The OSU Board of Trustees is grieved to announce that Trustee Eder passed away on March 12, 2023.
Obituary published in the Oregonian
Video of In Memoriam segment from April 13, 2023 Academic Strategies Committee Meeting
Video of In Memoriam segment from April 14, 2023 Board of Trustees Meeting
Video of Board of Trustees Resolution honoring Trustee Michele Longo Eder
Until her retirement in 2014, Michele Longo Eder practiced law on the Oregon coast for 35 years, with a focus on the representation of families and small businesses, and an emphasis on marine and fisheries law.
In partnership with her husband, Bob Eder, Ms. Eder was a shareholder in Argos, Inc. and are owner-operators of a commercial fishing vessel. Using species-specific "pot" gear, Mr. Eder and his crew catch Dungeness crab and sablefish, a deep-water groundfish. Their vessel also engages in collaborative scientific ocean research with state and federal agencies and universities.
Ms. Eder was a former Presidential appointee as a commissioner of the U.S. Arctic Research Commission (2004-2012), has served as a member of the North Pacific Research Board (2005-2012), and also as a member of the Public Policy Committee of the Consortium for Ocean Leadership (2006-2012). She has been appointed by the Secretary of Commerce as a member of the NOAA Marine Fisheries Advisory Committee and also named by the Secretary of Homeland Security to a federal advisory committee to the US Coast Guard, regarding safety at sea. Currently, Ms Eder was in her third term as a member of the Groundfish Advisory Panel to the Pacific Fishery Management Council.
Ms. Eder has published articles regarding the seafood industry, including those related to fisheries management, fishing vessel safety, and ratification of the Law of the Sea Treaty. Ms. Eder published her first book, Salt in Our Blood: The Memoir of a Fisherman’s Wife, in 2008.
In her legal career, Ms Eder organized, in concert with the American Bar Association, a local Volunteer Lawyers Project, which led to the creation of Lincoln County Legal Aid. She also served the as local bar president for several years and was appointed chair of the local professional responsibly committee for three counties.
She was an active member of her community, primarily serving organizations that help families and children. These organizations have included a safe house for victims of domestic violence, a center for emotionally handicapped children, Newport Fishermen’s Wives, the Newport Library Foundation and the Newport Food Pantry.
Ms. Eder earned her bachelor’s degree from Johns Hopkins University in 1976 and her law degree from Lewis & Clark Law School in 1979.
OSU Commencement, June 2022
