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This content was published: August 22, 2000. Phone numbers, email addresses, and other information may have changed.

PCC board tabs McKinney as chair, Hereford as vice chair

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The Portland Community College Board of Directors has chosen two of its members to lead it during the 2000-2001 year. At the Thursday, July 20 meeting, the board selected Karen McKinney, who served as vice chair last year, as its chair and Michael Hereford as its vice chair. Harold Williams served as chair during the 1999-2000 board year.

McKinney, voted to the board chair position twice and its vice-chair seat once before, has been on the PCC Board of Directors since 1987. She has been a member of several state and local boards and committees, including an appointment by then-Gov. Vic Atiyeh to the State Health Coordinating Council. A former educator in the state of Indiana and in Oregon, McKinney has a bachelor’s degree from Ball State University, and has done graduate work at Ball State, the University of Oregon and Portland State University. McKinney is a resident of Hillsboro and has served for more than 13 years for PCC’s Zone 7, which includes Hillsboro, Newberg, Forest Grove and nearby cities.

Hereford, not new to PCC board leadership, served as the board’s chair from 1997-98. He was appointed to the board in 1995, replacing Marcia Atkinson, and later he won election in 1997. Hereford is the human resource manager for Cascade Steel Rolling Mills, Inc. in McMinnville. He is a former president of United Food and Commercial Workers Local 555, served as a commissioner on the Oregon Economic Development Commission and the Port of Portland. Hereford earned an associate’s degree in management and professional development from PCC, a bachelor’s degree from Eastern Oregon State College and a master’s in business administration from George Fox.

The seven-member board is responsible for the fiscal and administrative direction of PCC, the largest higher education institution in the state of Oregon. Annually, Portland Community College serves more than 95,000 students at its three comprehensive campuses, multiple training centers and more than 200 community education locations throughout the college’s 1,500-square-mile district. The college provides the first two years of a bachelor’s degree, one-and two-year occupational training programs, literacy courses, personal enrichment classes and specialized training programs for business and industry.

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 »