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

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

Mark Becker
President, Association of Public & Land Grant Universities
2023

Marcia McNutt, Ph.D.
President, National Academy of Sciences
2022

Ruth V. Watkins, Ph.D.
President, Strada Impact
2021

Dr. Holden Thorp
Editor-In-Chief of Science
2020

Dr. Freeman A. Hrabowski
President, University of Maryland, Baltimore County
2019

Dr. Diana Natalicio
President Emerita, University of Texas at El Paso
2018

Michelle Kuo
Author, Reading with Patrick
2017

Harry Boyte
Senior Scholar in Public Work Philosophy, Augsburg College
2016

Dr. Carmen Suarez
Vice President for Global Diversity and Inclusion, Portland State University
2015

Brandon Busteed
Executive Director, Gallup Education
2014

Jeff Selingo
Author, There Is Life After College
2013

Dr. Caryn McTighe Musil
Distinguished Fellow, Association of American Colleges and Universities
2011

Kevin Fitzgerald
Veterinarian
2010

Dr. Jillian Kinzie
Associate Director, Center for Postsecondary Research