In Memoriam

Ashton J. "Ash" O’Donnell ’43

Ashton J. "Ash" O’Donnell ’43

Ashton J. "Ash" O’Donnell ’43, former chair of the Board of Trustees and a guiding force in supporting the development of global studies at the college, died July 28, 2010, in San Rafael, California.

Ash was born April 7, 1921, in Hollywood, California, to J. Edward and Kathryn Ashton O’Donnell, and grew up in Helena, Montana. At Whitman, he "met the two loves of his life, physics and his wife (Virginia ’Gini’ Graham O’Donnell ’43)," a family member told The San Francisco Chronicle at the time of his death.

At Whitman, Ash was a member of Tau Kappa Epsilon and the Knights honorary, played intramural sports, and participated in choir and theater. Within a week of graduation, Ash was at work on the Manhattan Project, first at the radiation lab at the University of California, Berkeley, and later, with Gini, in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. After World War II, he worked for the new Atomic Energy Commission in Washington and California.

A fervent supporter of the Atoms for Peace Program, Ash joined the Stanford Research Institute in Menlo Park, California, in 1954 as manager of the Nuclear Economics group. He traveled widely, attending and presenting papers at international conferences on peaceful uses of atomic energy.

In 1961, Ash and Gini moved their family to Vienna, Austria, where he was senior scientific and technical adviser to the ambassador of the U.S. mission to the International Atomic Energy Agency. In 1964, Ash accepted a position with Bechtel Corporation, a private engineering and construction firm in San Francisco. He created Bechtel’s advanced technology division and retired in 1986 as president of Bechtel National Inc. and vice president and director of the Bechtel Group.

A proud Montanan, Ash was a lifetime member of the Sons and Daughters of Montana Pioneers.

He served Whitman in many capacities, including as an overseer and a trustee from 1982 to 1990, during which time he was trustee chair for four years. The college awarded him an honorary doctor of science degree in 1997, and the Alumni Association named him the 2005 Alumnus of Merit.

Ash and Gini always worked as a team as they traveled the world in service to the government, Bechtel and international organizations. They came to understand the essential need to develop professionals capable of understanding and working with many cultures, and able to navigate the rapidly changing global landscape. They established the Ashton J. and Virginia Graham O’Donnell Chair in Global Studies — a key component of Whitman’s emerging Global Studies Initiative — to bring to campus experts in international fields from diplomacy to engineering and the arts.

"Ash and Gini’s passionate advocacy and support for global studies at Whitman served as an important stimulus for our emphasis on and commitment to global education for our students," said President George Bridges. "I had the pleasure of meeting with Ash many times, and I was always impressed with his enthusiasm and passion for Whitman. The college is stronger and its students better for the O’Donnells’ many efforts. We will miss his encouragement and support immensely."

Ash is survived by his wife, Gini, and by three daughters and three sons-in-law: Sherry ’68 and Bob Burns ’68, Joan O’Donnell, Jennifer ’83 and Kenneth Connor ’81, and Lawrence Wilkinson. He was preceded in death by a daughter, Lynn O’Donnell. He also is survived by six grandchildren and one great-grandson.

Memorial contributions may be made to the Ashton J. and Virginia Graham O’Donnell Chair in Global Studies at Whitman.

To learn more about the O’Donnells and the Global Studies Initiative, see O’Donnells’ quest to bring the world to Whitman began in the 1980s.

Elizabeth Tertsagian Taylor ’44

Overseer Emerita Elizabeth Tertsagian Taylor ’44

Overseer emerita Elizabeth "Liz" Tertsagian Taylor ’44 died at her Bellevue home April 16, 2010. She was born May 16, 1922, in Wenatchee to Armen and Eliza Tertsagian, two of the three co-founders of the Aplets & Cotlets factory.

Liz graduated from high school in Cashmere, Washington, and was the first woman student body president at Whitman, where she was an active member of Delta Gamma sorority. She met her husband, Dr. Willis J. Taylor ’44, at Whitman. They married while he was in medical school in Portland. Eventually, they returned to his hometown of Kennewick, where he began practice as a family doctor.

During Willis’ service as a Navy doctor during the Korean War, the family lived in Seattle, and then returned to Kennewick, where he resumed his medical practice. In 1954, they moved to Mercer Island while Willis trained in radiology at Virginia Mason Clinic in Seattle, and eventually headed its cancer program.

Liz, a homemaker, was active in the Mercer Island Presbyterian Church and a gifted pianist who could play by ear and enjoyed entertaining. For 55 years, she sent out a trademark, red family Christmas card to an address list of more than 600, each with a handwritten note. Liz was elected as a Whitman overseer in 1982 and served until 1997. The couple moved to Bellevue in 2000.

Liz is survived by sons, Greg and Eric, and their families, including granddaughter Lisa Taylor ’08, and brother- and sister-in-law Lowell ’50 and Arlene Erickson Taylor ’50. Liz was preceded in death by her husband and a sister, Ankin Tertsagian Odabashian ’41. Memorial gifts may be made to Whitman College.