University Day Lecture

University Day is Oregon State University's celebratory launch to the academic year. During this event, the university welcomes new employees, celebrates excellent work, and recognizes awards for teaching, mentoring, engagement, and research. Part of this event is the University Day Lecture, delivered by a distinguished leader, thinker, or scholar who inspires faculty and staff to reflect on their roles as educators committed to delivering OSU's land grant research university mission.

 

 

2025 UNIVERSITY DAY LECTURE

Tuesday, September 16, 2025 

10:30 a.m. to Noon 

PRAx, Lynne Halstrom Detrick Concert Hall

 

 

 

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DANIEL PORTERFIELD | President and CEO, Aspen Institute

Since 2018, Dan Porterfield has served as President and CEO of the Aspen Institute. He has been recognized as a visionary strategist, leader, and advocate for young people and purpose-driven leadership. A lifelong educator and former college president, he is the author of the 2024 book, Mindset Matters: The Power of College to Activate Lifelong Growth.

At the Aspen Institute, Porterfield has led an era of organizational development and growth. Since 2018, fueled by new investments, the Institute’s operating budget has increased from $158 million to more than $260 million, and its endowment has tripled to more than $350 million.

Prior to leading the Aspen Institute, Porterfield served for seven years as the President of Franklin & Marshall College. During his presidency, Franklin & Marshall set records for applications, fundraising, and fellowships; developed cutting edge new centers for student wellness, career services, and faculty excellence; and constructed a new athletics stadium and visual arts center.

Porterfield previously served as Senior Vice President for Strategic Development and as an award-winning professor of English at his alma mater, Georgetown University, and as communications director and chief speechwriter for the U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services.

Porterfield serves on the National Board of Directors of Teach For America and as a trustee of Colorado College. He was named a White House Champion of Change in 2016 and is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the Council on Foreign Relations. He earned B.A. degrees from Georgetown and Oxford—where he was a Rhodes Scholar—and his Ph.D. from The City University of New York Graduate Center, where he was awarded a Mellon Fellowship in the Humanities and wrote his dissertation on the poetry of American prisoners.

 

 

2024

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Mark Becker
President, Association of Public & Land Grant Universities

2023

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Marcia McNutt, Ph.D.
President, National Academy of Sciences

2022

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Ruth V. Watkins, Ph.D.
President, Strada Impact

2021

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Dr. Holden Thorp
Editor-In-Chief of Science

2020

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Dr. Freeman A. Hrabowski
President, University of Maryland, Baltimore County

2019

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Dr. Diana Natalicio
President Emerita, University of Texas at El Paso

2018

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Michelle Kuo
Author, Reading with Patrick

2017

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Harry Boyte
Senior Scholar in Public Work Philosophy, Augsburg College

2016

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Dr. Carmen Suarez
Vice President for Global Diversity and Inclusion, Portland State University

2015

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Brandon Busteed
Executive Director, Gallup Education

2014

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Jeff Selingo
Author, There Is Life After College

2013

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Dr. Caryn McTighe Musil
Distinguished Fellow, Association of American Colleges and Universities

2011

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Kevin Fitzgerald
Veterinarian

2010

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Dr. Jillian Kinzie
Associate Director, Center for Postsecondary Research