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Contacts:
Di Saunders, OUS: 503-725-5714; Cell: 503-807-5539
Tim
Seydel, EOU: 541-962-3628; Cell: 541-910-1723
APRIL
3, PORTLAND
- The Oregon State Board of Higher Education today appointed Dr.
Dixie L. Lund interim president of Eastern Oregon University. Lund
has been dean in EOU's Division of Distance Education since 1994,
and has held several other positions at EOU since 1973. Lund succeeds Dr. Philip Creighton, who announced his resignation last month to accept the presidency at Pacific University in Forest Grove, Oregon, beginning on August 1. Lund will begin making the transition to interim president the first of June. Her appointment is expected to last at least through the end of the year, according to Jim Lussier, president of the Oregon State Board of Higher Education. The board will begin a national search for a new president during the next few weeks. "Eastern
Oregon University is a strong, dynamic institution that is widely
recognized for its student-centered approach to learning," said
Richard Jarvis, Chancellor of the Oregon University System.
"The entire campus community is vested in sustaining the
momentum in enrollment growth, new programs, and facilities that
serve both its campus community and the broader communities in
eastern Oregon. Dr. Lund can provide the leadership needed to do
this, and ensure a stable, fully working campus until a permanent
president can be named." Jarvis noted that Lund had
overwhelming support from the EOU campus community. The
Chancellor spent a full day in mid-March speaking with students,
staff, faculty, administrators and community leaders at the
university to provide information and receive input on the selection
of an interim president, and the naming of a committee to
immediately begin the search for a new president of EOU. "During
our meetings at EOU, we heard again and again the desire of the
campus community to move quickly in the recruitment of a new,
permanent president in the Fall of this year, and have the president
start no later than January of 2004," Jarvis said. "EOU
has worked very hard under the leadership of President Creighton to
grow enrollment, expand the freshman cornerstone program, and
complete their state-of-the-art science building. There's an
excitement about EOU's advancements on campus that everyone wants
to sustain," noted Jarvis. "The
rest of this year will certainly bring new milestones for EOU, as
well as new challenges," Lund said. "As we proudly open
our new science building and offer greater opportunities to students
and the community, we also face a period in Oregon with fewer
resources and increasing need. As a 30-year member of the EOU
community, I care very deeply about this university, its wonderful
students, faculty and staff, the citizens of La Grande, and the
larger eastern Oregon community," Lund added. "I will uphold our
institutional goals and work with all members of the campus to
continue to move us forward as the higher education leader in this
part of the state." As
Dean of the Division of Distance Education, Lund was instrumental in
expanding EOU's on-line and remote education programs across the
entire state. Currently, EOU has statewide offices in 14 cities and
towns, including seven in eastern Oregon, three in central Oregon,
and four in western Oregon. Under Lund's leadership, Oregonians
living in remote areas of the state gained access to higher
education degree programs, which in the past had only been available
by attending a "traditional" campus. Lund
came to EOU as an instructor in the Division of Social Science and
Business in 1973, having also obtained her B.S. in Secondary
Business Education there that same year. Lund went on to obtain an
Ed.M. in Adult Education from Oregon State University in 1984, and
her Ed.D. in Post-Secondary Educational Leadership from Portland
State University in 1989. During her tenure at EOU, Lund has held
various teaching and coordinator positions in business, humanities,
general studies, and distance learning. In 1994 she was named dean
of EOU's Division of Distance Education, and has grown on-line
education for the university to the point where it is a model in
Oregon and in other states that contend with remote, rural access to
higher education. Active in the local community, Lund is the vice-chair of the Grande Ronde Hospital Board of Trustees, and involved in support and care-giving for the La Grande community. This year, Lund received the EOU Woman of Courage and Vision Award, and in 2002 received the Oregon Women in Higher Education Service Award. Dr. Lund lives in La Grande with her husband of 34 years, Ed Lund, and has two adult children who also live in Oregon. Note
to Editors: A downloadable photo of Dixie Lund is available at
http://www.eou.edu/ua/news/lund.html Oregon University System (OUS) comprises seven distinguished public universities, reaching more than one million people each year through on-campus classes, statewide public services and lifelong learning. The Oregon State Board of Higher Education, the statutory governing board of OUS, is composed of eleven members appointed by the Governor and confirmed by the Oregon State Senate. For additional information, go to www.ous.edu -OUS- |