This content was published: September 19, 2014. Phone numbers, email addresses, and other information may have changed.
State Senate confirms Jeremy Brown to Oregon Tech’s first board
Photos and story by James Hill
On Wednesday, Sept. 17, the Oregon State Senate voted unanimously to approve Gov. John Kitzhaber’s appointment of Portland Community College President Jeremy Brown to the first-ever, 15-member Board of Trustees for Oregon Tech (formerly OIT).
Jeremy Brown chats with visitors to the Swan Island Trades Center.
Brown will begin his tenure on July 1, 2015 and serve through June 30, 2018. Due to recent higher education reform the seven-member Oregon University System governed by the State Board of Higher Education was decentralized and universities like Oregon Tech now have their own governing boards. For the complete list of the first nine confirmations, read the Oregon Tech announcement.
“I’m honored to be part of the first cohort of trustees to serve Oregon Tech University,” said Brown, who joined PCC in 2013. “Oregon is on the front lines of some of the most innovative dialogue and practices when it comes to post-secondary education. Serving on Oregon Tech’s Board of Trustees will enable an even stronger partnership and more opportunities for students.”
Brown’s participation on Oregon Tech’s Board symbolizes the long-standing partnership between the two institutions that includes:
- Dual enrollment agreement, joint 2+2 transfer programs (students can apply to both institutions with major and transfer path already planned out), and six articulation partnerships.
- PCC and Oregon Tech are collaborators in the South Metro-Salem STEM Partnership (STEM Oregon), promoting career pathways and dual credit for students in science, technology, engineering and math, with a focus on underrepresented students.
- Because of PCC’s strong health science programs, both institutions have forged a strategic relationship related to Oregon’s Center for Health Professions – a state-of-the-industry, green facility housing Oregon Tech’s progressive allied health programs.
Brown has a strong connection between the trades and post-secondary education. He is a son of a millwright and an educator from Northwest England. He immigrated to the United States to pursue his education and instruction in nuclear physics. A native of Manchester, England, Brown served as president of Dowling College on Long Island and of Edinboro University of Pennsylvania, part of the state’s public university system before arriving at PCC.
He earned both his bachelor of science degree and his doctorate in physics from the University of Birmingham, England. His doctoral work in experimental nuclear physics was conducted at both the University of Birmingham and the University of California-Berkeley. He spent two years at Indiana University pursuing physics research, followed by a faculty position in the physics department at Princeton University. In addition, he served as an associate dean of the graduate school at Yale University and associate dean of faculty at Princeton.
Brown has served on the Erie Philharmonic in Pennsylvania, St. Vincent Health System & Board of Corporators, Hamot Hospital and Hospice and Palliative Care of St. Lawrence Valley (New York) boards. He currently serves on Portland Business Alliance, All Hands Raised and Oregon Museum of Science & Industry (OMSI) boards.
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 »