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This content was published: July 19, 2010. Phone numbers, email addresses, and other information may have changed.

Squire named PCC Board chair, Harper vice chair

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David Squire, vice president of engineering for LightSpeed Technologies in Tualatin, has been named chair of the Portland Community College Board of Directors.

David Squire (left) is congratulated by PCC District President Preston Pulliams.

Squire, who is a resident of Beaverton, was voted in at the PCC board meeting on Thursday, July 15, at the Sylvania Campus, 12000 S.W. 49th Ave. In addition, Jim Harper, a Realtor for Keller Williams and 40-year veteran of PCC, was selected as vice chair. They will serve in these positions for the 2010-11 school year.

Squire, who served as vice chair last year and represents Zone 5 (southwest and southeast Portland), was appointed and eventually elected to the board in 2007, and re-elected in 2009. He has worked in the Portland high-tech industry since 1969, holding executive engineering and general management positions at Tektronix, Lightware, InFocus Systems and Planar Systems, as well as a number of smaller hardware and software start-up companies. He has worked extensively with non-profit organizations in education, economic development and workforce development. He has served on the boards of Worksystems Inc., the Oregon Quality Initiative, the Lintner Center for Advanced Education and InControl Solutions Inc.

Squire is a third generation Oregonian who has lived in Beaverton since 1969. He and Carol, his wife of 40 years, have three children and three grand children. He has bachelor’s and master’s degrees in Electrical Engineering from Oregon State University.

Pulliams swears in Jim Harper as vice chair of the PCC Board.

Harper, who was board chair from 2007-08, was elected to the PCC Board in 2005 and 2009, representing Zone 4 (downtown and portions of Columbia County). He has spent more than 40 years with the college in various capacities. Harper has been a student, a volunteer and a corporate user of the many quality services PCC provides. He sat on the PCC Foundation board for the last 22 years, including serving as the board chair from 1990 to 1992.

He served as vice president of administration for Morrison Child and Family Services, executive director for Arras Inc., School-To-Career liaison for Multnomah County, director of Human Resources at Wacker Siltronic Corp and division manager for Tektronix Inc. Harper has been an active member with the PCC budget committee, a member of the Governor’s School Transformation Advisory Council, the Mayor of Portland’s Business Round Table, the Regional Strategies Board for Multnomah and Washington Counties and Workforce Investment Act Youth Council. He currently serves on the Board of Gateway to College National Network, the executive committee for Oregon Community College Association, and the Pacific region nominating committee for the Association of Community College Trustees. Harper holds a bachelor’s degree in secondary education from Portland State University.

The PCC Board is composed of seven members, each elected by different geographical areas of the college district. The college district covers all or portions of five counties, and is 1,500 square miles. The board is responsible for setting the overall policy for operation of the college, including hiring the college president, adopting the budget and approving contracts with employee groups. The board generally meets once a month in the evenings.

About James Hill

James G. Hill, an award-winning journalist and public relations writer, is the Director of Public Relations at Portland Community College. A graduate of Portland State University, James has worked as a section editor for the Newberg Graphic... more »