2009 Alumni Award Recipients
Each year, the Linfield Alumni Association honors dedicated individuals for their hard work, innovation and generosity of spirit. Here’s a look at Linfield’s 2009 award winners.
Bert Waugh ’66 – Distinguished Alumnus
Empty bedrooms are hard to come by in the Waugh household. Bert Waugh ’66, and his wife Susy, share a passion for helping abandoned youth and have helped provide shelter – both in their home and through their organization, Transitional Youth -- for thousands of teens over the years.
Even while raising their own four children, the Waughs did not hesitate to bring youth into their Newberg home. Word got out and “when there was someone on the street, they’d call us. If we had an open bedroom, they would come into the house,” said Bert.
Waugh, president and owner of Prudential Northwest Properties, has made a name for himself in more than just the real estate industry. As the founder of Transitional Youth, he has been a father figure to thousands of homeless youth. For his professional and volunteer efforts, Waugh has been named the 2009 Linfield College Distinguished Alumnus.
“I’ve always had a heart for kids,” said Waugh, who began working with street youth while still in high school and created Transitional Youth in 1991.
With the goal of moving kids off the street and into society, Transitional Youth provides food, clothing and personal hygiene items as well as meals and a street church for those interested. In addition to its Portland location, the organization currently runs a boys house in Vancouver, Wash.
Waugh is the first to admit it’s a difficult population. “They don’t look good, smell good or sound good,” he said. “There’s a real need there. When you do have success, it’s rewarding and fulfilling. If you can affect one life, you’ve done well.”
Now, Waugh is on the cusp of realizing a 40-year-old dream. “That’s a long time to have a dream,” he says with a laugh. Transitional Youth is launching “Home on the Range,” a rehabilitation program based in a 7,000 square foot house on seven acres near Battle Ground, Wash. Ultimately, Waugh hopes the facility will house 30-40 youth who will take part in hands-on activities at Royal Ridges, an adjacent 300-acre horse and outdoor camp. Not only will teens receive structured training in life skills, but they will have the chance to become certified horse trainers and riding instructors.
“This is going to be a terrific move for us,” Waugh said. “It gets them far away from the attractions of being downtown.” According to Waugh, youth enter the program at age 16 or 17 with police records and psychological problems. Most have been sexually and physically abused by the age of five and living on the streets for years. Prison and death surround them.
“One hundred percent of these kids have been abused and all of these horses on the ranch are abused,” said Waugh. “You take an abused horse and an abused kid and you will not believe the transformation.”
Waugh got his start in business at Linfield, where he also studied history and psychology while playing basketball for Ted Wilson, who was also his Beaverton High School coach. He names Wilson as one of the four most inspirational people of his life, along with his father, his pastor and Stan Wiley.
“I loved my time at Linfield,” said Waugh. “It was a great experience.” In March, Waugh hosted 13 Linfield student volunteers during alternative spring break week at the Street Church Outreach Center of Transitional Youth. The Linfield students performed over 275 hours of community service, served 1,500 meals and learned about homelessness.
Waugh also volunteers his time internationally. He is chair of the board for Medical Teams International, formerly Northwest Medical Teams. “I’ve been blessed with amazing personal experiences,” he said, describing recent trips to Uganda, during which he helped to deliver 20,000 books to children, and Mexico City, where he encountered 70 families living at the base of a 1,500 foot mountain of garbage. “I never have an opportunity to be down because every day someone is so much worse off. I’m thankful.”
Over the years, Waugh has remained steadfast and committed to his dream of getting youth off the street. “We’ve had more disappointments than successes -- that’s the nature of what we do,” Waugh said. “But we’re there when they want to make the change. Naively, my goal is to get every kid off the street. But many do not want to get off the street. They’ve never had anyone they can trust or look up to. It’s a long process. We want to be there. It’s an amazing experience when you see that transformation.”
Kristine Oller '93 – Alumni Service Award
At age 14, Kristine Oller’s idea of fun was to clean her sister’s room. Some things never change. Oller ‘93, an organizational expert and career strategist, now spends her professional life organizing others. She uses her efficiency skill set to not only assist professionals in their careers, but to also help Linfield College. For her efforts she has earned the Alumni Service Award.
