Payton, who played at OSU from 1986 to 1990 and started every game of his OSU career, is likely the greatest basketball player in OSU history. Among his honors were consensus All-American First Team (1990), Pac-10 Player of the Year (1990), Sports Illustrated Player of the Year (1990), Pac-10 Freshman of the Year (1987), Olympic gold medals for the United States team in the 1996 and 2000 games, and Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame (2013). He is the all-time leading scorer at OSU (2,172 points) and the Pac-12’s all-time leader in assists (938) and steals (321). Professionally, he played most of his career with the Seattle Supersonics.
Spoelstra played at OSU for two seasons, 1982 and 1983, earning second team All-American honors in 1983. She returned to OSU in 1995 to inherit basketball head coaching duties from her former coach, Aki Hill. Spoelstra coached the team for ten seasons, compiling an overall record of 133 wins and 158 losses. Her teams played in the 1996 NCAA tournament and in the WNIT from 2001 to 2004. She received Pac-10 coach of the year honors in 2000, and was named to the OSU Sports Hall of Fame in 1994
Ayotte-Law earned All-American status in 1981 (beam) and 1982 (floor and all-around). She was the second OSU gymnast to win a national championship, claiming the floor exercise title in 1982. Ayotte-Law also represented the United States in the 1981 World University Games in Romania, placing as the highest all-around gymnast. This photo appeared in the January 1982 Oregon Stater.
This wave tank, constructed in 1972, was 342 feet long, and served as the genesis for the O.H. Hinsdale Wave Research Laboratory. Research being conducted at the time this photo was taken pertained to oil drilling in Alaska. Today the lab is one of the largest and most technically advanced centers for research and education in coastal engineering and nearshore science, especially tsunami and coastal hazard mitigation.
Hill coached seventeen seasons at Oregon State (1978-79 to 1994-95), compiling a record of 274 wins and 206 losses. In 1980 her team went 20-8 and won the NIT championship; six of her teams had twenty or more wins. Four of Hill’s teams played in the NCAA tournament. Also pictured are players Jan Martin and Robyn Clark. Both Martin and Clark scored more than 1,000 points during their careers at OSU. Clark is also in the OSU top ten in career rebounds and steals. This photo appeared in the March 1980 Oregon Stater.
OSU Fisheries and Wildlife Department technician Rich Keppler took the samples as part of a project to test the lake’s waters ability to support aquatic life after the May 18, 1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens (seen in the background). The research at the time indicated that Spirit Lake was a decade away from being able to support fish.
Moore is an Emeritus Distinguished Professor of Philosophy. She came to OSU in 1975. She is an environmental philosopher, and taught many classes about humans’ place in the natural world. She co-founded and served as a senior fellow with the Spring Creek Project for Ideas, Nature, and the Written Word. She has won many awards for her writing, including an Oregon Book Award for her 2005 work, The Pine Island Paradox: Making Connections in a Disconnected World.