Carmen Ford Phillips Endowed Marine Mammal Institute Chair

In 2023, Carmen Ford Phillips, ’59, created an estate plan that will establish an endowed chair in the  Marine Mammal Institute. Her planned gift will also create endowed funds supporting a professorship, visiting scholar program and graduate fellowship in the institute, plus an endowment for the Gladys Valley Marine Studies Building at Hatfield Marine Science Center, where the Carmen Ford Phillips Auditorium honors her legacy.

An Oregon 4-H Foundation trustee for many years, Phillips is the owner of Polo Ridge Farms, a breeder of quarter horses in Monmouth. She earned her bachelor’s degree in home economics at OSU in 1959 followed by her master’s degree in nutrition and food management in 1963.

Phillips is a member of the Ford family, whose history with Oregon State goes back decades. A gift from Carmen’s late mother made possible the construction of the Hallie Ford Center for Healthy Children and Families, named in her honor. Phillips is a board member emeritus of The Ford Family Foundation, which funds OSU programs, research and outreach, particularly in the College of Health. Each year the foundation also provides scholarship support for hundreds of students in post-secondary schools in Oregon and northern California.