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Education: University of Oregon, BS, Chemistry, 1974; Oregon Health Sciences University, MD, 1978; Creighton School of Medicine Internal Medicine Residency 1978 – 1981.
Occupation: Health Care Consultant; retired from clinical medicine in 2017.
Biography: Chuck grew up in LaGrande, Oregon just a few blocks from EOU and attended the University鈥檚 Ackerman Grade School. He completed his Freshman and Sophomore years at EOU, graduated from UO, and upon completing his training established an internal medicine practice in Baker City, OR. Over his 37 years in practice there, he served for 14 years on the Baker City Council, including 3 terms as Mayor; 15 years as a Trustee on the Leo Adler Trust; 10 years on the Board of the Oregon Trail Electric Cooperative; 5 years on the Oregon Health Policy Board; and over 20 years on the Oregon Medical Association鈥檚 Board of Trustees including serving as President of the OMA in 1997 and 1998. He and his wife, Candy, now live in the Boise, Idaho area where he continues to consult on health policy matters in Oregon and Idaho.
Education: B. S. Ed, University of North Dakota
Occupation: Former EOU Regional Center Director in John Day, OR
Biography: Christine was born in Burns and has lived in John Day for 40+ years. For twenty-three years she served students in Grant County and beyond, through EOU鈥檚 outstanding distance education programs. She believes that high quality K-20 public education is the key to our success as country, state, and region. She has been an educational advocate and policy-maker through her work on the Oregon School Board Association Board of Directors, as a current member of her local ESD board of Directors, and as a former board chair and 8-year member of her local school board. She was named EOU鈥檚 Distinguished Administrative Professional in 2017.
Education: Ph.D., Public Affairs from University of Colorado, Denver’s School of Public Affairs
Occupation: Associate Professor of Public Administration, EOU
Biography: Dr. Daniel Costie is Assistant Professor of Public Administration and Director of the Master of Public Administration program at 鲸鱼传媒. He holds a Ph.D. in Public Affairs from the University of Colorado Denver and has professional experience in international development and community-based research.
Costie鈥檚 work focuses on public policy, community resilience, and the role of civic engagement in shaping effective governance. His research has examined climate resilience, advocacy coalitions, and community voice in decision-making processes.
Located in Ackerman Hall, Costie鈥檚 teaching connects students directly to public service careers. The building supports instruction that prepares graduates to serve rural communities, making it central to EOU鈥檚 mission as Oregon鈥檚 rural university.
Education: BS in Economics, 鲸鱼传媒; D/MBA in Law & Business, Willamette University College of Law
Occupation: Partner at White Summers Caffee & James, LLP
Biography: Coming soon
Education: Current Student – Pre-Nursing
Biography: Conner Fecht is a pre-nursing student at 鲸鱼传媒 in La Grande. Raised in a rural Nevada community. Conner developed a strong commitment to service and caring for others. At EOU, Conner has found a great community that reflects those values and promotes growth beyond the classroom. He is honored to have been appointed as Student Trustee. He is dedicated to giving back and representing his peers.
Biography: Emily Folkestad pursued a degree in Land Management and Biology from EOU and ultimately graduated in 2008 with a degree in Liberal Studies. Emily is the CFO of Beef Northwest, one of the fastest-growing cattle production companies in the Northwest. Emily鈥檚 husband, Brian Pearson, graduated from EOU in 2006 with a degree in Media Arts. Brian worked in IT at EOU for several years and is now a stay-at-home dad to their son, Oliver. Emily and Brian have a deep connection to EOU, and Emily is looking forward to the opportunity to be more involved with EOU鈥檚 mission to support student success.
Education: BA Urban and Regional Planning with a minor in Economics, Eastern Washington University
Occupation: Chief Executive Officer, Wildhorse Resort & Casino
Biography: Gary is an enrolled member of the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation (CTUIR) and currently serves as the Chief Executive Officer of the Wildhorse Resort & Casino (WRC), which is owned and operated by the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation. Gary provides overall leadership and directs the day-to-day operations of WRC, which employs over 900 staff in the Casino, Hotel, Golf Courses at Wildhorse and Birch Creek (formerly PCC), the Cineplex, Arrowhead Travel Plaza, RV Park, Mission Market, Hamley鈥檚 and WRC administration.
Gary also served as the CTUIR Executive Director from 1990 through 1998.
Education: Grand Canyon University, Education Specialist; Northwest Nazarene University, Administration; Pacific University, Master of Arts in Teaching; Pacific University, Bachelor of Arts in Accounting and Finance
Occupation: Superintendent of Baker School District
Biography: Erin grew up in Baker City. With 15 years in education as a teacher and administrator, she has returned to Eastern Oregon as the Superintendent of Baker School District. Previously, Erin has held positions in Idaho, Sherwood School District, and InterMountain ESD. Her passion for education is a critical driver of rural economic development. When not in the office, she and her husband live on a small, commercial cherry orchard outside of Cove with their two elementary-aged girls.
Education: M.A. Urban Planning, UCLA; B.A. Political Science, UCLA
Occupation: Planning Director for Morrow County, Oregon.