Oller is continually thinking of ways to help those who are farther from the college to feel connected. She has coordinated Los Angeles-area welcome to the alumni parties and meets with recent graduates in her area. At Linfield, she has presented programs on "Finding Your Focus" for both students and alumni, and also advised theatre students who are considering careers in that field. She and her husband, Sean Inman ’92, have represented Linfield at college fairs.
“We both love Linfield and we could stand there and passionately say that,” she said. “I think that everyone should serve by using their skill set. Linfield was such an important piece of my foundation and it seems utterly natural to express that.”
As a career strategist specializing in the arts, Oller helps clients boost themselves to the next level in their careers and artistic pursuits. Her passion is teaching people how to thrive by offering them efficient and effective plans of action that transform their environments and shift their perspectives.
“I help them figure out how to best leverage the time, energy and money that they have right now to build the career they want so they can start moving forward faster,” she said. “People need a plan of action so they can be very efficient and effective at creating more with less effort. Some do the right things but in an ineffective order.”
A native of Glendale, Calif., Oller came to Linfield without even visiting the campus. She said multiple personal calls from Linfield representatives, coupled with campus photos, drew her in. She quickly became a theatre department devotee and a proponent of the liberal arts education, which she says forces students to take courses they might not normally take and, as a result, discover talents and skills they might not know about. For Oller, who did not draw or sew, the idea of taking a costume design course proved unappealing at first.
“I realized I had an aptitude for costume design,” said Oller, who went on to serve as costume designer and stage manager during “Cabaret” for her senior thesis. “The realization that I may still have skills that I have yet to discover has made me brave enough to be self employed. I’m going to bet on myself that I can do it.”
Oller also valued her relationships with faculty and staff at the college, some of which continue today. She came to know former president Vivian Bull during Bull’s cameo role in “The Mad Woman of Chaillot.”
“I’m glad I picked Linfield,” said Oller. “People there knew I existed. At a bigger college, you don’t get that. I felt like I was seen and heard. It’s lovely.”
Looking back, she realizes her Linfield experience directly impacted her career.
“I learned how to learn, which is so much more important than learning a subject,” she said. “I am not afraid of taking things on. It’s given me the confidence to ask, ‘What else am I capable of?’”
After graduating cum laude from Linfield with degrees in theatre and communications, Oller earned membership in SAG, AFTRA and Equity during a decade spent as a working actress. Since founding her business, Personalized Organization, in 1999, Oller’s organizing services have been in high demand. As word spread about her ability to boost the marketing results and momentum of entrepreneurs and performing artists, the career strategy segment of her business grew to include clients nationwide.
Oller is the author of Feeding Your Focus: How Creative People Can Move Forward Faster And Achieve Sustained Success. She writes a national column on organizing for BackStage and career strategy for The VoiceOver Insider. She has appeared on DIY Crafts on Scripps’ Do-It-Yourself Network and on Before and After’noon Movies on the USA Network. She was a Special Guest Speaker on career strategy at the 11th Annual International Radio Creative and Production Summit and a recurring guest speaker at The Actors’ Network in Los Angeles. She is a Golden Circle member of the National Association of Professional Organizers and has served on the board of the Los Angeles Chapter of NAPO. Kristine received the Volunteer of the Year Award at the 2007 Los Angeles Organizing Awards.
Michelle Johnston Holtahus ’95 – Outstanding Young Alumna
Just reading the resume of Michelle Johnston Holthaus ’95 is intimidating. All those abbreviations and technical terms: CPSD, channel strategy, OEM, RPG…
It is clear even to the uninitiated, however: she has had great success and responsibility at Intel Corp., the world’s largest computer-chip maker. She has been named the Linfield College Outstanding Young Alumna for her distinguishing work in the technology industry.
Holthaus joined Intel in 1996 as a program manager in Hillsboro. Since then, she has held a number of other positions, including product marketing engineer in the Outsource Equipment Manufacture platform solutions division and product line manager for desktop boards. As general manager of the Reseller Product Group, she led the boxed desktop and server business to record sales in 2004.
Since January, Holthaus has been general manager of the Channel Platforms and Strategy Division. “My group takes Intel hardware, boxes it in a retail package and distributes it globally,” she explained. The “channel” refers to computer builders that sell to smaller retailers.
