iMPACT

The College of Science is pleased to welcome three new people to our community of OneScience.

Tze-Yiu Yong joined our College in April as Project and Event Manager. Tze will provide leadership in the areas of events as well as data analytics – both tactically (data collection, management and reporting) and strategically (goals, policies and procedures). He brings more than 20 years of project and program management experience at all levels. He managed teams of technical professionals, including engineering teams at Hewlett Packard. On a personal note, his dad is an OSU alumnus and earned his Ph.D in the Department of Biochemistry & Biophysics.

Tze-Yiu Yong, Project and Event Manager

Most recently, Tze led process and data improvement efforts at The Corvallis Clinic, enabling clinicians and administrators to use data more effectively for decision making.

In terms of leadership, he launched the first employee group at Hewlett-Packard to address diverse needs of young professionals–for example, initiating a leadership development program for younger employees with senior leaders. The employee group has grown from the initial chapter in Corvallis to more than 15 chapters worldwide with thousands of members.

As the Business Intelligence/Data Analytics Program Manager at HP, Tze managed daily operations of a 30TB database and the needs, requirements and requests from numerous stakeholder groups. He collaborated with non-technologists to understand their needs and translated them into data technology solutions.

Tze describes himself as a data-driven decision maker motivated by metric-driven performance goals. He has an MBA from Duke University; a master’s in electrical engineering with a concentration in solid state electronics and statistics from Arizona State University; and a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from the University of New Mexico.

Once a Beaver, always a Beaver. We welcome back science alumna Heather Arbuckle as our new Head Advisor. She brings a wealth of experience—including working with students at community colleges—and a passion and commitment to student success and diversity. Heather’s expertise working with transfer student populations will be invaluable in helping our many transfers students adjust to a life of science at OSU.

Heather Arbuckle, Head Advisor

Heather joins us from Clackamas Community College, where she was Lead Academic Advisor and responsible for New Student Advising and New Student Orientation. Heather managed a number of areas, including staff training, assessment for students’ educational, career and personal needs in addition to day-to-day operations for the Academic Advising Department. She also served on the scholarship committee and as the department’s primary financial aid advisor and liaison.

Heather developed online advisor and student training tools, advising resources and policies/procedures. She also managed course enrollment data and participated in strategic enrollment management decisions based on students course needs.

Previously, Heather served as Financial Aid Specialist at Chemeketa Community College, Program Coordinator and Administrative Coordinator at California State University in Sacramento, and Asian and Pacific Cultural Center Coordinator at OSU. She also was a Cognitive Facilitator at Pathfinders of Oregon, where she facilitated a cognitive pro-social skill-building program for incarcerated men and women within the Oregon Department of Corrections.

Heather earned a master’s degree in Interdisciplinary Studies with a focus in Ethnic Studies and Sociology and a bachelor’s in general science at Oregon State University.

Chris Larson joins our College June 18 as Director of Partnerships and Industrial Programs. Chris joins us from the University of Oregon where he served as the Senior Director of Industry Partnerships and Programs for the Graduate Internship Program for the past 10 years. He worked to prepare master’s and Ph.D. science students for careers across many industry sectors in Oregon, including Semiconductor, PV and Energy, Advanced Materials, Specialty Chemical/Pharma, Optics and Bioinformatics.

Chris Larson, Director of Partnerships and Industrial Programs

During the past 18 years, the Graduate Internship Program helped launch the careers of 750 alumni with a 96% internship placement rate and an 86% fulltime employment rate upon graduation. Chris credits the success of the program to its ability to bring together industry-specific technical content coupled with in-depth professional and soft skill development. He also founded the Women’s Internship Network at U of O to attract, empower and reduce attrition of talented female STEM students.

Previously, Chris was an R&D Industrial Coatings Chemist and Product Manager for the Willamette Valley Company. He has worked directly with customers, manufacturing facilities and raw materials suppliers in North and South America.

Throughout his career in industry and academia, Chris has seen firsthand the power of “T-shaped” science and engineering professionals, which refers to individuals with both depth and breadth of knowledge and a deep expertise in a single area complemented by a broad working knowledge of multiple areas of inquiry.

Chris received a master’s degree in polymer chemistry and a bachelor’s degree in biochemistry from the University of Oregon.