Oregon Historical Society’s 6th annual History Makers Dinner a Hit

Portland, October 5th, 2014. Oregon Historical Society’s 6th annual History Makers Dinner was held at Montgomery Park. Each year, living leaders are awarded the history makers medal for outstanding work in their field. Antoinette Hatfield posed for a photo with Thomas Lauderdale and 2009 History Maker Gert Boyle enjoyed the event. This year, the award was presented to Barbara Roberts, the first woman governor in Oregon, Dr. Walter Urba, the leader of the Providence Cancer Research Center, Oregon’s musical ambassador to the world Thomas Lauderdale, and Bandon Dunes Golf Resort.

Proceeds from the History Makers Dinner support every aspect of the Oregon Historical Society’s important work to collect, preserve, and interpret Oregon’s past. Here’s more information on those honored:

Thomas Lauderdale 

As the founder and impresario of Pink Martini, Thomas Lauderdale has performed with more than 50 orchestras across the country and the world, gaining a reputation as one of the most innovative musicians of his time. Thomas and Pink Martini blend genres of classical, jazz, and old fashioned pop into a sound that is uniquely theirs and uniquely Oregon. A tireless and eloquent activist for the arts, Thomas serves on the boards of the Oregon Symphony and Pioneer Courthouse Square.

Governor Barbara Roberts

Barbara Roberts entered the public arena as a young housewife and mother, and successfully lobbied the Oregon State Legislature to guarantee public education to children with disabilities. She would go on to serve on a local school board, a local community college board, and on the Multnomah County Commission before being elected to the Oregon State House of Representatives, where she became the first woman House Majority Leader in history. She was elected Oregon Secretary of State in 1984, re-elected in 1988, and in 1990 she was elected the first woman to serve as Governor of the State of Oregon.

Walter J. Urba, M.D., Ph.D.

As the director of cancer research at the Robert W. Franz Cancer Research Center in the Earle A. Chiles Research Institute at Providence Cancer Center, Dr. Walter Urba is a nationally-respected leader and pioneer in immunotherapy. He serves on the front lines in the battle against cancer, and is leading a team of more than 90 investigators toward the goal of curing cancer.

Bandon Dunes Golf Resort

Under the leadership of businessman and entrepreneur Mike Keiser, Bandon Dunes Golf Resort, which first opened in 1999 and now includes five golf courses, has made Oregon’s south coast a must-see destination for golfers around the world. It has been hailed by one golf publication as nothing less than “the best place on the planet to golf.”