For the last 17 years, as University of Oregon and Portland State have churned through a number of leaders, Oregon’s largest college — Oregon State University — has had the same president: Ed Ray.
Ray joined OPB “Think Out Loud” host Dave Miller to talk about leading the university during a pandemic and what the future of the institution looks like.
Here are the highlights from their conversation:
Dave Miller: Let’s go back one year. You announced more than a year ago that you were going to step down this week. So this is not a COVID-related retirement — how did you know 15 months ago or so that you were done?
Ray: We don’t have a crystal ball, we’re in the same place everybody else is — but we are tracking students who have applied, and the numbers suggest it's going to be very similar to last fall. Not as rapid growth on the Cascades campus, but more rapid growth for our Ecampus online program.
Ray: If I had a child going off to college, I’d say if you’ve got dreams and aspirations for what you want to do, the most important thing you can do is get your education. I would really encourage them to go to school, get their core courses, some basics behind you.
To listen to the entire conversation, use the audio player at the top of this story.
Ed Ray is president of Oregon State University.
Copyright 2020 Oregon Public Broadcasting