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Contact
Email the PERS Board
PERS.BOARD@state.or.us
Administration
The legislature has delegated authority to the PERS Board of Trustees to administer the system. The Board is composed of five trustees who administer retirement (service and disability), death, and retiree health insurance benefits.
PERS also administers the Oregon Savings Growth Plan, a deferred compensation program for state and local government employees. A handbook on the Oregon Savings Growth Plan is available by calling 503-378-3730.
Director and Consultants
The Board retains consultants and appoints an executive director. The executive director serves at the discretion of the Board and is responsible for the PERS administrative staff.
Consultants include:
- legal counsel
- medical advisor;
- actuary; and
- insurance consultant.
PERS Board Members
As trustee of the Public Employees Retirement Fund, the PERS Board has a responsibility to manage and administer the system as set forth by law. The Board also monitors the plan for compliance with federal laws.
Statute specifies Board membership as:
- three people with experience in business management, pension management or investing that are not members of the PERS system;
- one person who is either an employee of the state in a management position or a person who holds an elective office in the governing body of a participating public employer other than the state; and
- one person representing public employees.
The three Board members representing business management, pension management or investing are James Dalton, Eva Kripalani and Michael Pittman. Thomas Grimsley was appointed to represent public employees and Brenda Rocklin was appointed to represent public employers. Pittman is Board chair; Rocklin is vice chair.
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James Dalton
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 James Dalton has been with Beaverton-based technology firm Tektronix since 1989. He currently serves as Senior Vice President, Corporate Development, responsible for Corporate Development, China Operations, Corporate Secretary, and Law Department. He also chairs the Tektronix Foundation. He was a past member of the board of directors of RadiSys Corporation and the Multnomah County Library Foundation. Dalton received his bachelor’s degree in economics from the University of Massachusetts and his J.D. from Boston College Law School.
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Eva Kripalani
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 Eva Kripalani serves on the board of directors of the Portland State University Foundation, the board of advisors for Willamette University College of Law, and the advisory board for the Portland State University School of Business, in addition to the PERS Board of directors. Until August 2007, she served as the executive vice president and general counsel of Knowledge Learning Corporation, which in January 2005 acquired KinderCare Learning Centers Inc., where she has served as senior vice president, general counsel and corporate secretary since 1997. Prior to joining KinderCare, Kripalani was a partner in the law firm of Stoel Rives LLP in Portland, Oregon, where she had practiced since 1987, primarily in corporate and securities law, mergers and acquisitions. Kripalani was selected as one of 2002’s Outstanding Women in Business by the Portland Business Journal. She graduated from Portland State University magna cum laude with a bachelor’s degree in finance-law in 1983; her J.D., also magna cum laude, was granted by Willamette University College of Law in 1986.
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Michael Pittman (chair)
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 Michael Pittman, chair, has approximately 20 years of experience in the human resource and employee benefits field. He has served in senior corporate human resource roles, which have included responsibilities for pensions in the United States and the United Kingdom. Currently, he is providing consulting services in the general business/human resources field. Pittman received his bachelor’s degree in environmental health in 1975 and his master’s degree in environmental health in 1982. He earned both degrees at the University of Washington.
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Thomas Grimsley
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 Thomas Grimsley has taught in the Bethel School District #52 in Eugene since 1981 and was a contract negotiator for the Bethel teachers’ last five labor contracts. He has served as a member of Bethel’s Joint Benefits and Insurance committee for the past 20 years and as vice president of Eugene’s Education Association for the past 12 years. He taught in the Rogue River School District from 1979 to 1981 and two high schools in San Jose, California, from 1977 to 1978. Grimsley received his bachelor’s degree in music and his teaching credential in music, speech, English, and drama from California State University Chico in 1977. He completed his math endorsement at Lane Community College and the University of Oregon in 1990.
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Brenda Rocklin (vice chair)
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 Brenda Rocklin, vice chair, is the president and chief executive officer of the State Accident Insurance Fund (SAIF) Corporation. Before SAIF, she served as director of the Oregon Lottery. Rocklin was an assistant attorney general in the Oregon Department of Justice (DOJ) from 1984 to 2002, where she worked in administration, the Appellate Division, the Criminal Justice Division, and the Civil Enforcement Division. Before joining the Department of Justice, Rocklin was a deputy district attorney in Umatilla County from 1981 to 1983. Rocklin received her bachelor’s degree in journalism from Idaho State University in 1978 and her J.D. at the Willamette University College of Law in 1981.
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