career at Nike. He's now the co-creator of Usonia, a business data company.
Portland Magazine
Business
Philosophy
Alumni
Franz Center
International Languages and Cultures
June 20, 2019
A life-long user of crutches, Vail Horton knew first-hand the need for an ergonomic crutch. With a team of fellow Entrepreneur Scholar students at University of Portland, he founded Keen--an innovative crutch company. He now runs a non-profit.
Alumni
Engineering
Portland Magazine
International Languages and Cultures
Franz Center
June 20, 2019
A 2015 graduate with degrees in engineering management and Spanish, Fatima Ruiz Villatoro's Entrepreneur Scholar student project of decorating hospital rooms for terminally ill children turned into a career project managing medical facility construction.
Alumni
Portland Magazine
June 19, 2019
University of Portland's Praying Hands War Memorial is the only marker on U.S. soil for alum John H. Carroll, Jr., who perished in World War II. His family only recently discovered its existence.
Portland Magazine
Alumni
Business
Athletics
June 17, 2019
After Travis Vetters successfully donated a kidney to his friend and baseball teammate Gus Little, the connection between them remains strong.
Social Work
Alumni
Portland Magazine
College of Arts and Sciences
June 17, 2019
When Itzel Moreno-Vega noticed that many of the students at Cesar Chavez School in North Portland were coatless during the winter months, she turned to Operation Warm to provide coats to every single student.
Education
Alumni
Portland Magazine
June 17, 2019
Under the mentorship of Bonnie Robb ('95, '01 MEd, '16 EdD), Dylan Hite '19 used best practices in neuroeducation to help second graders at Duniway School in Portland understand and learn new concepts.
Athletics
Portland Magazine
Alumni
June 7, 2019
University of Portland alumni and former Pilot soccer stars Megan Rapinoe '08 (USA), Christine Sinclair '06 (Canada), and Sophie Schmidt '10 (Canada) are set to lead their countries on the world stage at the Women's World Cup, June 7-July 7 in France.
Alumni
Awards and Rankings
May 2, 2019
Four University of Portland alumni will be individually recognized as Alumni Award recipients at this year’s President’s Awards Gala. Mike Irwin ’78, Margarita Bautista Gay ’87, Molly Craft Johnson ’13, and Cathryn Casey ’19 will be recognized for embodying the University’s mission.
Alumni
Business
Communication Studies
April 26, 2019
Three UP alumni are featured in the Portland Business Journal’s annual “Forty under 40” list. This list features the “game-changers, move-makers and forces of the future” executives in the Portland area.
Alumni
Political Science
Portland Magazine
April 25, 2019
Walter Thompson-Hernandez ’09 is a member of the “Surfacing” team at The New York Times, which features stories about underrepresented communities and subcultures around the world. Walter was a contributor to the Winter 2019 issue of Portland Magazine. We caught up with Walter to ask him a few more questions about his fascinating work and his time at UP.
Alumni
Portland Magazine
Performing and Fine Arts
February 22, 2019
Michael O’Neill ’10 (MFA) travels the world with an international organization called Clowns Without Borders.
Alumni
Engineering
Portland Magazine
February 22, 2019
J'reyesha "Jay" Brannon '15 is a construction manager with the Portland Water Bureau and dedicated to mentoring young children and women of color in the engineering field.
Alumni
Engineering
Portland Magazine
February 22, 2019
Joel Rosinbum '04 is a software engineer for Black Locus in Austin, TX, and a member of the board of directors for USA Triathlon.
Alumni
Portland Magazine
February 20, 2019
The founder of Girls Build teaches girls to take on the trades with confidence, spunk, and imagination. Here’s what first inspired her to pick up a hammer.
Business
Alumni
September 27, 2018
Katherine Phillips Durham ’88 and Brian Dexheimer ’84 are the two newest inductees into the Pamplin School of Business Hall of Fame. They join 11 other Hall of Fame members. The Hall of Fame was created 2009 when the Pamplin School of Business celebrated its 75th anniversary.
Awards and Rankings
Alumni
June 27, 2018
Bill Reed ’72, Katie Hughes ’02 and Tsikata Apenyo ’18 were individually recognized as recipients of University of Portland’s annual Alumni Awards on June 22, 2018. The Alumni Awards are presented annually to those individuals who embody the University’s mission of teaching and learning, faith and formation, and service and leadership in their life and work.
