Commissioners and Executive Director
Established in 2011 and vested with its current authorities in 2013, the Higher Education Coordinating Commission is a 14-member, volunteer commission appointed by the Oregon Governor, with voting members confirmed by the Senate. For information on how to apply for an appointment, please see the Office of the Governor here.
The Commission is supported by the HECC state agency, comprised of eight offices led by the Executive Director.
Executive Director
Ben Cannon
Position: Executive Director
Ben Cannon
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Executive Director of the Higher Education Coordinating Commission since 2013. In this position, Cannon oversees state funding allocations, policy-setting, and coordination for Oregon’s higher education system, including community colleges and public universities. Cannon is a former teacher, state representative and education policy advisor to the Governor. Elected three times to the Oregon House of Representatives (2006-2011), he chaired House committees with jurisdiction over environment, energy, and water policy, and served on committees related to health care and education. From 2003 to 2011, he taught humanities to middle school students at the Arbor School of Arts and Education. He earned his BA from Washington University, St. Louis, and attended Oxford University, England, on a Rhodes Scholarship, earning graduate degrees in comparative and international education and philosophy, politics, and economics.
Commissioners
David Rives
Position: Chair, voting member, also member of Funding and Achievement Subcommittee
Term Expires: June 30, 2020
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Served as President of the American Federation of Teachers (AFT)-Oregon for 10 years. Rives has served as Instructor of English for Speakers of Other Languages, advisor to the State Board of Education, officer on the former Oregon Education Investment Board, and on the AFT Higher Education Program Policy Council.
Tayo Akins
Position: Commissioner, voting member
Term Expires: June 30, 2023
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President and Chief Executive Officer for Cascade Comprehensive Care and Cascade Health Alliance. Mr. Akins has over 17 years of experience in driving strategic development and execution, advocating for high quality health care, education and workforce development, and coordinating private-public partnerships. Akins received his Bachelor of Science in Chemical Engineering from Howard University and his Master of Business Administration from Stanford University.
Lee Ayers-Preboski
Position: Commissioner, university faculty non-voting member
Term Expires: June 30, 2021
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Division Director of Undergraduate Studies and Associate Professor of Criminology & Criminal Justice at Southern Oregon University. In addition to her service for the HECC, Dr. Ayers-Preboski served eight years on the Oregon Criminal Justice Commission, and serves on the Board of Directors for both Jackson County Community Works and the Public Safety Coordinating Council. She is also a Texas certified teacher.
Vanessa Becker
Position: Commissioner, voting member, also voting member of the Funding and Achievement Subcommittee
Term Expires: June 30, 2023
Commissioner Vanessa Becker
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Principal and Founder of V Consulting & Associates Inc. in Roseburg, Oregon, focusing much of her consulting practice on leadership and organization development in rural areas. Vanessa Becker recently served two terms as a trustee for Umpqua Community College, five of the eight years as chair of the board, and her service to the community college system was recognized with the Howard Cherry Award in 2016. Ms. Becker is an American Leadership Forum fellow, and was also recognized by Harvard in 2017 as a co-presenter and alumni of the Harvard Kennedy School Crisis Leadership in Higher Education program. She has been appointed and served on several nonprofit and government based advisory boards, largely focused on health and human services.
Terry Cross
Position: Commissioner, voting member
Term Expires: June 30, 2023
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Executive director--now serving as senior advisor--of the National Indian Child Welfare Association (NICWA), a policy and advocacy organization for Indian children and their families. Mr. Cross has 40 years of experience in child welfare; he is an author and national expert on child welfare issues, and served on the faculty of Portland State University School of Social Work for fifteen years.
Enrique Farrera
Position: Commissioner, college/university staff non-voting member
Term Expires: June 30, 2019
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Academic Advisor and Career Coach at Clackamas Community College (CCC), where he also serves as Association President of the Classified Association of CCC. Mr. Farrera is a graduate of the Education Leadership & Policy in Postsecondary Adult Continuing Education (PACE) program at Portland State University, and has served in the United States Marine Corps.
Frank Goulard
Position: Commissioner, community college faculty non-voting member, also serves on the Funding and Achievement Subcommittee
Term Expires: June 30, 2021
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Mathematics
faculty member at Portland Community College. PCC's faculty union president.
Member of the PERS deferred compensation advisory board and the Oregon
community college essential budget level committee.
Ramon Ramirez
Position: Commissioner, voting member
Term Expires: June 30, 2020
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President of Pineros y Campesinos Unidos del Noroeste, PCUN, based in Woodburn, the Oregon farmworkers union and the largest Latino organization in the state. Ramirez is also President and member of the Board of Directors of the Farmworker Housing Development Corporation, President and member of the Board of Directors of CAUSA, and Member of the Board of Directors of the United Farmworkers of America Foundation.
Larry Roper
Position: Commissioner, voting member
Term Expires: June 30, 2021
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Professor in the School of Language, Culture and Society and Coordinator of the College Student Services Administration program and the undergraduate Social Justice Minor at Oregon State University (OSU). Dr. Roper previously served as Vice Provost for Student Affairs at OSU from 1995-2014. He previously served six years as a Commissioner with the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities.
Sandy Rowe
Position: Vice Chair, voting member
Term Expires: June 30, 2021
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Editor and civic leader who served as editor of The Oregonian newspaper from 1993-2010. She has served as president of the American Society of Newspaper Editors, chair of the board of the Pulitzer Prizes, chairman of the international Committee to Protect Journalists. In 2010 and 2011, Rowe was the Knight Fellow at Harvard University's Kennedy School. Rowe currently is on the board of the Oregon Nature Conservancy and is a trustee of Willamette University. She previously served on the Board of Visitors of James Madison University in Virginia.
Carmen Rubio
Position: Commissioner, voting member
Term Expires: June 30, 2021
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Executive Director of the Latino Network, Oregon. Board member and Past President of All Hands Raised. Board Member, Social Venture Partners Portland. Board Member, University of Oregon Alumni Asociation. Board Member, ColorPAC. Marshall Memorial Fellow and American Leadership Forum of Oregon Fellow.
Duncan Wyse
Position: Commissioner, voting member, also Chair, Funding and Achievement Subcommittee
Term Expires: June 30, 2020
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President of
the Oregon Business Council. Member of the Oregon Community Foundation Board. Former
Member and Chair of the Oregon Board of Education.