Mark of Excellence Awards

Four Top Spots in Mark of Excellence Competition: “Beacon” Shines Again

April 16, 2021

The Beacon has won four First Place awards in the 2021 regional Mark of Excellence competition sponsored by the Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ). The contest involved college media outlets from five states: Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Montana and Alaska. The following now advance to the national SPJ Mark of Excellence competition. FIRST PLACE Breaking News […]

The Beacon Earns National Mark of Excellence Awards

May 18, 2018

The University’s student-run news source, The Beacon, has won six national Mark of Excellence Awards from the Society of Professional Journalists. Winners include: Hannah Sievert, Feature Writing (Small School Division), “Call to the Church“ Ben Arthur, Sports Writing (Small School Division), “Tall Standards: Despite Being Undersized, Wintering and Johnson are one of the Top Backcourts in […]

Beacon Shines Again

March 18, 2013

The University’s award-winning student publication, the Beacon, has won 10 regional Mark of Excellence awards from the Society of Professional Journalists, according to advisor Nancy Copic, student activities. The competition encompasses student newspapers from Washington, Oregon, Montana, Idaho and Alaska. The Beacon competed in the Small College or University category, with 5,000 or fewer undergraduate […]

Susan Mcdaniel and Nicole Hanig, Music, will be performing on the concert series “Chatter PDX” on June 1 at 10:30 a.m. at the Pacific Center with Hilary Oseas, viola and James Shields, clarinet, both of the Oregon Symphony. There will also be spoken word from former professional football player and writer, Marcus Lattimore, in the hour-long concert. Tickets and information at ChatterPDX.

Maureen Briare, Nursing & Health Innovations, published Fountain of Life Mass Setting, with a special dedication to the priests and brothers of the Congregation of Holy Cross at the University of Portland. GIA Publications. Released April, 2025

Mohammadhadi Hajilou, Engineering, presented “Effect of fuel size, ignition energy, and wind speed on smoldering to flaming transition of Douglas fir lumber.” Co-presenters: R. Spring, N. Bolden, A. Henry, T. Rowley, A. Burton. 14th US Combustion Meeting, Boston, MA. March 16-19, 2025. Hajilou also published “Fire Whirl Emissions and Burning Rates for Crude Oil Slicks of Varying Thickness.” Co-authors: J. Dowling, W. Cui, M. Gollner. Fuel, 393 138482 (2025).

Kiya Riverman, Environmental Science, was awarded a grant for $489,935.00 on behalf of the U.S. Department of Defense, for her research “Impacts of spatial-temporal precipitation, snowpack properties, and snowmelt variability on alpine landscapes and runoff.” February 15, 2025.

Christina Astorga, Theology, served as a Member of the Editorial Board for the Journal of Moral Theology. February 26 – July 7, 2019. Astorga also served as the Head of the Local Arrangement Committee for the Catholic Theological Society of America. June 13, 2024 – June 15, 2025

Mohammad Arbabian, Business, published “Optimal Inventory Management Policies When Supply Is Bundled.” 9th North American Conference on Industrial Engineering and Operations Management, Washington D.C. June, 2024. Arbabian also published “Evaluating the Role of 3D Printing in Decentralized Supply Chains: A Stackelberg Framework for Optimal Manufacturing Decisions.” 15th International Conference on Industrial Engineering and Operations Management. February, 2025.

Aziz Inan, Engineering, has been credited for his research on palindrome dates in multiple news outlets including: USA Today, NDTV, NBC New York, News9live, Courier Journal, 13newsnow.com, Ozarksfirst.com, Inquirer.net, Austin American-Statesman, and The News of Israel.

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