Judith Johansen gets a hand from Auxiliary Bishop Kenneth Steiner.
Marylhurst University photo
MARYLHURST — Judith Johansen, an attorney and energy industry executive, is the new president of Marylhurst University.
“I am proud to join the Marylhurst community and advance its mission to provide higher education that weaves ethics and integrity into each academic discipline,” Johansen said at her inauguration last month. “I am committed to equipping our students with the intellectual tools they need for success in a rapidly changing world.”
Johansen served as CEO and administrator for Bonneville Power Administration in the late 1990s and later as president and CEO of PacifiCorp, a six-state utility with more than 6,600 employees.
Prior to her appointment at Marylhurst in July, Johansen served on the Lewis and Clark College Board of Trustees and was elected board chair in 2007.
As PacifiCorp CEO, Johansen was a strong supporter of the corporation’s educational and community initiatives through the PacificCorp Foundation for Learning. During her tenure, the foundation’s endowment grew to $30 million.
Johansen’s involvement in the Northwest includes active participation on many boards and committees. She currently serves as commission president for the Port of Portland; trustee for the Oregon Chapter of the Nature Conservancy; and senior director for Oregon Business Council. She is a member of the board of directors for Schnitzer Steel, Kaiser Foundation Health Plan and Hospitals, Cascade Bancorp and Idacorp. She has also served on the board of directors of Scottish Power and the Portland branch of the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco.
She earned a law degree from the Northwestern School of Law at Lewis and Clark College and bachelor’s in political science from Colorado State University. Johansen has been published in the fields of environmental law, energy policy and technology.
She is the latest lay woman to be named to the post, which was held for decades by Sisters of the Holy Names.
Johansen’s installation was presided over by Nancy Wilgenbusch, who served as Marylhurst president from 1984 to 2008.
The ceremony began with the pageantry of a robed academic procession across Marylhurst’s campus to St. Anne’s Chapel. Delegates from peer institutions, academic associations, Marylhurst University faculty and honored guests marched.
Led by bag pipers, the procession entered the chapel at the direction of the chief marshal, Jan Dabrowski, chair of Marylhurst’s university faculty council. Ruth Beyer, chair of the Marylhurst board of trustees, welcomed students, faculty, staff and community members with opening remarks that set a celebratory tone. Bishop Kenneth Steiner, representing the Archdiocese of Portland, offered an invocation.
The ceremony closed with the singing of Marylhurst’s alma mater and a benediction given by Jesuit Father Rick Ganz and a reception.
