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Duncan Wyse, Chair
1st Congressional District
Term: (7/1/2004 - 6/30/2008)
(7/1/2008 - 6/30/2012)
Duncan.Wyse@state.or.us

Duncan Wyse has served as the president of the Oregon Business Council since June 1995, where he works with business and public leaders on a wide range of public policy issues including education, health care and economic strategy. Prior to this position, Wyse was executive director of the Oregon Progress Board, where he developed Oregon Shines - Oregon's long-range strategy for economic growth, and Oregon Benchmarks - indicators measuring how Oregon is doing as a people, place and economy. Under his leadership, the Oregon Progress Board won the Innovations in Government Award from the Ford Foundation and Harvard's Kennedy School. Prior to that, he spent eight years at the California Public Utilities Commission, serving as advisor to the President and Director for Policy and Planning. In addition to the Oregon State Board of Education, he currently serves on the Oregon Quality Education Commission, the E3: Oregon Inc, Employers for Education Excellence Board of Directors, the Multnomah County Leaders Roundtable (as chair), Portland-Multnomah Progress Board, the Willamette Valley Partnership, and the Oregon Transportation Plan Advisory Committee. Wyse holds a Bachelor's degree from Pomona College and a Master's in Business Administration from Stanford University.

Brenda Frank, Vice Chair
2nd Congressional District
Term: (2/15/2005 - 6/30/2008)
(7/1/2008 - 6/30/2012)
Brenda.Frank@state.or.us

Brenda Frank has served as the Director of Education and Employment for the Klamath Tribes since 1996. Prior to this role, she worked as a personnel officer for the Klamath Tribes Health Department from 1994 to 1996 and as an Employment Specialist for the Oregon State Employment Department from 1988 to 1994. Frank served on the Klamath County School District Board from 2001-2005. She is an active member in the Education Government-to-Government process under SB 770, through the Oregon Indian Education Association, National Indian Education Association and the Title VII Indian Education Parent Committee. Frank has also served on the boards of the Klamath County Local Alcohol/Drug Planning Committee and the Klamath Family Head Start.

Frank attended North Seattle Community College, Spokane Community College, and earned her Bachelor of Science degree from Southern Oregon State College.

Artemio Paz, Jr., 2nd Vice Chair
4th Congressional District
Terms: (4/10/2006 - 6/30/2009)
(7/1/2009 - 6/30/2013)
Artemio.Paz@state.or.us

Artemio "Art" Paz, Jr. has been a registered architect in Oregon since 1972 and has served as an Assistant Adjunct Professor of Architecture at the University of Oregon.

An architect and urban designer, he is principal of APAZ Architect, AIA, in Springfield. His architectural projects have included University of Oregon buildings; the McKenzie-Willamette Hospital campus master plan; urban revitalization planning for the City of McMinnville; the Springfield Renaissance Development Corporation's revitalization plan for the City of Springfield; commercial and residential building designs with environmental and energy considerations.

Art Paz was an artillery officer, honorably discharged from the Army in 1965. He has served in his community in a number ways. He has served the community as a member of Springfield Rotary, has sat on a number of committees and boards including Springfield Chamber of Commerce, Eugene's Schools of the Future, Networking for Youth, Chair of the Lane Work Force Quality Committee, SW Private Industry Council, Chair of the Hispanic Business Association, Chair of the Springfield Schools Sites and Facilities Committee, City of Springfield Board of Building Code Apeals, Lane County Building Boards of Appeals, Springfield Arts Committee, and Eugene Arts Plan Committee.

Paz earned his Bachelor and Masters of Architecture degrees from the University of Oregon.

Jerry Berger
5th Congressional District
Term: (7/1/2004 - 6/30/2007)
(7/1/2007 - 6/30/2011)
Jerry.Berger@state.or.us

Dr. Jerry Berger has spent over forty years in the education community, retiring from Chemeketa Community College where he served as president from 1993 to 2001. In 2002, he was named interim president of Portland Community College where he served in that capacity for a year. Dr. Berger was appointed to Salem Electric's Board of Directors in February 2002 and was elected in May 2004 to a three-year term. Dr. Berger has been active in state and local community organizations, including the Enterprise Board for Workforce Development; the Salem Economic Development Corporation Board; the Salem Area Chamber of Commerce; the YMCA of Marion and Polk Counties Board of Directors; and the Salem Public Schools Advisory Committee. He has also served on a number of education-related committees, boards, and councils, including the board of the American College Testing Corporation, Governor Kitzhaber's Educational Advisory Council; and the Oregon Community College Consortium for Distance Education.

