Candidate for sustainability director drops out

One of the three finalists for PSU’s sustainability director position has removed himself from consideration, the Vanguard learned Monday. 

Seeking comment on his campus visit Feb. 18-19, John Charles Gordon of the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies replied in an e-mail, “I have withdrawn from candidacy for the position.”

Jennifer Allen, interim director for the Center of Sustainable Processes and Practices, confirmed that Gordon notified the search committee of his decision on Sunday.

Gordon is Pinchot Professor Emeritus of Forestry and Environmental Studies, and previously served as the head of Oregon State University’s Department of Forest Science. He was the first candidate interviewed. 

Patrick Michael Condon, of the University of British Columbia, met with the search committee and members of the community and campus at large and community members Feb. 23-24. He has more than 25 years experience in sustainable urban design as a city planner and then as a professor.

Currently, he is the James Taylor Chair in Landscape and Liveable Ennvironments. Contacted by e-mail about his campus visit, he declined to comment by press time.

Interviews wrapped up Tuesday with the third finalist, Sym Van der Ryn, professsor emertius at University of California Berkeley’s College of Environmental Design. Van der Ryn spoke to a group of about 40 people in Smith Center Memorial Union Monday afternoon about why he wants to come to Portland and his vision for the director’s job.

“This [job] is for me. This is the time, this is the place. I want to be in an urban area, in a real workable city and I’ve got a lot of energy to give,” said Van der Ryn.

A professor from 1961-1995, Van der Ryn helped shape the Bay Area’s green architecture and sustainable design movement.

In the 1970s, he founded the Integral Urban House in Berkeley and the Farallones Rural Center in Occidental, Calif. The centers form the nonprofit Farallones Institute, a leader in teaching and practices of whole systems design, integrating housing, food, water, energy and waste systems.

Later, Van der Ryn was appointed state architect by Gov. Edmund Gerald “Jerry” Brown Jr. to lead design on the first state buildings responsive to climate, people and energy use.

“For most people, sustainability is about using energy efficient light bulbs or buying a Prius,” said Van der Ryn. “So many ideas about sustainability sound great, but they’re only workable for about 15 percent of the world’s population. What about for the other 85 percent? I wouldn’t go to Bangladesh to lecture [about sustainability]. I think we have lessons to learn from them.”

Van der Ryn was asked by a member of the audience what metrics he would use to measure himself personally and for the position.

For himself, he said it was about the good feeling derived from making an honest effort. As for the position, he said it should be measured by how much the community takes notice of the center’s activities.

“Are people noticing us in an honest way? Are they saying, ‘This is cool, good things are happening here’? They shouldn’t have to find out about us from Oprah,” he said.

A final decision on the director position is expected shortly.