This content was published: September 8, 2009. Phone numbers, email addresses, and other information may have changed.
New members, leadership for PCC Board
Photos and story by James Hill
The winds of change are blowing through the Portland Community College Board of Directors.
For the upcoming 2009-10 year, David Squire was sworn in as vice chair of the Board and Deanna Palm was appointed to be the new member from Zone 7, replacing Marilyn McGlasson. Harold Williams was sworn in as the Chair in July and Gene Pitts as a new member representing Zone 6, replacing Jaime Lim.
Pitts was elected to the board in May and will oversee east Washington County and southwest Portland. He has been with Intel Corp. since 1988, and is a senior leader as Technical Marketing Director in Hillsboro. Prior to that, Pitts worked at Westinghouse Electric in Asheville, N.C., and Milliken and Co. in Spartanburg, S.C. Pitts graduated from Clemson University with a bachelor’s and master’s degrees in Electrical and Computer Engineering. He has more than 30 years of experience in the high-tech sector working with some of Intel’s largest server and workstation customers across the globe.
“I value our education system and the value that it brings to the community, and I want to see technology help bolster the value proposition that PCC brings to the education pipeline,” Pitts said.
A former PCC student in the early 1980s, Deanna Palm assumes the role of Zone 7 representative, which covers western Washington County. The lifetime Washington County resident has been president of the Greater Hillsboro Area Chamber of Commerce since 2001. Palm leads the chamber in establishing relationships with the businesses, community and local governments as well as implement all of the chamber board’s polices, administering the budget and participates and promotes the chamber.
“As a PCC alum, I know first hand what a positive impact an education at PCC can have on your career and in my position at the Hillsboro Chamber I have seen how responsive and adaptable PCC can be to rapidly changing workforce development requirements,” Palm said. “I appreciate the confidence that the other Board members have placed in me and look forward to working with them and the dedicated staff at Portland Community College.”
Williams, who was first appointed in 1990 and re-elected to the board five times, is president of CH2A Associates, a contracting firm. He represents Zone 2, which includes parts of north Multnomah and Columbia counties.
Squire, who was appointed to the board in 2007, is president of the Entrepreneurs Foundation of the Northwest and the managing partner for the Tygh Valley Group LLC a business development consulting firm. He represents Zone 5, which encompasses southwest and southeast Portland.
The PCC Board of Directors consists of seven members elected by zones to four-year terms. The board members govern the college, which includes selecting the president, approving the hiring of other staff and faculty, approving the college budget and establishing policies that govern the operation of the college.
For more information, visit www.pcc.edu/board
About James Hill
James G. Hill, an award-winning journalist and public relations writer, is the Director of Public Relations at Portland Community College. A graduate of Portland State University, James has worked as a section editor for the Newberg Graphic... more »