Berger earned an Associate of Arts degree from Northeastern Junior College in Colorado and a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Northern Colorado. He obtained his Master of Arts degree from the University of Northern Colorado, and his Specialist and Doctorate of Education degrees from the University of Wyoming.

Nikki Squire
At-large
Term: (7/1/2003 - 6/30/2007)
(7/1/2007 - 6/30/2011)
Nikki.Squire@state.or.us

Dr. Nikki Squire brings a rich education background to her position as Chair of the State Board of Education. Beginning as a social studies teacher in 1971, she has held a number of positions, including Staff Development Specialist at Glencoe High School (1980-1981), Assistant Principal, Glencoe High School (1981-1984), Principal at J.W. Poynter Junior High (1984-1989), Assistant Superintendent for the Hillsboro School District (1989-1992), and Superintendent of the Hillsboro School District from 1992 to 1999. She returned to the Hillsboro School District on a part-time basis as Associate Superintendent (1999-2001) following her retirement. She also taught part-time as an associate professor in the Graduate School of Education at Portland State University.

Squire earned her baccalaureate degree from the University of Oregon where she graduated magna cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa, then went on to receive her Master's degree in American History at the Oregon College of Education and her Ph.D. in education policy and management at the University of Oregon. She has also done post-doctoral work at Lewis and Clark College and the University of Oregon.

Among her many honors is the Distinguished Alumnus Award, given to Dr. Squire from the University of Oregon for her lifetime contributions to education and public schools in Oregon. Dr. Squire has served on a number of education committees and has also spoken and written extensively on education topics that include the legal and financial aspects of education, district and school policy and operations, and standards-based reform.

Leslie Shepherd
At Large
Term: (7/1/2008 - 6/30/2012)
Leslie.Shepherd@state.or.us

Leslie Shepherd, a fourth-generation Oregonian, has been the executive director of the Providence Seaside Hospital Foundation since 2003 and she is responsible for a diversified fundraising program that includes annual gifts, planned giving, major gifts and grant procurement. She has been with the Providence Seaside Hospital since 1993. She served on the Warrenton-Hammond School Board from 1997 to 2005, serving as board chair for her final three years. In addition, she has served on the City of Warrenton Budget Committee from 1992 to 2007, is a member of the Association for Healthcare Philanthropy, the Seaside 20/20 Vision Committee, and has served on a number of community-based committees.

She is a graduate of Central Linn High School, earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Sociology from the University of Oregon, and is pursuing a Masters of Public Administration at the Mark O. Hatfield School of Government at Portland State University.

Vacant
3rd Congressional District

Kate Brown
Secretary of State (2009-2013)
Oregon.sos@state.os.us eMail

Kate Brown was elected Oregon Secretary of State in 2008 after 18 years in the Oregon Legislature. She served as a member of the Oregon Senate from 1997 to 2009 and in 2004 became the first women selected Senate Majority Leader, a post she held until 2009. She also served as a state representative from 1991 to 1996. Brown has taught at Portland State University and practiced family and juvenile law. In her legislative career, Brown led successful efforts to make Oregon state government open and accessible. She spearheaded legislation creating a searchable online database of campaign contributions and expenditures, and reformed Oregon’s initiative process to reduce fraud and protect the citizen’s right to petition their government.

Brown earned a B.A. degree in Environmental Conservation with a Certificate in Women’s Studies from the University of Colorado at Boulder. She earned her law degree and Certificate in Environmental Law from the Northwestern School of Law at Lewis & Clark College in Portland, Oregon.

Ben Westlund
State Treasurer (2009-2013)
Oregon.Treasurer@state.or.us

Bernard (Ben) J. Westlund is an entrepreneur who helped start a successful mining venture in Central Oregon and then became a rancher and agri-businessman, selling cattle genetics through his company, High Country Herefords. Westlund was elected to the Oregon House of Representatives (1996-2003), and the State Senate (2003-2008). In 2008, he was elected State Treasurer. As a legislator, Westlund oversaw the state budget as co-chairman of the Joint Ways and Means Committee and worked to create the School Stability Fund, the state Rainy Day Fund, the Oregon Cultural Trust, the Public Safety Memorial Fund, and the OSU Cascades Campus. He helped create and expand the Oregon College Savings Network, which allows tax-free savings for college. He also has championed financial literacy for students and adults, financial industry reforms to usher more transparency and accountability, health care reform, tax credits to bolster renewable energy development, and the recognition of domestic partnerships.

Westlund attended Whitman College in Walla Walla, Washington, graduating with a degree in education and history.

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