SAAB at 25

Since 1982, Lewis & Clark’s Student Academic Affairs Board (SAAB) has helped students achieve a wide variety of academic goals. With projects ranging from attending anthropology conferences to researching snails in Africa, the program has distributed more than 850 grants to undergraduate students, totaling over $900,000.

“SAAB is unique,” says Michael Ford, associate vice president for campus life and one of SAAB’s proud founders (he was director of student activities at the organization’s inception). “We haven’t found another school with anything like it. We invented it.”

Current and former grant recipients and members of SAAB celebrated the organization’s 25th anniversary at a banquet on March 22.

“SAAB has touched a lot of people,” says Meredith Price BA ‘07, ASLC vice president for student academic affairs. “As I went through the process of organizing the celebration, I had many current students and alumni tell me how SAAB grants enriched their time at Lewis & Clark.”

SAAB’s 25th-anniversary banquet featured several alumni speakers who have been key to the success of the organization, including:

Tony Abena BS ‘86, senior vice president at Thomson West

Mark Dorsey BS ‘83, executive director for the American Snowsports Education Association and the National Ski Patrol

Paul Jorgensen BA ‘85, founder of the Jorgensen Law Firm in Washington, D.C.

Matt “Buzzy” Nielsen BA ‘02, a graduate student studying library science and public policy at the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor

Shelby Uritz Pierson BA ‘96, a senior intelligence officer with the Department of Defense

Serena Cruz Walsh BA ‘89, former two-term Multnomah County commissioner

SAAB grants enable students to attend conferences, conduct research, bring scholars to campus, and pursue art projects. SAAB also administers a tutoring program and actively represents student interests in academic matters at Lewis & Clark.