Biology
Mathematics
College of Arts and Sciences
Engineering
Psychology
Awards and Rankings
Alumni
International Languages and Cultures
Undergraduate Scholarly Engagement
Chemistry
June 19, 2018
University of Portland alumni Julia Meng '16, Shannon Danforth '16, Katherine Cummins '17, and Brett Bankson '14 have been awarded $34,000 Graduate Research Fellowships from the National Science Foundation to fund graduate tuition, fees, and research.
College of Arts and Sciences
Engineering
Alumni
May 1, 2018
Peter Chamberlain '14 is the founder of WalkSmart, a company developing mobile apps that gather information through devices attached to walkers. This information can be used to help families care for their elderly loved ones.
Athletics
Business
Alumni
March 15, 2018
University of Portland alumni Jim Etzel '85 (Marketing, Management & Communications) was recently announced as the new Executive Director of Oregon Sports Authority.
Franz Center
Alumni
Business
November 17, 2017
Entrepreneur and sports marketer Lynn S. Le ’11, has been named to Forbes Magazine’s “30 Under 30 Retail and E-Commerce Class of 2018.”
Business
Alumni
Performing and Fine Arts
September 20, 2017
Actor and alumnus Kunal Nayyar '03, currently staring in the hit CBS television comedy The Big Bang Theory, returns to the University of Portland for a public conversation on October 11.
Awards and Rankings
Athletics
Alumni
July 25, 2017
Christine Sinclair '06, former UP soccer powerhouse was appointed as an Officer of the Order of Canada, one of Canada's highest honors, second only to membership in the Order of Merit which is a personal gift of Queen Elizabeth II.
Awards and Rankings
Business
Communication Studies
Alumni
April 3, 2017
Patricia (Pat) K. Johnson, a member of the University of Portland’s Board of Regents, will be honored this April by the Portland Business Journal at the 14th Annual Women of Influence 2017 Awards.
Alumni
Engineering
November 7, 2016
Eric Daniel Arakawa '02 has been presented with the 2016 Edmund Friedman Young Engineer Award for Professional Achievement.
Alumni
Business
November 7, 2016
UP alumna Monica Enand ’05, MBA in finance, received the Entrepreneurial Achievement Award during the Oregon Entrepreneurial Network's 2016 Tom Holce Entrepreneurship Awards on October 26. Enand was one of 20 finalists chosen from 141 nominees.
College of Arts and Sciences
History
Alumni
October 18, 2016
James Thayne Covert, Ph.D., professor emeritus in history at the University of Portland, died at his home on Thursday, October 13, of complications from a stroke. He was 84 years old.
Development
Alumni
September 12, 2016
The family of the late Kyle E. Johnson ’05 has expanded their bequest to a memorial scholarship named in his honor. Keith Johnson and his wife informed the University of an additional gift of approximately $1.5 million to the Kyle E. Johnson Memorial Scholarship. The funds will be held in trust and will transfer to the University as part of Keith Johnson’s estate.
Alumni
Physics
Engineering
Development
August 29, 2016
University of Portland alumnus and longtime benefactor Donald T. Galarneau ’49 passed away on Saturday, August 20 after a sudden illness. A Portland native, Don generously gave the University $1.5 million during his lifetime, including matching gifts from General Electric (GE), for whom he worked his entire career.
Development
Alumni
August 12, 2016
Robert W. Franz, longtime regent, friend, and donor leaves his legacy as philanthropist for Franz Hall, Franz Center for Leadership, Entrepreneurship and Innovation, and Franz Chair in Entrepreneurship.
Alumni
Athletics
June 24, 2016
Riley Clark ’16 won a Northwest Emmy Award for his video, “University of Portland Student-Athlete Advisory Committee Raises Money for St. Baldrick's Foundation.”
Alumni
Education
June 10, 2016
University of Portland alumnus Mike Merzenich ’64 has been awarded the 2016 Kavli Prize in Neuroscience by the Norwegian Academy of Science for his work in documenting the fundamental plasticity of the human brain.
Alumni
Engineering
May 4, 2016
Dennnis L. Hartmann, a 1971 graduate of the University of Portland's mechanical engineering program and a professor of atmospheric sciences at University of Washington, is one of 84 new members and 21 foreign associates elected as a fellow of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences.
Business
Alumni
Portland Magazine
Athletics
Nursing
September 24, 2015
Gus Little was in desperate need of a kidney transplant. His former baseball teammate Travis Vetters gave him one. Is this the ultimate University of Portland "story"? Editor Brian Doyle says yes.
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