AB ‘69 (English), JD ’73 (Law)
Retired Attorney/Chairman/CEO
Calistoga, California

 

Tower received his AB with honors from Dartmouth College and his JD from the University of California, Berkeley. He practiced as a partner, manager, CEO and Chairman at some of the world’s most prestigious law firms — including Orrick, Shearman & Sterling, Brobeck, Clifford Chance and Cooley — representing public companies, their officers and directors, investment banking firms, venture capital firms, and private equity firms in securities litigation and SEC proceedings. Tower has testified before both United States Congressional and California Senate committees on a variety of securities litigation issues and held several related leadership roles in the American Bar Association. He authored over 250 articles in his field of expertise. Tower's daughter was a 2021 Phi Beta Kappa graduate of the CHC. His current interests include international travel, reading and skiing, as well as growing Cabernet Sauvignon grapes.

BA ’77 (Mathematics)
Richard G. Cornell Distinguished Professor of Biostatistics, University of Michigan 
Ann Arbor, MI

 

Mike earned a BA in Mathematics at the University of Oregon Clark Honors College and a PhD in Biomathematics at UCLA. He then joined the faculty at the University of Michigan School of Public Health where he is the Richard G Cornell Distinguished University Professor of Biostatistics and directs the Center for Statistical Genetics and Genome Science Training Program. Mike develops statistical methods and computational tools to help understand the genetic basis of human health and disease and applies these methods to understand the genetic basis of type 2 diabetes and related traits. He is a member of the National Academy of Medicine and a fellow of the American Statistical Association and the American Association for the Advancement of Science. He has advised 40 doctoral students and postdoctoral fellows and published over 500 scientific papers. He lives in Ann Arbor, Michigan with his wife Betsy Foxman; they have three sons and two granddaughters. Mike enjoys food and wine, travel, running, and playing with his grandchildren.

BA '96
Managing Partner, Narrative Arc
Los Angeles, CA

 

Leyla Farah has focused on the intersection of technology, innovation, and storytelling for the better part of 20 years and is currently the Managing Partner of Narrative Arc, a narrative strategy firm that focuses on the Nonprofit and Social Impact sector. Prior to Narrative Arc, Leyla led the Storytelling Team at Salesforce.org, where she directed internal, external, and executive communications across a global ecosystem of nonprofit and education sector experts and influencers.Leyla holds a BA in Psychology from the University of Oregon and a JD in Intellectual Property from the University of California, Berkeley – School of Law. She sits on the advisory council for the University of Oregon’s Clark Honors College, serves as a Trustee for the University of Oregon Foundation, is a frequent guest speaker at New York University, and has served on the Boards of both the Human Rights Campaign and Outfest. She is based in Los Angeles, where she lives with her wife, their daughter, and a puppy named Beau. 

BS ’87 (Economics)
Investor
Bend, OR

 

Tim Hardin is a career technology finance professional.  He spent over 20 of his 30 years in banking with Silicon Valley Bank in offices in Oregon, Washington, California and New York as well as establishing offices in London, Tel Aviv, Mumbai, Hong Kong and Shanghai.  He spent five years in Shanghai building the first ever commercial banking joint venture in China; initially as the founding Chief Risk Officer to establish the in-country risk appetite and then as the Chief Banking Officer to apply that risk appetite in building a client base and loan portfolio. Throughout his career, Tim has held senior and executive roles in venture investing, salesforce management and risk management. In each of these roles and in each of these global markets, the client base he served was the innovation economies and the technology companies being formed within them. He is now residing in Bend with his wife Caren (’88 Journalism) and investing in the next generation of those companies and the investors that support them.  In addition to his Economics degree from The University of Oregon, Tim holds an MBA from UCLA.  Most importantly, Tim is the proud father of three CHC graduates.

BA ’01 (History)
CEO, Tilting Futures
Oakland, CA

 

Erin Lewellen is the CEO of Tilting Futures, an educational nonprofit that equips young people to create meaningful impact on global issues. Their immersive learning programs like Take Action Lab enhance students’ emotional and intellectual skills by fostering collaboration with diverse communities and cultures worldwide. Erin has been instrumental in cultivating an inclusive workplace culture. Under her leadership, the organization has been named among the top two “Best Places to Work” by Outside Magazine’s for the last two years in a row and won an “Inclusive Workplace” award from Color Magazine in 2024. Before joining Tilting Futures in 2014, Erin was the Vice President of School Partnerships at Revolution Foods and the Bay Area Director at Playworks. She has also served as the Board Chair for Oakland Leaf and is a member of the Advisory Board for Rising Sun Center for Opportunity. Erin regularly authors articles about her work and life to publications such as Fast Company and NBC.

BA ‘82 (Economics)
Founder, Intrevent
New York, NY

 

Fred Poust has spent most of his professional life in the media industry, including 15 years at Time Warner in a variety of financial, marketing, and sales roles. He ultimately rose to become  Senior Vice President at Time Inc., overseeing the magazine division's Corporate Sales and Marketing team. He transitioned into the conference and events industry in 2009 when he was named Chief Marketing Officer of the Clinton Global Initiative. In 2015, he became Senior Vice President at Forbes Media, with full responsibility for the company’s conference division. Fred recently launched a start-up to develop event management software, with the intention of housing a significant portion of the company’s infrastructure in Eugene. Fred served as President of the University of Oregon Alumni Association Board of Directors from 2010-2011 and is currently a member of the board of trustees of the University of Oregon Foundation. He lives in New York City with his wife, Jodi Kahn.