Dr. Lillian S. Olsen was an instructor in chemistry from 1946-47. She was born in 1914 in Napa, California. She received a certificate in home economics, chemistry, and biochemistry from Sacramento Junior College in 1936. She received a Bachelor of Arts from University of California, Berkeley in 1939, and her Ph.D from UC Berkeley in 1944, in the fields of nutrition, physiology, histology, and chemistry. She was a member of Sigma Xi, and her thesis for her doctorate was titled “Utilization of Carotene and Vitamin A.” Before coming to OSC, she worked at UC Berkeley as a teaching and research assistant, and then as an assistant professor at Washington State College. Her husband was transferred, so they moved to Oregon. At the time, OSC considered its organic chemistry department to be seriously understaffed, and so they hired Olsen on a temporary basis. She was hired as temporary instructor in chemistry for the fall and winter terms at a salary of $900 per term, and extended her employment through spring term.
Minta Estella Duncan was an English instructor at Oregon State College in 1946. She was married to Fred W. H. Duncan with two children when she came to OSC. She was born in 1892, in Marshalltown, Iowa. She had previously been a housewife. When asked why she wanted to work at Oregon State, she said, “I feel that I have a contribution to make.” She received her Bachelor of Arts in English from Cotuer College in 1917. She received her graduate education at the University of Nebraska from 1924 to 1925, and from Stanford University in 1929. She had previously worked as the head of the English department at York College from 1926 to 1928. She spent five and a half years in India from 1918 to 1924, where she learned the Hindi language and studied Urdu. She was hired for a ten month period with a $2,000 salary.
Dr. Clare Rose Comebellack was an English instructor at Oregon State College from 1946 to 1954. Her annual salary was $2,700. She was previously an English instructor at the University of Oregon. She also worked as a high school and middle school teacher at various schools in California. She was listed as married with no children when she came to work at OSC. She received her undergraduate education from San Jose State Teachers College and the University of California from 1924 to 1927. She received her Bachelor of Arts in 1928 and Master of Arts in 1930 from Stanford University. She received her Ph.D. from the University of California in 1937. Her master’s thesis was titled, “The Marvelous in the Earlier Middle English Metrical Romances”, and her doctoral thesis was titled, “The Husband’s Return: A Study in Medieval Fiction”. She had published an article called, “Root, Eye, and Mind”, in The American Mercury in 1941. She also received a letter from President A.L. Strand complimenting her on an article she published in the American Journal in 1948, titled “The Identity and Origin of Eurychus in the Ships' Catalogue of Hyginus” This article is still available through jstor.com. Combellack requested sabbatical leave from the university in 1953 after working for six years, but was told that she did not qualify because she had been hired on a temporary basis, with annually renewed contracts for six years. She was also informed that since she would not be granted a permanent, tenured position within the English department, she would have to be terminated due to State Board policy. Her employment with the university was terminated in 1954. She was born in 1907, in Kennett, California.
Erwin Bertran Lemon received a business degree from Oregon Agricultural College in 1911, becoming a part-time accounting instructor until 1943. Lemon also held the office of University Registrar from 1922-1943 and was Dean of Administration from 1943-1959.
Frances Ann Clinton Hall was a home demonstration agent at Oregon State College from 1930 to 1964. Hall was born in 1903, in Adna, Washington. She received her Bachelor of Science from the College of Puget Sound in 1925, and her Master of Science from Oregon State College in 1930. She was brought on to work at OSC as an extension agent at-large at an annual rate of $2,400. During her time as a home demonstration agent at-large, Hall served in various places in Oregon, such as Portland, Yamhill and Union County. Hall also worked on a wide array of projects in 1930. She helped revise nutrition extension material, prepared radio service material, and prepared the extension service’s exhibit at the Pacific International Livestock Exposition of 1930, as well as the State Fair. She also assisted with social service programs in Portland, such as Diets for Dependent Families. In 1931, she was assigned to serve in Multnomah County. Hall later became Assistant State Leader of Home Economics Extension in 1944, and in 1952, she became State Leader. She resigned in 1958 and got married and became a homemaker for a few years, but was soon widowed. She returned in 1961, and became an extension agent for Klamath County. She resigned in 1964.