Carrie Thompson and Dr. Knute Buehler Named to The Ford Family Foundation Board
The Board of Directors of The Ford Family Foundation has selected residents from Corvallis, Ore., and Bend, Ore., as new members of the Board. Carrie Thompson from Benton County, and Knute Buehler, MD, a Roseburg native from Deschutes County, joined with seven sitting members of the board that governs the charitable foundation created by Kenneth W. Ford and Hallie E. Ford, the late philanthropists and pioneers of Roseburg Forest Products Co. Thompson and Buehler were elected to the board at its May 13 meeting in Eugene, with their four-year terms effective January 1, 2012.
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Carrie Thompson is an owner and operator with her husband, Eric, of Thompson Timber Company that owns and manages timberland throughout western Oregon. Carrie also manages a family foundation and a family owned private equity fund. Carrie worked as a public school teacher in both middle and elementary levels for the Corvallis Public Schools. She then moved into the private education sector where she worked as a teacher and administrator. Carrie holds a current Oregon Teacher’s Certificate and continues to substitute teach in the Corvallis and Philomath areas. Carrie earned her BA in Speech and Hearing Sciences and Elementary Education from the University of Washington. She serves on the Corvallis Youth Symphony Foundation Board. Carrie is a native Oregonian and makes her home in Corvallis with her husband. They have three children.
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Born in Roseburg, Ore., Dr. Knute Buehler is an orthopedic surgeon in Bend with a special interest in joint replacement and computer assisted surgery. He completed his medical training at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and his fellowship in joint replacement surgery at Scripps Clinic in San Diego. He is past President and managing partner of the Center for Orthopedic and Neurosurgical Care and Research, a 35 - provider, surgical group practice that has 180 employees.
Before his career in medicine, Dr. Buehler attended Oregon State University, where he played varsity baseball and was the first graduate ever to be awarded a Rhodes scholarship. He graduated from Oxford University in England with a Masters degree in politics and economics. He is a member of the board of advisers for Oregon State University's Cascades Campus in Bend and the board of directors of the Western Orthopedic Association, and chairman of the Mid-Oregon Osteoporosis Network. Knute and his wife, Patricia, make their home in Bend with their two children.
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Norm Smith, president of the Roseburg-based foundation, said, “Carrie Thompson and Knute Buehler bring strong preparation to the foundation’s board. Each has demonstrated a life-long commitment to education, to their civic roles and to helping others become successful citizens. Each is deeply involved with their family, experienced in their profession and the creation of jobs in Oregon; and, like the Fords, each gives back through philanthropy to their communities.”
Other board members of The Ford Family Foundation include Allyn Ford of Roseburg, Karla Chambers of Corvallis, Dave Frohnmayer of Eugene, Joseph Kearns of Malibu, Calif., and Bridge, Ore.; Ronald Parker (Board chair) of Portland; and John Sweet of Coos Bay.
Kenneth W. Ford and Hallie E. Ford started The Ford Family Foundation in 1957. Today it has its headquarters in Roseburg and a scholarship program office in Eugene. The organization, one of the largest philanthropies in Oregon, provides funding to its five college scholarship programs, the Ford Institute for Community Building, and responsive and proactive grants to numerous public charities whose programs predominantly benefit the residents of small, rural communities across Oregon and Siskiyou County in northern California. The Foundation’s mission is “Successful Citizens and Vital Rural Communities.” For more information about the foundation and its programs, see www.tfff.org.