Paul Gillan Risser (September 14, 1939 – July 10, 2014) was an American ecologist and academic from

Oklahoma Oklahoma (; Choctaw language, Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the nor ...

. He served as president of

Miami University Miami University (informally Miami of Ohio or simply Miami) is a public research university in Oxford, Ohio. The university was founded in 1809, making it the second-oldest university in Ohio (behind Ohio University, founded in 1804) and the 10 ...

and

Oregon State University Oregon State University (OSU) is a public land-grant, research university in Corvallis, Oregon. OSU offers more than 200 undergraduate-degree programs along with a variety of graduate and doctoral degrees. It has the 10th largest engineering co ...

before becoming chancellor of the

Oklahoma State System of Higher Education The Oklahoma State System of Higher Education is the state's legal structure for providing public education at the collegiate level. It is a coordinated system of colleges and universities located throughout the state. State System overview ...

Early life

Risser was born in

Blackwell Blackwell may refer to: Places ;Canada * Blackwell, Ontario ;United Kingdom * Blackwell, County Durham, England * Blackwell, Carlisle, Cumbria, England * Blackwell (historic house), South Lakeland, Cumbria, England * Blackwell, Bolsover, Alfre ...

in north-central Oklahoma on September 14, 1939. He grew up there, graduating from Blackwell High School. After graduating with a bachelor's degree from Iowa's

Grinnell College Grinnell College is a private liberal arts college in Grinnell, Iowa, United States. It was founded in 1846 when a group of New England Congregationalists established the Trustees of Iowa College. Grinnell has the fifth highest endowment-to-st ...

in biology in 1961, he then enrolled at the

University of Wisconsin A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, t ...

Madison Madison may refer to: People * Madison (name), a given name and a surname * James Madison (1751–1836), fourth president of the United States Place names * Madison, Wisconsin, the state capital of Wisconsin and the largest city known by this ...

. At Wisconsin he earned a masters in botany in 1965 followed by a PhD. in 1967 in botany and soils.

Career

In 1967, Risser joined the faculty of the

University of Oklahoma The University of Oklahoma (OU) is a Public university, public research university in Norman, Oklahoma. Founded in 1890, it had existed in Oklahoma Territory near Indian Territory for 17 years before the two Territories became the state of Oklahom ...

in Norman, where he remained until 1981. There he was a professor of botany, and later chairman of his department. Risser moved to the

University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (U of I, Illinois, University of Illinois, or UIUC) is a public land-grant research university in Illinois in the twin cities of Champaign and Urbana. It is the flagship institution of the Universit ...

in 1981 where he served as Chief of the Illinois Natural History Survey. In 1986 he moved to the University of New Mexico where he was provost and later the vice president for academic affairs. His next post came at

Oxford, Ohio Oxford is a city in Butler County, Ohio, United States. The population was 23,035 at the 2020 census. A college town, Oxford was founded as a home for Miami University and lies in the southwestern portion of the state approximately northwest ...

, where he served as president from 1993 to 1996. In 1996, Risser became the 13th president of

in Corvallis, where he remained until 2002. At Oregon State he oversaw construction of the CH2M-Hill Alumni Center, Halsell Hall, and Richardson Hall, as well as an expansion in enrollment and

The Valley Library The Valley Library is the primary library of Oregon State University and is located at the school's main campus in Corvallis in the U.S. state of Oregon. Established in 1887, the library was placed in its own building for the first time in 1918 ...

. The school also added a satellite campus in Bend, OSU-Cascades. Risser also led the effort to improve the College of Engineering along with athletics, with the football team recording its first winning season in 28 years during his tenure. He left OSU to become chancellor of the

in his home state, taking office on January 6, 2003 to replace Hans Brisch.

Later life and death

In 2006, he left the chancellor's office. He then served as the

Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History The National Museum of Natural History is a natural history museum administered by the Smithsonian Institution, located on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., United States. It has free admission and is open 364 days a year. In 2021, with 7. ...

's acting director and the executive director of EDGE, Oklahoma's economic development agency. Risser died on July 10, 2014, at the age of 74 in Norman. He was survived by his wife, four sons and two step-daughters.

References

External links

Paul Risser Oral History Interview
{{DEFAULTSORT:Risser, Paul G. 1939 births 2014 deaths Presidents of Oregon State University Grinnell College alumni People from Blackwell, Oklahoma University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign faculty University of Oklahoma faculty University of Wisconsin–Madison College of Agricultural and Life Sciences alumni Presidents of Miami University American botanists American ecologists Fellows of the Ecological Society of America