“We talk with power supply vendors, motherboard vendors and others to make sure the right products are available when a new Intel product is launched,” Holthaus said. “My job is to make sure products are ready and relevant for customers.”
One of her proudest accomplishments was receiving an Intel Achievement Award for managing a program to take back or replace a faulty chip. Less than 1 percent of employees win it each year. Last year, VARBusiness magazine named Holthaus one of the 50 most powerful women in the channel.
The Dundee native had planned to attend college farther from home, but changed her mind a few days before school started. “Maybe it just felt like home,” she said, insisting she got no pressure from her parents, Ron Johnston ’68 and Kathryn (DeVore) Johnston ’69. Twins followed their sister to Linfield: Marquilyn Shields ’98 and Nicole Johnston ’98.
Holthaus said her career in technical marketing is unrelated to her finance major. Still, Linfield prepared her for this role, she said. Holthaus, who serves on Linfield’s Business Advisory Council, noted there are many successful Linfield alumni at Intel.
“We have good problem-solving skills,” she said. “Linfield’s interactive classes and group projects teach you how to work with peers.”
Linfield’s international opportunities also set her apart, she added. “The thing that probably jumped out the most on my resume was the fact I had done a January term business strategies course in Europe and had studied in Thailand and Malaysia. Many more students have that today, but my potential boss was really surprised by that at the time.”
Outside of work, Holthaus said she once was an avid horseback rider but has no time for it now. She devotes her scarce free time to a close-knit group of friends and her family: husband Bob and sons, Cole, 6, and Jack, 3.
Bernie Turner – Walker Service Award
Thinking back over his life, it’s hard for Bernie Turner to remember a time when he wasn’t lending a hand. Turner, a retired pastor, has spent the past four decades investing his time and talents in the Linfield College and McMinnville communities.
“I feel that volunteering is a vital part of one’s life,” said Turner, who spends an average of 25 hours each week volunteering. “And life is incomplete unless you find a way to be involved in the community in which you live.”
Turner received the Walker Service Award for his community-focused fundraising efforts. The Walker Award is given to individuals who have distinguished themselves through long-standing, significant service to the college. The award is named in honor of Charles and Cherie Walker. Charles Walker served as president of Linfield from 1975 to 1992.
The philosophy of “giving back” has been ingrained in Turner since childhood. Raised in the church, he graduated from the American Baptist Seminary in Berkeley, Calif., at age 24, and spent 15 years in Seattle, Wash., pastoring two churches. He arrived in McMinnville in 1970 and led the First Baptist Church for 23 years, retiring in 1993.
Turner’s affiliation with Linfield began almost immediately after he and his family came to McMinnville. Turner and wife Rosalind, along with now-grown children Stan, Diane and Linda ‘83, took full advantage of Linfield offerings, attending lectures and musical events throughout the year. They found a familiarity in Linfield similar to Turner’s alma mater, Ottawa University.
“I’m closer to Linfield than I am to Ottawa,” Turner admitted. “I know Linfield well and I have such high regard for the college. It feels like home.” He’s been a member of the Linfield board of trustees since 1989, chairing the academic affairs committee. He has served on the accreditation self-study team, the Linfield College Planning Council since its inception in 1999, search committees and he is a member of the Founder’s Society. He was awarded an honorary degree from Linfield for his distinguished service to First Baptist Church, Linfield and the community in 2002.
Turner has seen the college grow and change under the leadership of six presidents, beginning with Gordon Bjork. “I have a real passion for the work of the college,” he said. “I have enjoyed the whole experience very much. I would not trade it for anything.”
Turner’s volunteer work extends well beyond the Linfield campus. He was a member of the group that organized Habitat for Humanity International in McMinnville in 1990. He has served as president and volunteer executive director of the group, which helps alleviate housing problems by selecting potential homeowners based on level of need, willingness to work and ability to repay the loan.
Turner is a co-founder of the Oregon branch of the North American Baptist Peace Conference. He started a volunteer chaplaincy program at McMinnville Community Hospital, serving in that role for 30 years. “I’ve just tried to be myself -- a human being that is aware of people and their needs,” he said. “I’ve tried to respond to the needs of people as I experience them.”
For more information, contact Debbie Harmon '90, director of alumni relations, by email or call 503-883-2607.