![\"aa-whiteleys-speaking_2016_web\"](\"http:\/\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/impact\/files\/2016\/11\/AA-Whiteleys-speaking_2016_web.jpg\")
<\/p>\nBen (’51) and Elaine Whiteley (’53) have long exemplified a deep commitment to service, to actively helping others without thought or expectation of reward or attention.<\/p>\n
Ben grew up in Des Moines, Iowa, where he became interested in the insurance company where his father worked and eventually transitioned into actuarial science.<\/p>\n
When his family moved to Portland, Ben transferred to Oregon State after spending one semester at the University of Iowa. In the 1950s, OSU did not offer an actuarial program, so Ben studied business and technology, filling his elective courses with mathematics.<\/p>\n
He met Elaine Yunker, daughter of OSU Physics professor Edwin Yunker, on a blind date. Three years later, they married one week after graduation Elaine graduated from OSU after studying secretarial science and then home economics 1953. That was 63 years ago.<\/p>\n
Ben earned a master\u2019s degree in mathematics at the University of Michigan before serving as a first lieutenant in the U.S. Air Force for three years at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Ohio.<\/p>\n
\u201cI got a direct appointment as an officer in the Air Force doing mathematical and statistical\u00a0research,\u201d explained Ben.<\/p>\n
Elaine was able to put her secretarial skills to work on the base before giving birth to their first son, Steve.<\/p>\n
January 1, 1956. That was the first day of Ben\u2019s career at Portland-based Standard Insurance Company, where he would work for 39 years. He served as CEO from 1983-94 and continued serving on their board until 2000\u2014a total of 44 years.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Ben served as chairman of the Greenbrier Corporation for 10 years and also on the boards of Northwest Natural, U.S. Bancorp and Willamette Industries. He is a lifetime trustee of the OSU Foundation and has chaired the board of Pacific University, Oregon Community Foundation, OHSU Foundation, Portland Opera Association, Cascade-Pacific Council of Boy Scouts of America and Arlington Club.<\/p>\n
Elaine has been active with Delta Gamma, P.E.O., Portland Opera Guild and Portland Civic Theatre Guild over the years.<\/p>\n
Her father, Dr. Edwin A. Yunker, was part of the OSU physics faculty from 1925-68, and served as department chair from 1949-66. He helped transform the Department\u00a0of Physics into a modern, research-oriented physics department. In 1985, he and his\u00a0wife Gertrude established the Yunker Lecture Series to bring outstanding physicists to\u00a0OSU, presenting talks for students and a general audience.<\/p>\n
Elaine\u2019s brother, Wayne, pursued a career in science, receiving his Ph.D. in chemistry\u00a0from the University of Washington after attending OSU.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy father used to give me and Wayne little lectures \u2014 things he thought we should know and that he hoped would soak in a bit,\u201d said Elaine. \u201cWayne probably soaked up those lectures\u00a0more than I did!\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
The love of physics seems to have hit Elaine and Ben\u2019s son, Steve, who earned a Ph.D.\u00a0in electrical engineering and physics from the University of California, Berkeley. \u201cI think Steve learned a lot from my father,\u201d explained Elaine.<\/p>\n
Steve founded Whiteley Research,\u00a0Inc. in 1995. The Silicon Valley software company develops and distributes state-of-the-art yet economical computer-aided design software targeting research and development and production design of high-speed integrated circuits.<\/p>\n
The Whiteley\u2019s other son received a bachelor and master\u2019s degree in music from\u00a0the University of Michigan, and has had a successful career conducting Broadway\u00a0musicals in New York and elsewhere.<\/p>\n
Ben and Elaine both have a deep appreciation for the arts, but they their giving to OSU has taken a different direction.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe know that there are a lot of deserving programs in Science, and we have tried to make sure that our donations go where they are needed most,\u201d said Elaine. “High college costs are hard for a lot of students. We wanted our contributions to go where the College needed the money most for science.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Alumni Ben (’51) and Elaine Whiteley (’53) are the College of Science 2016 Distinguished Service Award recipients.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5667,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":true,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[645351,1168293,712375],"tags":[646150,653942],"class_list":["post-5182","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-alumni-and-friends","category-student-success","category-winter-2017","tag-author-debbie-farris","tag-awards-and-recognition"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p6vHeb-1lA","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":1070,"url":"https:\/\/dev.blogs.oregonstate.edu\/impact\/2015\/04\/yunker-lecture\/","url_meta":{"origin":5182,"position":0},"title":"Leading theorist in fluid mechanics delivers Physics Yunker Lecture","author":"nayaks","date":"April 14, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Professor Howard A. 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