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Oregon State University
College of Engineering
2012 Oregon Stater Engineering Awards
D
on Russell had two
major goals when
he was growing up in
the Monterey Heights
District of San Francisco,
Calif. — to become an
Eagle Scout and a civil engineer — and he
accomplished both quite successfully.
Russell selected Oregon State
University because of its excellent repu-
tation as an engineering school. “It was
a wonderful atmosphere of learning at
a small college and in the small college
town of Corvallis,” says Russell. “I enjoyed
the lifelong friendships I developed
through the classroom and my fraternity,
Alpha Tau Omega.”
Russell also spent his college years
mustering as a member of the ROTC
(Reserve Officers’ Training Corps). Upon
graduation, he entered the U.S. Army’s
flight school and spent three years on
active duty as an aviation officer.
Once he completed his tour of duty,
Russell joined Shell Oil Co. while juggling
Army Reserve training and night school.
He earned an MBA at the University of
San Francisco.
“I’d always wanted to be involved in
the construction industry, so I chose that
career path once I got out of the Army,”
says Russell. “I elected to take a job in
the crane and rigging industry as an
engineer and combined my engineering
and business education to pursue business
operations rather than day-to-day
engineering work.”
While he was going to graduate school,
Russell joined Bigge Crane and Rigging
Co. as a project engineer involved with
heavy hauling and heavy-lift rigging. From
there, he moved to Rigging International,
a startup with projects throughout North
America. When Bigge absorbed Rigging
International in 1984, Russell joined
Sheedy Drayage Co., a family-owned firm
in San Francisco, and propelled their
involvement in refinery projects, seismic
upgrades, and power plant turbine and
generator transport and installation.
“While I was at Sheedy, I developed a
unique system to easily lift and set large
generators weighing up to 400 tons each
into power plants,” Russell says. “This
system brought our company positive
recognition and was copied by companies
all over the world.”
In 1991, Russell became president of
Sheedy until his retirement in 2004, when
he was appointed chairman of the board.
He continues to hold the position.
“I am proud to have run a successful,
profitable company for a family owner-
ship for over 20 years,” says Russell. “We
expanded operations tenfold during my
tenure, expanding throughout California
and the Philippines.”
He eventually turned the business over
to younger family members, “and they are
doing a great job,” he says.
Russell doesn’t attribute all of his suc-
cess to his engineering training at Oregon
State University. “Success is based on an
equal amount of timing, luck, and hard
work,” he says.
Donald C. Russell
Hall of Fame
BS Civil Engineering ’61
Chairman, Sheedy Drayage Co.
San Francisco, Calif.
Don Russell expanded Sheedy’s operations tenfold during his 20-year tenure.
S
teve Smith holds an MBA (’72) from
Harvard Business School, where he
was a Baker Scholar. He completed his
Harvard education after playing Division I
golf at Oregon State University as an under-
graduate — a passion that has followed
him throughout his professional career.
“I played golf all four years at OSU and
served as team captain my senior year,”
says Smith. “Some of my most valuable
lifelong relationships were formed at that
time, with my golf teammates and my
fraternity brothers at Beta Theta Pi.”
Today, Smith is a senior managing
director in the Silicon Valley office
of Arma Partners, a global firm that
advises technology, media, and telecom-
munications companies on public and
private mergers and acquisitions, finan-
cial restructuring, and equity capital.
Previously, he served as vice chairman
of Broadview International, an advisory
firm that focuses on technology and
media-focused mergers and acquisitions,
where he played a role in developing
Broadview’s Silicon Valley office. He also
served in senior roles at other management
consulting and IT firms.
“My undergraduate education in engi-
neering at OSU prepared me very well for
graduate business school and my career
in the technology industry,” Smith says.
“I felt completely comfortable when I was
at Harvard competing with top students
from all over the world.”
Smith remains bullish on engineering.
“OSU engineering is even stronger today,”
he says. “Any student considering a career
in technology and business will find a
terrific educational and personal develop-
ment experience as a Beaver.”
Besides his career
accomplishments,
Smith has immersed
himself in civic
commitments. He serves
on the boards of That
Man May See, which
supports research in
advanced diagnosis and treatment of oph-
thalmologic diseases at the University of
California – San Francisco; the Computer
History Museum; the Churchill Club; and
the Silicon Valley Executive Network. He
is also a 2012 recipient of the John W.
Gardner Leadership Award presented
by the American Leadership Forum of
Silicon Valley.
Smith is one of only a few golfers in
America who have competed in the
national tournament for every amateur
age bracket. He continues to play golf as
passionately today as he did as a Beaver.
The Golf Nuts Society named Smith the
2004 Golf Nut of the Year.
Smith lives in Palo Alto, Calif., with his
wife Paula (OSU ’68). They have two grown
children; Kyle, 34, is a wine marketing
executive in London, United Kingdom,
and Kendall Wilson, 30, is an elementary
teacher in Palo Alto, Calif.
Stephen S. Smith
Hall of Fame
BS Industrial Engineering ’69
Senior Managing Director
Arma Partners
|
Palo Alto, Calif.
The Smith family: from left, Steve Smith, Alex Wilson (son-in-law), Kendall Wilson (daughter),
Kyle Smith (son), John Webber (son-in-law) and Paula Smith (wife)