06-07-06

Media Release

OSU to Honor Three with Special Recognition at Commencement

CORVALLIS, Ore. – Oregon State University will honor a leading global climate scientist, a natural resource and rural economist, and a business entrepreneur and philanthropist during its 137th annual commencement ceremony on Sunday, June 18.

OSU's commencement begins at 2 p.m. in Reser Stadium and will be aired live over Oregon Public Broadcasting.

Climate scientist and OSU alumnus Warren Washington, who also will deliver the commencement address, will receive an honorary doctorate degree from the university, as will Emery Castle, a former OSU faculty member and pioneer in natural resource and rural economics.

Bernard "Bernie" Newcomb, co-founder of E*Trade and a prominent donor to OSU, will receive the university's Distinguished Service Award. He is a 1965 graduate of the university's College of Business.

"All three of our special honorees have achieved extraordinary success in their long and distinguished careers – and are excellent role models for our 2006 graduates," said Sabah Randhawa, OSU's provost and executive vice president.

Washington is one of the nation's leading climate researchers and scientific leaders. He also is one of OSU's most distinguished African American alumni, serving by presidential appointment as chairman of the National Science Board, for which he was nominated by President Clinton. He recently completed his second term, having been renominated by President Bush.

After receiving a bachelor's degree in physics and a master's degree in meteorology from OSU, Washington earned a Ph.D. from Penn State University and then joined the National Center for Atmospheric Research in 1963. He has spent his entire career working for that organization, and in the process has developed an international reputation for his studies of the Earth's climate.

Just last year, he and a colleague published an article in the prestigious journal Science that analyzed climate data from around the world over the past 40 years, and also outlined the connection between human activities – including the burning of fossil fuels – and global warming.

Washington also chairs the U.S. Subcommittee on Global Change.

Castle, whose career has spanned more than half a century, is a pioneer in the study of natural resource-based economics and rural economics. His work opened up new avenues of study that helped farmers, resource managers and decision-makers to consider such things as the value of water quality and technological innovation.

He joined the OSU faculty in 1954 as an assistant professor of agricultural economics and then spent the next 39 years as a teacher, researcher, administrator and public policy analyst. Though he retired in 1993, he remains active today.

Castle co-wrote a textbook on farm management that introduced a generation of students to the fundamental economic principles of management of an agricultural business. Working closely with farmers, he observed their struggles with obtaining quality water and dealing with complex water policy issues, and he began to lead traditional agricultural economists through a transition to the emerging area of environmental and natural resource economics. Castle chaired the W.K. Kellogg Foundation's national rural studies committee for 10 years.

Newcomb is a business entrepreneur and visionary leader whose work as co-founder of E*Trade helped to revolutionize the way that investors research, buy and sell their stocks. Upon his retirement, he began a second career as a philanthropist, contributing $6.1 million to support to the OSU College of Business, a gift that established endowments for student scholarships, faculty positions, and programs in the college. He also has supported numerous programs in his hometown of Scio.

Declared legally blind because of vision impairment at birth, Newcomb attended the Oregon School for the Blind for two years before entering the public school system in Scio, Ore., in the third grade. In Scio, where he was known as "Bing," he enjoyed a great deal of success and graduated as valedictorian from Scio High School in 1961. He enrolled at OSU and four years later graduated with honors and a bachelor's degree in business administration and technology.

A pioneer in computer systems development, Newcomb spent more than three decades in business, primarily as a software developer and consultant. He co-founded the E*Trade group – formerly known as Trade*Plus – and served as vice president for research and development and chief system architect from 1982 to 1997.