Portland Community College | Portland, Oregon

Retirement No More

Photos and story by James Hill

After capping off a 30-year career in college administration, Linda Gerber had dreams of traveling, gardening and playing with her three grandchildren.

Lucky for PCC, her retirement was short-lived.

Gerber returned to full-time work in May 2006 when she stepped in as interim president of the Sylvania Campus. She took on the job with her characteristic passion and dedication and earlier this year was named permanent president of the 26,000-student campus.

“I love education and think it’s the best job in the world,” said Gerber, who worked at PCC in the 1990s as a research evaluation coordinator where she led the professional-technical faculty in creating one of the nation’s first comprehensive program assessment processes. “And I always expected to end my career back at PCC and somehow close the loop.”

She actually started at PCC as a 24-year-old single mother of three who studied English literature under well-known faculty member Jean Buck who served as a mentor to Gerber. She juggled classes and a myriad of jobs, including driving a school bus.

She transferred to Portland State University where she earned a degree in English. She worked as a coordinator and later director of the tutorial program at PSU for 11 years and then returned to PCC as a researcher. She later was hired at Mt. Hood Community College and worked as a dean in several different divisions, retiring in 2004 as dean of instruction. Along the way she earned a master’s degree in education and a doctorate in leadership in post secondary education.

She praises the committed faculty members who are in the classroom each day and considers herself someone who assists them in educating students. “The faculty members are the ones who do the heavy lifting,” she added. “I do whatever I can to put them and the students front and center.”

She’s known as an administrator who’s not afraid to get her hands dirty while working side by side with students. A recent rainy outing where she helped remove ivy and blackberry bushes from a natural area near campus is just one example.

I love education and think it’s the best job in the world … And I always expected to end my career back at PCC and somehow close the loop.

“I think her greatest attributes are her approachability, her down-to-earth values, and her hands-on experiential participation in life and her job,” said biology instructor April Fong. “I love that we can approach and talk to her without feeling uncomfortable. A student from the Green Team and I dropped by, without an appointment, to see if she had an opinion about our Earth Day display and she gladly chatted with us about the display and other topics. We felt very welcomed, appreciated and valued.”

Now back at PCC, Gerber’s priorities are creating an atmosphere for students to think about social justice and environmental issues.

“We need to develop these skills in students so they can make global and informed decisions,” Gerber said. “We have an obligation to make sure students think critically and analyze information from the media and politicians.”

And while she knows retirement is still in her future, as is traveling with her husband, scuba diving (a favorite hobby) and working on statewide political campaigns, Gerber feels that being back at PCC is like a sweet homecoming.

“I’m so grateful to PCC for providing what I needed at the time as a student,” she said. “PCC is a very special place.”

Related Pages

Sylvania Campus, Sustainability