Three new trustees joined the Board of Trustees of Oregon Institute of Technology this month. The new trustees are Arnel Fajardo, Ph.D., Christine (Chris) Mangan, and current Oregon Tech student Cruz Collin. The trustees were nominated by Governor Tina Kotek, confirmed by the Oregon Senate on June 17, and begin their service on July 1.
Fajardo of Beaverton, Oregon, is a technology and advanced materials professional who leads innovation programs in advanced alloys, zirconium chemistry, and defense-related materials. He serves as Senior Director of Technology for ATI Specialty Alloys & Components and previously held leadership roles at ATI, including Senior Director of Business Development and Manager of Research and Development. He has also held leadership roles at Intel, where he worked in semiconductor manufacturing and environmental process engineering. He earned a Bachelor of Science in Chemistry from Florida State University and a Doctor of Philosophy in Chemistry from the California Institute of Technology. Fajardo currently serves on the Oregon Higher Education Coordinating Committee and the Oregon Manufacturing Innovation Center Research and Development (OMIC R&D) Board of Governors.
Mangan of Palo Alto, California, is a biotechnology and clinical research consultant and the founder and owner of Mangan Consulting, Inc., where she provides scientific, technical, and management consulting services. She previously served as Senior Manager of Clinical Research at Connective Therapeutics and held several leadership positions in clinical research and compliance at Syntex. Mangan earned a Bachelor of Science in Allied Health-Medical Technology from Oregon Institute of Technology and a Master of Business Administration in Management and Marketing from Golden Gate University. She is Vice President of the Oregon Tech Foundation Board of Directors and serves on the board's Committee on Directors and Scholarship Committee.
Collin studies Renewable Energy Engineering at Oregon Tech's Klamath Falls campus and is expected to graduate in June 2028. Originally from Keystone, South Dakota, and an enrolled member of the Oglala Sioux Tribe, Collin joined Oregon Tech in 2023. His academic and research work focuses on renewable energy systems, battery energy storage, hybrid energy production, and collaborations between Indigenous and Western science. Collin has received several research, innovation, and scholarship awards, including the Udall Scholarship and Dreamstarter research grants. He has co-authored peer-reviewed research publications, holds multiple patent applications, and serves in several student leadership roles at Oregon Tech.
Fajardo and Mangan were confirmed for four-year appointments, and Collin was confirmed for two years.
The Senate also confirmed the reappointment of Trustees Stefan Bird of Canby, John Davis of Wilsonville, Kanth Gopalpur of Portland, and Celia Núñez of Redmond for four-year terms, and Faculty Trustee Mark Neupert, Ph.D., of Klamath Falls for a two-year term.
The 15-member board is made up of 11 at-large members, each appointed to serve a 4-year term, as well as the University President, who is an ex officio member, and faculty, staff, and student members, each appointed to a 2-year term.
For more information about Oregon Tech trustees, visit www.oit.edu/trustees.
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