Portland, November 5th. A diverse group of 370 people gathered for the 8th annual Scholar Awards Luncheon. The Achievement Rewards for College Scientists or ARCS Foundation Portland Chapter honored 46 graduate students from OHSU School of Medicine and Oregon State University in the College of Engineering, the College of Forestry, and the College of Earth, Ocean, and Atmospheric Sciences. Each ARCS scholar received $18,000 in an unrestricted grant, payable over three years. (Photo credit, Jennifer Smith)
ARCS Foundation Portland Chapter members, guests and scholars to its annual luncheon.
ARCS Foundation Portland Chapter President Jean Josephson stands with ARCS Scholars.
Keynote Speaker Dr. Kent Thornburg of OHSU held everyone’s attention with his topic of “Nutrition Therapy: the Next Generation Medicine.”
Kent Thornburg, Ph.D., Professor and Associate Chief for Research in the Division of Cardiovascular Medicine at OHSU, and interim director of the Bob and Charlee Moore Institute for Nutrition and Wellness
- ARCS Scholar Speaker Colby Mangini, Kyla Mangini, and Bob Moore of Bob’s Red Mill.
The scholar speaker was Colby Mangini, a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Nuclear Engineering and Radiation Health Physics at Oregon State. Mangini is the recipient of the Sally and Cecil Drinkward Scholar Award. Since 2005, the Portland Chapter has supported 109 scholars pursuing their Ph.D.s at OHSU and Oregon State University.
The Presenting Sponsors of the luncheon were Hoffman Construction with Wayne and Julie Drinkward, OHSU and Oregon State University and the OSU Foundation. Thanks go to all the luncheon sponsors – a combined $56,500 supported the luncheon and ARCS mission. Because of their support, 100% of the luncheon’s donations go directly to the scholar award fund.
Keynote speaker Kent Thornburg is director of the Heart Research Center at OHSU, as well as interim director of the Bob and Charlee Moore Institute for Nutrition and Wellness at OHSU. The Moores attended the luncheon and were able to enjoy the Bob’s Red Mill quinoa that was served with both the salmon and vegetarian entrée options by Vibrant Table.
ARCS Foundation Portland has grown from 65 members in 2004 to more than 100 members. Members continue to work to uphold America’s position as a world-class power in science.
About the Portland Chapter of the ARCS Foundation:
A few bold and pioneering women recognized the potential for the ARCS Foundation in Oregon in 2002. They set about launching the Portland Chapter, dedicated to enhancing America’s national and local capacity for research and innovation in science and technology by financially assisting students who demonstrate high scholastic ability.
Organization of the Chapter began in late fall 2003 with a meeting at Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU). At that meeting, the ARCS Foundation National New Chapter Development Committee laid out the vision and work of ARCS Foundation to five Portland women, hoping to interest them in starting a Portland Chapter of ARCS. Nancy Fischer, Sharon Hewitt, Mary Ann Lockwood, Ellen Richardson and Cornelia Stevens enthusiastically committed, and ARCS Foundation Portland was on its way.
In December 2003 the first introductory tea was held in the Old Library at OHSU, where Judith Miller, ARCS Foundation national president; Peter Kohler, OHSU president; and an ARCS scholar from the Seattle Chapter spoke to a group of 50 women about the importance of ARCS Foundation to the future of science in America. The presentation was so powerful that membership grew from five to 45 women in one afternoon. Another tea followed in January 2004. In May, the Portland Chapter was incorporated and received its 501(c)(3) status from the State of Oregon. In June of that same year the chapter was chartered with 65 members. Sharon Hewitt was elected the first Portland Chapter president.
OHSU was approved for funding by ARCS National Foundation in October 2005, and the first Portland Chapter scholar awards were granted to 11 PhD students in the Schools of Medicine and Nursing, and in the Oregon Graduate Institute. In September 2008, with approval from ARCS Foundation National, PhD students in the College of Engineering at Oregon State University (OSU) began receiving scholar awards. The OSU College of Forestry and College of Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences were added as participating programs in October 2010.
