The College of Arts and Sciences is pleased to announce the 2006-2007 Alumni Fellow Awards. The following recipients will be honored the weekend of May 11, 2007, and will connect with students in an informal seminar while on campus to discuss their career paths and offer advice relevant to emerging graduates.

“What came out of my time at UO was a love of learning,” she said.

At the UO she packed her terms, signing up for an array of courses: literature, writing, math, science, Spanish, political science, trampoline and swimming. All students had to swim to graduate. The other option was literally to sink. Lehrman rose to the occasion. And she’s been excelling ever since.

Lehrman is now an Emmy-winning producer for NBC News in Washington, D.C. She’s known for her work with the TODAY Show, for her position as Washington Bureau Chief number two to Tim Russert and for hiring a young reporter the world has come to adore, Katie Couric.

Her path to the upper echelons of TV journalism began at age 14 when Lehrman started writing. By tenth grade she was invited to join the school newspaper in Madras, an award-winning publication. The experience proved formative.

Looking back on her college years, Lehrman says, “The thing that had the greatest impact was the opportunity to study abroad in Europe. The trip opened up the world to me.” By the end, Lehrman vowed she would return.

In her 30-plus years as a journalist, Lehrman rode elephants in Nepal, visited the Taj Mahal with Hillary and Chelsea Clinton and attended economic summits in Tokyo and Venice. Journalism became her ticket to the world and a way to feed her lifelong love of learning.

“With journalism, you’re learning all the time. You get to meet and talk to interesting people,” she said. “For me, journalism became a way to help educate people and help them appreciate the world around them.”

—KC

“It was not until the past 12 years that … I realized we have to be good citizens of our countries and get involved in what’s going on,” Derbez said.

Derbez’s time at the University of Oregon, as a Fulbright-Haynes scholar in the 1970s, was the first of his international experiences. He credits his UO professors Gerald Bierwag, in econometrics, and Robert Smith, in industrial organization, with shaping his career. “I ended up studying the fields of these two professors.”

In a United Nations meeting, Derbez represented Mexico in what he claims was one of the toughest situations of his international career. Reflecting, Derbez said his UO experience helped him face the challenge of resisting U.S. pressure to support the invasion of Iraq. “The courses I took with Bob Smith and Henry Goldstein, which looked at international relations, without any doubt helped me make the tough decision 25 years later.”

Derbez hopes to inspire Mexico’s next generation of leaders. In addition to serving as Mexico’s Secretary for International Affairs, Derbez now directs the Centre for Globalization, Competitiveness and Democracy at the Monterrey Institute of Technology in Mexico City. “All the experiences I’ve accumulated will help my students understand what they need to do to shape the future of Mexico,” he said.

—KN

“He was very, very creative, intelligent and self-motivated,” remembers Associate Professor Ginnie Lo, Pall’s mentor in the Computer and Information Science Department.

But Lo isn’t the only one who saw Pall’s potential. Less than a year after he graduated from UO, Pall was hired by the multinational computer technology corporation, Microsoft Corp. where he has worked ever since. He began as a software design engineer, but during his tenure with Microsoft, Pall has led the design and implementation of award-winning technologies and holds several patents in networking, compression and collaboration.

And, in 2005, Pall was named Microsoft’s corporate vice-president of the Unified Collaboration Group, where he leads teams responsible for such innovative products as VoIP, or voice over Internet protocol, the routing of voice conversations over the Internet.

Pall’s UO graduate studies fortified his foundation in software engineering and set him squarely on the path to success, he said.

“Most of the courses I took [at UO] have stayed with me over the years,” Pall said.

Pall fondly remembers courses in advanced data structures and computer functions, especially professors Arthur Farley’s and Stephen Ficka’s courses in artificial intelligence. But it’s Professor Lo who Pall especially credits with having the most impact on his graduate education and subsequent career path.

“Without her coaching, encouragement and support,” Pall said. “I wouldn’t be here today.”

—KC

2002-2003: Joel Schneider • Yoko McClain • Victor L. Tomseth

2001-2002: Gail J. Fullerton • Lyle Hohnke • William Sullivan

2000-2001: Paula Gunn Allen • George N. Fugelsang • Barclay Slocum

1999-2000: Ollie Chambers • Frederick Fraunfelder • Nora Terwilliger

1998-1999: Larry Ferguson • Marcia Smith • Prapon Wilairat

1997-1998: Helen J. Frye • Douglas R. Hofstadter • Luther "Lute" Jerstad

1996-1997: Beatrice Aitchison • Kenny Moore • Kathleen Weaver

1995-1996: Emery O. Barnes • Vicki Hanson • John Mitchell

1245 University of Oregon • Eugene, OR • 97403-1245
(541) 346.3950 • FAX (541) 346.3282 • alumnidev@cas.uoregon.edu

Copyright © 2007 University of Oregon

Updated April 27, 2007