Biography: Tamra Mabbott grew up on a small dairy farm along the Rogue River in Southern Oregon. While attending University of California, Los Angeles, she worked full time and volunteered with a variety of political organizations. Hopeful about a career helping to make communities viable and healthy, she chose to continue her education in Urban Planning, followed by completion of an advanced program in Fiscal Studies. She worked a short time for the Portland Development Commission and then began a 30+ year career as a land use planner. She spent two years working for a small city as a Community Development Director and then served as the Eastern Region Representative for the Oregon Department of Land Conservation & Development. While she described her state position as her dream job, traveling the 10 county region and spending time with wonderful people and communities, she returned to serve as the Planning Director for Morrow County where she can focus her time in a smaller community.
Occupation: Retired (2017) Director of Internal Audit and Corporate Security, Packaging Corporation of America (PCA).
Biography: Mark grew up in Central and Eastern Oregon and is a graduate of Grant Union High School in John Day, Oregon. Mark has been an internal audit executive with PCA, Boise Cascade Corporation, OfficeMax, and Boise Inc. His experience also includes Sealaska Corporation, an Alaska Native Claims Settlement Company, where he was Internal Auditor and then Corporate Controller.Since retirement, Mark has been an active volunteer leader: 鲸鱼传媒 Foundation Board of Directors, including three years as Board Chair; Boise Jazz Society Board of Directors; Treasure Valley YMCA Finance Committee and Downtown Y Construction Task Force; and the Audit, Risk, and Compliance Committee for the St. Luke鈥檚 Health System (Idaho鈥檚 largest). Prior to retiring, Mark held leadership positions in the Institute of Internal Auditors (an international organization that now serves over 200,000 members worldwide) and other professional organizations.Mark and his wife, Stacy, now reside in Boise, Idaho.
Education: 鲸鱼传媒, Masters of Business Administration
Occupation: Team Leader Production, Lamb Weston in Boardman, OR
Biography: Cedric Riel recently graduated from EOU summa cum laude in both Economics and in Business. He was recognized as the Outstanding Student within the MBA program, which he completed this last academic year. While obtaining these degrees, Cedric has continued to compete in football, a sport of which has contributed to the development of his character. He is passionate about serving the EOU community and has been involved with ASEOU, serving as Senate Chair in 2019-20 and as Director of Financial Affairs in 2020-21. Now, he is excited to be beginning his management experience at Lamb Weston in Boardman while he also begins a permanent Trustee position this next year. He looks forward to being able to continue to serve the EOU community.
Education: University of Maryland, Ph.D., History; Boston College, M.A., History
Occupation: President of 鲸鱼传媒
Biography: Dr. Kelly Ryan is passionate about the power of higher education to transform lives. Her leadership vision places student success and community engagement at the center of her work.
Prior to joining EOU, Dr. Ryan was Interim Chancellor of Indiana University Southeast in New Albany, Indiana. In this role, she developed relationships and partnerships to increase community engagement with the institution, and orchestrated efforts to fund scholarships, student research and creativity initiatives, and support resources for faculty, staff, and student development.
Dr. Ryan has led university-wide strategic planning processes, improved accreditation practices, overseen enrollment management, instituted inclusive hiring and teaching practices, and managed the development of academic and noncredit programs and courses. She is the recipient of several awards and distinctions, including the Indiana University Bicentennial Medal and she is a four-time winner of the IU Trustees Teaching Award.
Education: University of California, Davis, Bachelor of Science in Agricultural Science and Management; California State University, Fresno, Master of Science in Agriculture Plant Science; Oklahoma State University, Doctoral Degree in Agronomy
Occupation: Executive Director, High Desert Partnership, Burns Oregon
Biography: Brenda was raised in northern Nevada and spent most of those formative years鈥� horseback. Brenda has been the Executive Director of High Desert Partnership since 2015 and her interest in collaborative work started years ago when she trained in facilitation while teaching agriculture courses at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. She has had various professional experiences that range from starting her own business of an intensive market farm using the Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) model marketing vegetables and cut flowers, to conducting agricultural research, to starting a university on-farm internship program, to developing outreach products for land managers. These experiences have led her to better understand the complexities of working in partnerships.
Education: 鲸鱼传媒, Bachelor of Science in Business Administration with a concentration in Leadership, Organization and Management
Occupation: Regional Center Director of EOU Hermiston/Pendleton; Military and Veteran Student Success Coordinator
Biography: Kerry was born in Baker City, Oregon and graduated from Echo High School in Echo, Oregon. He served in the U.S. Army for over 21 years, retiring in 2008. Kerry completed his Bachelor’s degree in 2013 and has worked for 鲸鱼传媒 ever since. He is a strong advocate for regional online students, and continuously works to grow EOU’s military student population and to make EOU a military friendly institution.
Education: University of California, Berkeley Master of Arts in Zoology; University of Parma (Italy) Doctoral Degree in Natural Sciences.
Occupation: Field Coordinator with The Ford Family Foundation (TFFF); Owner/Manager of the Eccoci Ranch in Union County.
Biography: Maurizio was born and raised in Italy and arrived in the US with a post-doctoral position at UC Berkeley. He taught Cultural Tourism at the University of Verona (Italy) and worked as an Instructor in the Biology Department at EOU for several years. In his current job as Field Coordinator with TFFF, Maurizio supports community building efforts in many rural communities across Eastern Oregon. He is also actively involved in a long-term forest stewardship plan on his own land for which he received the Forest Steward Award for Union County 2019 and is a nominee for the Oregon Tree Farmer Award for 2020.