This will be emeritus professor Don Zobel’s first full year of retirement after a 56-year career in the Department of Botany and Plant Pathology. For 27 of those years (1997-2024), he also taught in the Honors College, leading courses for almost the entirety of the college’s 30-year history and helping define, through his interdisciplinary approach, the unique value of the honors curricular experience.
The Oregon State University Honors College is pleased to announce that Dr. Troy Hall, professor in human dimensions of natural resources in the OSU College of Forestry’s Department of Forest Ecosystems and Society, has been appointed as the new associate dean of the college. Dr. Hall will succeed Susan Rodgers, who stepped down from the position to return to her faculty appointment in the School of Writing, Literature and Film.
The Oregon State University Honors College has named Regan A. R. Gurung, a professor of psychology, the 2024 Margaret and Thomas Meehan Honors College Eminent Mentor and Matthew Johnston, an associate professor with the School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, the 2024 Margaret and Thomas Meehan Honors College Eminent Professor.
Eliza Barstow understands the impact honors courses can have on exposing students to new perspectives.
Dam Proud Day 2024 marked a milestone for the Honors College as our community set a record for the number of gifts given to the HC on the university’s annual day of giving. Including challenges, one hundred sixty-two donors contributed to support HC student scholarships, an eighteen percent increase over last year. Overall, donors contributed $52,405, ranking the Honors College 19th highest among the 50 participating units at the university.
Throughout her career at Oregon State, Emeritus English Professor Anita Helle prioritized supporting her fellow faculty members’ growth as scholars, teachers and innovators. Now, she has established an Honors College fund that will advance faculty excellence in the HC in perpetuity. The Anita Helle Endowed Faculty Support Fund for the Honors College will provide resources for professional development, travel, speaker honoraria, and course research and innovation.
The Oregon State University Honors College has named Eliza Barstow, a history and religious studies senior instructor in the School of History, Philosophy and Religion, as the 2023 Margaret and Thomas Meehan Honors College Eminent Professor and Christopher Stout, an associate professor of political science in the School of Public Policy, as the 2023 Margaret and Thomas Meehan Honors College Eminent Mentor.
When you walk by Dennis Adams’s classroom, it looks more like a group of friends hanging out, playing board games and getting a bit too competitive than a college class. It’s no surprise that the course, History of Commerce Through Board Games, has become one of the most popular Honors College seminars.
Oregon State University honors program graduate – and the Honors College’s 2023 OSU Alumni Association Alumni Fellow – Judge Mary Deits Rousseau, ’71, has lived a life committed to public service. She is a trailblazer for women in law and a dedicated advocate for equality in the judicial system. Rousseau credits her time at Oregon State University for setting her on a path towards working for the general good, a path that continues to this day.
