OHSU provost to lead Pacific

Lesley Hallick is considered a gung-ho, well-connected advocate for higher education

By Christian Gaston

The Forest Grove News-Times, May 20, 2009, Updated Oct 30, 2009

Lesley Hallick will take the reins at Pacific University Aug. 1 as the university’s 17th president. Hallick has spent the last 20 years as the top academic officer at OHSU.

Chase Allgood / News-Times

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When Lesley Hallick took the podium Tuesday as Pacific University’s next president, she told the crowd of more than a hundred onlookers that the school hooked her when she visited in April as one of three finalists for the private school’s top job.

“I came to love the institution in two-and-a-half days,” Hallick said, beaming.

It seems that her love won’t go unrequited.

The 63-year-old Hallick holds the titles of provost and vice-president at Oregon Health & Science University. She’s also considered a gung-ho administrator in Oregon higher education circles.

“You won’t find a better person than Lesley Hallick,” said Jay Kenton, vice-chancellor for finance and administration for the Oregon University System. “She’s just committed her life to higher education.”

Found her home

While many people in higher education bounce from school to school, Hallick found her home at OHSU and stayed put, moving up the ranks. For the past 20 years, she’s held the top academic post at OHSU, Portland’s largest employer.

“It’s really kind of a perfect capstone in many ways, the ultimate compliment for someone who’s given their life to higher education, to become the president of a thriving institution,” said Kenton, who has worked with Hallick since 1989.

During her tenure at OHSU, Hallick worked on the university’s high-profile expansion to Portland’s South Waterfront district and helped various OHSU presidents raise private funds.

She also spent time in Salem, wringing more money out of the legislature and says she’s now looking forward to her new role as fundraiser-in-chief at Pacific.

She relished telling lawmakers about OHSU’s vision and why it was worth funding, and she’s looking forward to doing the same in Washington County and beyond, boosting Pacific’s endowment coffers.

“I’m very excited about that part of the job,” Hallick said.

Portland influence

When Hallick takes over for Creighton on Aug. 1, she’ll bring with her a Rolodex packed with Portland’s movers and shakers.

Hallick serves on boards for the Northwest Health Foundation, Oregon State University, the Oregon Historical Society and is a board emeritus for Saturday Academy.

Hallick’s speech Tuesday morning was light on new proposals (she said it’d be presumptuous to roll out new initiatives this early), but she did say that partnerships would feature prominently in her future plans.

“If you look historically in Oregon, especially in higher ed, nobody has enough resources,” Hallick said.

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