Please welcome Quade Anne Traini!
We are absolutely thrilled to announce that Dr. Traini, Leadership Academy Co-Director and Assistant Professor for Leadership Education gave birth to a beautiful and healthy baby girl on January 28th. Please join us in welcoming Quade (pronounced Quay-dee) Anne Traini, and congratulating mom and dad on their new addition!
Recruitment 2020 is Rolling!
This past month the current cohort hosted an Info Night for prospective students, and they did a GREAT job! This was an opportunity for them to leave a legacy and open the doors for their peers to advance their leadership development. Current students were able to showcase examples of their leadership goals, mentoring relationships, and scholarship-funded activities.
If you know a student who you think would be a good fit for the Academy and would benefit from leadership development, send your nominations to the Leadership Academy Coordinator, Faith Vawter. Applications are being accepted online until April 3rd.
Academy facts and figures:
- Over 200 student fellows served to date
- Over $50,000 in scholarship dollars given out since 2011
- 24% of current cohort report being from traditionally underrepresented groups
- 82% of alumni respondents report receiving a job offer prior to graduation
Current Academy students share their experiences with prospective students at an Info Night held in February.
Guest Speakers: Mrs. Karla Chambers and Ms. Brecklin MiltonStahlbush Island Farms
Karla Chambers and her husband Bill started their family farm right here in the Willamette Valley back in 1985. Stahbush has become a leader in the industry growing and freezing fruits, vegetables, grains, and legumes, spanning over 5,000 acres! Karla shared with our students how Stahlbush generates electricity from their fruit and vegetable by-product using their biogas plant. The biogas plant not only generates electricity, but also generates steam that they use in boilers, hot water for sanitation and hot air to dry out pumpkin seeds!
Karla shared how growing up in the business gave her the confidence and expertise needed to forge her own way in building Stahlbush. Her important and captivating discussion provided lessons around women in leadership roles, the evolution of the industry over time, the importance of choosing business partners wisely, and the importance of understanding business management and finance.
The Chambers both attended Oregon State University; Bill Chambers graduated with a bachelors degree in agriculture in 1981, and again in 1984 with a masters degree. Karla graduated in 1981 with a bachelors degree in business, and again in 1982 with a masters in interdisciplinary studies. Heavily involved in the community and state, the Chambers' received the 2014 Austin Family Business Program's award for Family Business Leadership.
Dr. John Bailey chats with current cohort student Alexis Knight and mentor Amy Neuman. Despite growing up on a cattle farm, Dr. John Bailey never anticipated going into agriculture or forestry as a career. His future took root when he signed up for a natural resources class in high school which led to his first summer job, working for the Youth Conservation Corps.
He went on to study forestry at Virginia Tech where he got his masters degree and served in several leadership roles; first as squad boss for a fire station, then leading a minorities enrichment program, and finally spending an entire spring term teaching rudimentary forestry measurements and skills for job in teaching.
Dr. Bailey eventually returned back for his PhD here at OSU and quickly realized after serving as a teaching assistant and instructor, that his heart was in teaching. He took a faculty position at Northern Arizona University until his mentor at OSU announced his retirement. The position needed a faculty member with experience in prescribed burning, ecological restoration, and the ability to restart the fire program-it was a perfect fit. Tragedy struck for Dr. Bailey and his family four months after moving back to Oregon, he lost his beloved wife to cancer. With two children both under the age of 18, he was left with two conditions from his late wife; chuckling he says, "1) no motorcyles, and 2) when you remarry, no evil stepmothers. She has to love our kids and tolerate you."
Dr. Bailey takes those lessons and shares them with his students; a strong supporter of the Leadership Academy he promotes it to students and faculty alike. He has served as a faculty mentor for many years and says of the importance of participation, "Forestry graduates are our future. The way I see the identity of a professor is an advisor and mentor. It's why I come to work. The Leadership Academy is an extension of that. Here in Forestry, what we rally around is the curriculum and the students and our deep alumni base."
Now in his fifteenth year at OSU he describes what has challenged him professionally over the years. "Painful lessons are the ones around personnel; the discomfort of something not working. You just keep asking yourself what you could have done differently-what should I learn from this? In the end, the best thing to do is not avoid it, but rather get it up on the table and deal with it."
When I spoke to him he had just arrived back from an intergenerational leadership conference where the keynote speaker was describing the importance of hard work and positive communication. Dr. Bailey says "It's important to start with understanding the lowest job-you have to understand how to pound nails or dig ditches in order to lead others in doing those things.There is value in hard work, good communication, and not moving too fast. Leaders help move from one situation to the next, motivating others through positive, empowering and optimistic language." When he gets the opportunity to work with students and share his life lessons, he says it's a "...small cost to help a much bigger cause and meet some truly amazing people."
Dr. Bailey now serves as the Maybelle Clarke MacDonald Professor of Teaching Excellence in Silviculture and Fire Management for the College of Forestry. He has an eight year old son, two grown children (one in the Air Force and one an architect), and is now remarried to an amazing woman.
Alumna Spotlight: Taylin Sparks Does sliding around a soapy kitchen floor like a penguin somehow lead to becoming a Veterinary Research Health Technician at Oregon Health and Science University's National Primate Research Center? It does if you're Taylin Sparks. Childhood memories such as that propelled her to want to work with animals.
When Taylin was elected to chapter council in her sorority, Alpha Gamma Delta she realized her leadership skills needed sharpening. She says, "There was unspoken pressure to set a good example and make a difference while in my position. I had just had a major epiphany about making the most of my time at OSU. The idea of Leadership Academy seemed beneficial to my bank of skills and my resume, so I decided to apply."
"One of the things I appreciated most was that everyone in the room was also on a mission to better themselves. There were highly driven and involved people and it was fun to hear what they had going on in life and what they wanted to do; it definitely was contagious."
Her mentor Katie was a strong influence on her, providing guidance and positivity when Taylin applied for a much-desired internship. Taylin said "I did end up getting an internship working with elephants and at the end of the school year she gifted me a necklace with a small gold elephant on it. I still wear it frequently!"
She admits she still struggles with "...the nagging feeling of feeling like I'm not doing enough. I’ve been lucky to be surrounded by a lot of successful and motivated people with infectious, great personalities. Comparing myself to them sometimes makes me feel inspired and other times it makes me feel boring or lack-luster. So far, I have found one of the most successful tactics is writing down something specific I am grateful for each day. I also spend a lot of time listening to podcasts with life advice and stories from inspirational people to humanize my negative feelings. Some of the podcasts that refresh me 
are The Knowledge Project and The School of Greatness."
"My advice for current students: Have fun! College is supposed to be fun. Don't get too caught up in the future that you forget to experience the unique setting of college. Tomorrow is never guaranteed!"
-Taylin Sparks, a 2017 graduate of OSU in Animal Sciences.
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