Maybelle Clark Macdonald Director of Tribal Initiatives in Natural Resources

In 2022 the Maybelle Clark Macdonald Fund created a second endowed faculty position fund in OSU’s College of Forestry. Among other responsibilities, the Director of Tribal Initiatives in Natural Resources leads strategic planning and programming designed to enhance academic support for underserved students, with an emphasis on Indigenous students, to improve outreach, retention, empowerment and graduation rates.

Among Oregon's largest foundations, the Maybelle Clark Macdonald Fund supports the good works of Oregonians by making grants to community based, not-for-profit organizations in five core areas: the cultural arts, education, human services, medicine and public service. The private grant-making foundation was formed in 1970 by the late Maybelle Clark Macdonald and her husband, Fred Macdonald. Her Clark relatives first settled in Linnton, Oregon, in 1902, and developed a timber empire that became Willamette Industries. A noted philanthropist, Mrs. Macdonald founded Meals on Heels (predecessor to Loaves & Fishes' Meals on Wheels program) as well as the Maybelle Clark Macdonald Center and Residence, which serves people living in poverty in Portland. She passed away in 2009 at the age of 93.

Current Faculty Holder

Cristina Eisenberg