(Becky Johnson)
The Bend Foundation recently announced that it has added Rebecca “Becky” Johnson to its Board of Trustees. Johnson will fill the vacancy created when longtime Bend civic leader, development visionary and Old Mill founder William Smith, passed away in November of last year.
Johnson, who had a 37-year career at Oregon State University, began as an assistant professor and rose to become the first woman to lead the state’s largest university as interim president from 2021 to 2022. During her tenure as interim president, the university achieved record increases in research funding, enrollment and the OSU Foundation achieved a record year of philanthropic giving, totaling over $216 million. Prior to being named Interim President, Johnson was the leader of OSU-Cascades, OSU’s branch campus in Bend, from 2009 to 2021. Under her leadership, OSU-Cascades secured funding that helped transform it from a degree transfer program to a four-year campus in 2016.
Johnson received a bachelor’s degree in economics from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and a master’s and a doctoral degree in agricultural economics from Michigan State University.
Mike Hollern, Bend Foundation Trustee and Chairman of the Board of Brooks Resources Corporation, said, “We invited Becky to join The Bend Foundation as a Trustee because not only does she possess extraordinary experience and board-level leadership skills, but because of her deep knowledge of and caring for the Bend community that helped bring a four-year university to Central Oregon.”
Becky Johnson said, “It is an honor to be invited to serve with the wonderful trustees of The Bend Foundation. Having recently retired and relocated back to Bend, I am looking forward to dedicating time and energy to furthering the cause and carrying out the mission of the foundation to the betterment of the community in the coming years.”
Other Bend Foundation trustees include Conley Brooks, Jr., Board Member of Brooks Resources Corporation; Colin S. Brooks, Board Member of Brooks Resources Corporation; Mike Hollern, Chairman of the Board of Brooks Resources Corporation; Romy Mortensen, VP of Sales and Marketing of Brooks Resources Corporation and Kirk Schueler, President and CEO of Brooks Resources Corporation.
About The Bend Foundation:
The Bend Foundation, established and funded by Brooks Scanlon, Brooks Resources and its shareholders, was originally formed in 1947 as a resource for injured loggers and mill workers, and to provide scholarships of industry workers. Following its mission to improve the lives of not only its employees but the residents of Bend, The Bend Foundation has grown to support social services, arts, culture and education in a thriving, growing and diversifying city. Over the years, The Bend Foundation has performed as a leader in the community by identifying and supporting key needs in an effort to maintain and improve the livability in Bend and throughout Central Oregon.
