03-07-07

Media Release

Three Alumni Honored with Martin Chaves Lifetime Achievement Award

CORVALLIS, Ore. – Oregon State University has presented three alumni with its prestigious Martin Chaves Lifetime Achievement Award.

Roy Gaussoin of Lake Oswego, Robert Loomis of Eugene and Bernard Ossey of Tualatin were honored with the Chaves Awards at a banquet on Tuesday, March 6, in Rancho Mirage, Calif.

Martin Chaves was a four-year letterman who was the captain of the 1942 Rose Bowl team. A former president of the Beaver Athletic Student Fund, Chaves was an influential booster in various fundraising activities. The annual award is presented to people who have made outstanding contributions to OSU athletics.

Gaussoin, Loomis and Ossey, who have each given decades of service to OSU athletics, are all past presidents of the Beaver Athletic Student Fund, which raises funds for athletic scholarships and other support services for OSU’s student-athletes.

“These three alumni are not only great leaders, they are wonderful people,” said Bob De Carolis, OSU athletic director. “I am so grateful to have been able to work with them, and all of our athletic programs have benefited immensely from their efforts.”

Gaussoin, who studied business administration at OSU in the 1950s, is the retired president of Silver Eagle Manufacturing and Silver Eagle Industries, a trucking and transportation products manufacturing company. Gaussoin has been deeply involved with OSU for more than 20 years. In addition to the Beaver Athletic Student Fund Board, he has served on the OSU Foundation Board of Trustees and is the past president of the Oregon Sports Hall of Fame. Gaussoin and his wife, Shirley, who studied home economics at OSU, have three grown children: Karen Scott, Annemarie Burger and Stuart J. Gaussoin.

Loomis, a 1956 general science graduate, is a retired physician and past medical director for PacificSource Health Plans. He is a past president of the Oregon Medical Association and the Oregon Urologic Society. Loomis has been active at OSU for more than 25 years and serves on the OSU Foundation Board of Trustees executive committee, the Beaver Athletic Student Fund Board and the OSU Alumni Association Board. He is a prior recipient of the Dan Poling Alumni Service Award. Loomis and his wife, Barbara, a 1957 home economics graduate, have three grown children: Pamela Hornecker, a 1979 OSU home economics graduate, Michael Loomis and Cameron Loomis.

Ossey, a 1943 civil engineering graduate, is retired as a professional engineer in the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and as state director for the Pacific Northwest Life Insurance Company. Ossey’s long service to OSU includes volunteering for the Beaver Athletic Student Fund for 60 years. He is a past president of the BASF and the OSU Dad’s Club. He has also served on the Alumni Association Board, and he is a trustee on the OSU Foundation Board. In 2006, Ossey received the Oregon Stater Engineering Hall of Fame Award and was inducted into the BASF Hall of Fame. Bud and his wife, Maxine, a 1943 business graduate, have three grown sons: Richard Ossey, a 1966 OSU business graduate, Robert Ossey and Donald Ossey.