Frontier Spirits
Alumni Fellows expand the horizons of their professions

Each fall, the UO College of Arts and Sciences honors three outstanding alumni who have distinguished themselves in their respective careers. Alumni Fellows Awards are presented annually at a special Profiles in Achievement Banquet in November.

The program provides today's students an opportunity to learn from people outside the academy who have taken active roles in shaping our society. Award recipients hold informal seminars, discussing career paths, learning opportunities, and types of skills most relevant to the emerging educated citizen.

Larry Ferguson '64 (Speech/Theatre Arts) is a veteran actor, writer, and director, who knows both Broadway and Hollywood -- as well as Oregon. Born in Portland, he grew up on a cattle ranch near Klamath Falls before attending the UO. Subsequently, he earned a master's degree from the University of California at Davis.

Ferguson's acting career began at the acclaimed American Conservatory Theatre in San Francisco. After stops in Minneapolis and New York, and appearances with several regional companies, he settled into a career in Los Angeles. His acting credits include The Hunt for Red October and Last Action Hero, while his writing credits include the screenplay for The Hunt for Red October, Presidio, Highlander, Beverly Hills Cop II, and Alien3. He also has directed Beyond the Law and Gunfighter's Moon.

A theater role at UCLA led to a complementary career for Ferguson: teaching. He spent three years there teaching acting and voice, as well as teaching voice for the Los Angeles Civic Light Opera Workshop and the California Institute for the Arts. Ultimately, he founded the Conservatory for Training and Research into the Dramatic Arts, which employed a faculty of twelve and offered a variety of classes for professional actors.

Marcia Smith '68 (General Social Sciences) is founder and president of Columbia Cascade, a Virginia business that specializes in software development for artificial intelligence systems. She is twice a pioneer: as a woman entrepreneur, and as a woman in the stereotypically male field of high technology.

One of her company's leading products is the "Export Expert," a specialized computer program to help small and mid-sized exporters enter and successfully compete in foreign markets. The software is also valuable for veteran exporters, who use it to validate their existing export strategy and to train staff. It comes with a major endorsement: the federal Small Business Administration has installed the software in all of its Business Information Centers nationwide.

Smith's pioneering work extends to the Internet -- she's writing the first international trade certification program that will be offered online. Smith credits her education at the UO for her success: "My liberal arts undergraduate degree has helped me to see beyond the narrow focus of business and computers," she says. "I have had the confidence to realize that I can take that research and technology to the marketplace using little-known or recognized skills that I learned in my years at the University of Oregon."

Prapon Wilairat Ph.D. '74 (Chemistry) is associate director of the Institute of Science and Technology for Research and Development at Mahidol Univeristy in Thailand. He was honored with Thailand's 1997 Outstanding Scientist Award, given by the Foundation for the Promotion of Science and Technology, an organization sponsored by the Thai king.

Part of Wilairat's research includes studies of the molecular basis of thalassemia, a hereditary anemia which occurs at very high frequencies in the Thai population. He also has helped develop DNA-based diagnostic procedures for the two common malaria parasites in Thailand. The new methods are more accurate than their predecessors.

Wilairat is also known as an expert on Vitamin E, especially its potential use in combating anemia. He has closely studied the effects of Vitamin E deficiencies, as well as the benefits of supplements.