Pacific Northwest College of Art Welcomes Five New Board Members
March 29, 2012
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 28, 2012
Contact: Lisa Radon, Communications Specialist
Pacific Northwest College of Art
lradon@pnca.edu, 971 255 5528
Becca Biggs, Director of Communications
Pacific Northwest College of Art
bbiggs@pnca.edu, 971 255 5511
Pacific Northwest College of Art Welcomes Five New Board Members
Portland, OR – March 28, 2012 - Pacific Northwest College of Art (PNCA) welcomes five new members to its Board of Governors: Rick Caskey, Mark Cushing, Jennifer Bruml Lemelson, Bob Packard, and Aric Wood. Between them, these five new board members bring a wealth of communications, business, and marketing savvy plus non-profit board experience to the governance of PNCA. PNCA is in the midst of a dynamic period of growth. Under the auspices of the Ford Institute for Visual Education (FIVE), PNCA has added five graduate programs in as many years. And while the College maintains its strong community feel with individualized attention for students from its world class faculty and mentors, enrollment has doubled in the past eight years. PNCA’s Board of Governors has been instrumental in spearheading the College’s planned campus expansion, the keystone of which is the historic Federal Post Office at 511 NW Broadway on Portland’s North Park Blocks in the heart of Portland’s downtown creative district. “The College’s active Board is the best example of the Portland-style creativity and collaboration that supports everything we do at PNCA,” says President Tom Manley. “We are grateful for their commitment to our mission.” “I'm thrilled to have the talent, expertise, and energy of these new Governors added to our extraordinary Board,” says Board of Governors Chair, Ann Edlen. “The dedication of this entire team to the mission of the College will help build an exciting future for the College, the city and beyond.”
Rick Caskey
For 25 years, Rick Caskey worked for Chevron, for many years as Manager of Geophysical Technology for Chevron Overseas and then as Manager of E&P and Technology for Chevron Overseas, part of a team developing international joint ventures. After retiring in 1999, Caskey developed a wholesale pasta manufacturing business, which eventually expanded to several retail outlets in the San Francisco Bay Area. Caskey holds a BS in Physics and a PhD in Geophysics. He and his wife, Sue, have been active supporters of the Museum of Contemporary Craft as well as PNCA.
Mark Cushing
Mark Cushing is the chair of Tonkin Torp's Government Relations and Pubic Policy Practice Group. Political strategist, corporate executive, and former trial lawyer, Cushing's advocacy practice focuses on strategic advice and services to government clients in the U.S. and Canada. Cushing has also founded Tonkin Torp's animal policy group practice. Cushing has served as special assistant to the governor of Oregon and has served on the Metropolitan Art Commission. Cushing holds a JD from Willamette University and a BA from Stanford University.
Jennifer Bruml Lemelson
Jennifer Bruml Lemelson is a member of the Board of Directors of the Lemelson Foundation. The Foundation supports college and university programs intended to motivate and prepare young people to create and develop new technologies. Lemelson is currently coordinating a school garden program at a public elementary school in Oregon while participating in the first Farm to School initiative in the state. Jennifer received her BA in Art History from Boston University and is a practicing potter.
Bob Packard
Bob Packard has been the managing partner of Zimmer Gunsul Frasca Architects for over two decades, directing the firm’s strategic, financial, and operational activities. Packard is also an urban designer and participates as partner-in-charge and principal planner on selected projects including The Children’s Hospital and the EPA Region 8 Headquarters in Denver and ZGF’s new mixed-use office building in Portland. Packard is the chair of the American Institute of Architects Large Firm Roundtable in Excellence in Design and Practice and is on the Board of Trustees for Willamette University. He holds a BA in Psychology from Willamette University and Master of Urban and Regional Planning from the University of Colorado College of Environmental Design.
Aric Wood
Aric Wood is COO at Dachis Group, an international communications and management consulting firm with clients such as AT&T, Citibank Coca-Cola, Disney, Estee Lauder, and Target. Previously, Wood was CEO of XPlane, a management consulting firm with strong emphasis in design communications which is now owned and operated under Dachis Group. With an MBA from Harvard Business School and a BA in International Studies from The Johns Hopkins University, Wood has worked at Intuit, ePinions.com, and Bain & Company. Wood’s wife Jane has actively supported PNCA and is the owner of Victory Gallery in Portland’s North Park Blocks.
About Pacific Northwest College of Art
PNCA prepares students for a life of creative practice and has been an influential force in art and design education in the Pacific Northwest since its founding in 1909. Today PNCA enrolls over 600 students in 15 undergraduate and graduate programs, and another 2,500 students through its continuing education programs. Since its founding in 1909, Pacific Northwest College of Art (PNCA) has become a leader in innovative educational programs that connect students to a global perspective in the visual arts and design. PNCA prepares students for a life of creative practice, offering 10 Bachelor of Fine Arts degrees and five graduate degrees under the auspices of its Ford Institute for Visual Education (FIVE): an MFA in Visual Studies, a Low-Residency MFA in Visual Studies, an MA in Critical Theory and Creative Research, an MFA in Collaborative Design, and an MFA in Applied Craft and Design developed with the Oregon College of Art and Craft, the first inter-institutional degree of its kind in the US. PNCA is actively involved in Portland's cultural life through exhibitions and a vibrant public program of lectures and internationally recognized visiting artists, designers, and creative thinkers. The Portland Monthly, in its January 2012 issue, called PNCA the “crown jewel of Portland’s creative class.” With the support of FIVE, the College has an operating partnership with the nationally acclaimed Museum of Contemporary Craft.
For more information, visit pnca.edu.