Jock Mills has served as Oregon State University’s Director of Government Relations since 2000. He works with state legislators, the Governor's Office, state agencies, local governments, and the Oregon University System.
In 1983 Jock began his career in Oregon as an analyst and committee administrator in the Oregon Legislative Assembly. His career includes 14 years with the Bonneville Power Administration in Portland. During Governor John Kitzhaber’s second term he took a nine-month sabbatical from BPA to serve as the Governor’s liaison to the Willamette Restoration Initiative, a public/private partnership appointed by the Governor to develop a comprehensive watershed restoration program for the Willamette River. Jock has also recently been on part-time loan to Governor Kitzhaber’s Education Investment Project, addressing recent changes in Oregon’s higher education statutes.
Before moving to Oregon, Jock worked with the Education Policy Research Institute, a branch of the Educational Testing Service in Washington, D.C. During the late 1970s he served for three years as a legislative assistant to a New York member of Congress. He has experience as a “roustabout” on a Colorado dude ranch.
Jock holds a master of public policy degree from the University of California, Berkeley. He completed his undergraduate education in 1977 at the University of California, Santa Barbara, where he was awarded a bachelor of arts degree, (magna cum laude) in Political Science with a public service emphasis.
Government Relations Office
The Government Relations Office represents Oregon State University in the governmental process by building and maintaining relationships between the university and various civic, government, and political communities. The office accomplishes its goals by:
- making certain that the entire OSU community is responsive to legislative requests and that legislators are aware of the value Oregon receives from its investments in higher education.
- ensuring that OSU's research, teaching, and public service efforts are designed to meet the needs of all Oregonians, maximizing the effectiveness of public funds invested in education, research, and the delivery of programs that are important to Oregonians.
