Pacific University

Mary Frances Farnham was an important bridge from Tualatin Academy, the original educational institution in Forest Grove, to Pacific University, which educated scholars of both genders from around the world.

In 1869, when the nation was just beginning to heal from the Civil War, Harriet Hoover Killin became the first woman to graduate from Pacific, joining two men to make up the university’s fifth graduating class.

Neither Lillian Kurahara nor Yukie Katayama Sumoge cut a wide swath when they were students in Forest Grove in the early 1940s. Japanese-American students interned during World War II, they were awarded honorary degrees by the university in 2007 because of the circumstances around their departures.

Mary Richardson Walker and her husband donated part of the land that became Pacific's Forest Grove Campus. After her husband's death, Mary remained active in the early life of the school and the community of Forest Grove. The qilin statue that became Boxer, Pacific University's mascot, was donated to the school in her honor.

Even if she had done nothing else at Pacific, Varina French ’56, MS ’65 would have been remembered for her 17 years spent coaching women’s volleyball, softball, track and field and gymnastics, and for becoming the first female physical education department chair in the West.

Tabitha Moffatt Brown was already an elderly woman when she came to the Oregon Territory in the late 1840s. That didn't stop her from helping to establish the Tualatin Academy, a school that would educate children in 1849. By 1854, the school officially began offering college classes as Pacific University.

A 1942 headline in The Campus, the undergraduate newspaper of City College of New York, set the tone: “First Female Invades Tech School Faculty,” it blared. Cecilie Froehlich led Pacific's math department until 1970 and was an outspoken advocate for recruiting women into the fields of math and engineering.

Claire Argow was a leader in social work and prison reform long before she began teaching at Pacific University in 1960. Today, the Pacific University social work program and social work scholarships are named in her honor.

A 1942 headline in The Campus, the undergraduate newspaper of City College of New York, set the tone: “First Female Invades Tech School Faculty,” it blared. Cecilie Froehlich led Pacific's math department until 1970 and was an outspoken advocate for recruiting women into the fields of math and engineering.

Larry and Kathy met in 1977 as freshmen at Pacific University. They had several core classes together, and would often spend time with a group of mutual friends. During their sophomore year, Larry asked Kathy to study for a library skills test that was part of their writing course. They didn’t end up studying at all that evening but that night they began their decades-long relationship. 

Chascity-Mae Sarmiento ’19 designed a social work project using animals to help kids.

Autumn Davis MBA ’19, Breanne Davis ’16, OT ’19, and Carmel Nichol ’16, MSW ’17 completed a family triple play when Breanne was awarded her doctorate in occupational therapy. She was the third triplet in the family to earn a graduate degree from Pacific.