Retired OMSI director honored with Dan Poling Award
By George P. Edmonston Jr.

Loren D. McKinley, Dan W. Poling Alumni Service Award winner and executive director emeritus of OMSI, explores a new OMSI exhibit.

Loren D. McKinley, executive director emeritus of the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry (OMSI) and one of Oregon's best-known civic activists, has been named the 2001 recipient of the Dan W. Poling Alumni Service Award by the OSU Alumni Association.

He was honored Jan. 26 at the Alumni Association's annual winter board meeting.

The award, named for a longtime dean of men at Oregon State, has been presented since 1989 to an Oregon Stater who has given exemplary volunteer service to the university.

McKinley was born on Feb. 1, 1920, in Tillamook. While attending OSC, he was a member of Kappa Sigma fraternity and worked as a reporter on the student newspaper, the Daily Barometer. He received his degree from OSC in education in 1942.

During World War II, he served with the 9th Infantry Division in the invasions of Africa, Sicily and Normandy. He was a medic with the 34th Field Artillery Battalion and was under the immediate command of a captain everyone called "Westy" but never to the young officer's face. "Westy" it turns out, was Gen. William C. Westmoreland, one of the leading military leaders in the United States since the Korean conflict.

In the early 1950s McKinley was named Junior First Citizen of Oregon. From 1954 to 1960, he was mayor of Tillamook. From 1960 to 1978, he served as executive director of OMSI in Portland, and today holds the title of director emeritus.

He has served as president or board member for numerous groups, including St. Mary's Girl's School, the Leukemia Association of Oregon, the Arts and Crafts Society, the Papillon Society, the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, the Portland Recreation Coalition, and the Columbia River Education Project.

An original organizer for the Association for Science and Technology Centers, he received the Elsie M. B. Naumberg Award as the outstanding science museum director in the United States (1968). He has been president of the League of Oregon Cities and holds a citation by the Oregon Academy of Science in recognition of outstanding service to the state of Oregon in the field of science.

Since 1984, McKinley has served as a special development representative for the OSU Foundation. Out of his Portland Center office, he has quietly raised millions of dollars for OSU. In recognition of his contributions to the university, the OSU Foundation in 1998 presented McKinley with its prestigious "Heart of Gold" Award, only the second one ever given.

Betty Miller, '42, and Ron Miller, '41, of Portland, talk on videophones at the OMSI High Tech Hall while attending an Alumni Association reception and viewing of the Linus Pauling Special Collection at OMSI.

Alumni Association events on Web

Want information on an upcoming class reunion? Interested in participating in Homecoming events, tailgaters or alumni travel trips? Scheduled Alumni Association activities and information about how to sign up for them are included on the Web at http://osu.orst.edu/dept/alumni/events.html.

Mike Macnab and guest Marcia Jory enjoy the Pauling exhibit at OMSI.

Mike Macnab, '77, hands out OSU Alumni Association "Staying Connected" cards the way some people hand out business cards. In fact, keeping alumni connected with the university has been one of Macnab's priorities this year as president of the Association.

Macnab said that the Alumni Association recently has implemented a number of programs to reach out to alumni.

The OSU Over Lunch program was reinstated, and a new e-mail communication program, E-Clips, was launched to keep alumni all over the world informed of university events on a weekly basis.

During the past year, the Association also has expanded its travel program, developed a tiered membership program, and added cultural and family events.

Macnab said board members are becoming involved in assisting with student recruiting, helping the Association map out its future and developing long range plans for the Alumni Center.

"This year has been one of learning and growth for board members," he said. "They are increasing their involvement in recruiting and assisting with events. They have come to realize they have the ability to share with others why OSU is such a good university."

He said the Association faces a number of future challenges, one of which is how to engage alumni who earn degrees off campus.

Although Macnab said he experienced many memorable moments as Alumni Association president, one striking image stands out: the sea of orange clad Beaver fans thumping thundersticks at the Fiesta Bowl pep rally in Tempe planned by the Alumni Association.

"I never dreamed we would be playing in the Fiesta Bowl," said Macnab. "It was an overwhelming experience and a phenomenal opportunity for alumni and friends of the university to come together. A lot of people saw classmates they hadn't seen since college."

When asked what he enjoyed most about his tenure as president, Macnab replied, "It's meeting alumni of the university - from the very young to the very old - whom I had never met before and hearing about their experiences at OSU and why they love this place."

The OSUAA welcomes new employees Jennifer Hall, '97, as executive assistant and Patricia Palmer Noble as membership assistant.

Correction: In an article about "Scram" and Jean Graham in the December 2000 issue of the Oregon Stater, Scram Graham's early employment history was incorrectly reported. Before coming to Corvallis, he was vice president and assistant treasurer of the Bumstead-Woolford Co.