Dennis and Janet Beetham's $2M Donation

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Former Portland State football player’s family pledges $2M to build PSU Athletics Hall of Fame exhibit and to support student scholarships

http://www.psuf.org/former-portland-state-football-player%E2%80%99s-family-pledges-2m-build-psu-athletics-hall-fame-exhibit-and

Former Portland State University football player Dennis Beetham and his wife Janet Beetham have donated $2 million to support scholarships for PSU science students and to create a permanent Portland State Athletics Hall of Fame exhibit.
“We are honored by this philanthropic investment from a family whose ties to PSU span more than 50 years,” PSU President Rahmat Shoureshi said. “By giving back in this way, the Beethams will support future scientists and researchers as well as celebrate our student-athletes.”
Half of the Beethams’ gift will directly support capital expansion of the Viking Pavilion, including construction of a Hall of Fame exhibit to honor the history and legacy of current and future student-athletes. The Viking Pavilion is expected to open in April 2018.
More than 100 teams and individuals have been named to the Hall of Fame since 1997. The permanent installation is planned for the north lobby of the Peter W. Stott Center, adjacent to the Pavilion arena. The exhibit will be free and open to the public.
“Through this generous contribution, the Beethams are helping to raise the profile of Vikings Athletics in a way that will have a profound impact,” PSU Athletics Director Valerie Cleary said.
Neil Lomax, one of PSU’s inaugural Hall of Fame inductees who was a PSU standout quarterback, All-American and NFL player twice selected to play in the NFL’s Pro Bowl, said: “A permanent space to celebrate the hard work and dedication of Portland State players, teams and supporters will be a motivator to current and future student-athletes, and a source of inspiration to every visitor to the new Viking Pavilion.”
Dennis Beetham played both defensive end and middle linebacker for the Vikings from 1961 through 1963. After earning degrees at Portland State, Oregon State and the University of Oregon, Dennis founded DB Western, a chemical engineering corporation with locations in North Bend, Ore., and La Porte, Texas. Janet Beetham attended PSU as an undergraduate — where she met Dennis in a zoology class — and later returned to school at age 45 to ultimately earn a B.A. in Public Relations.
In addition to creating the Beetham Athletics Hall of Fame, the second half of the Beetham family’s donation — $1 million — will create an endowed scholarship fund for students in the sciences who have demonstrated the desire and drive to succeed academically but need financial assistance.
“Janet and I were both the first in our families to attend college, and we understand how challenging it is to go to school while juggling work, family or other commitments,” Dennis Beetham said. “We want to help committed students who are working their way through college and striving to change their lives through the power of education.”
The Viking Pavilion at the Peter W. Stott Center will be the home of PSU Viking Athletics and a mid-size events venue for Portland. Other funding for the Pavilion came from public bond funds approved by the Oregon Legislature, private philanthropy, and a capital contribution from OHSU, a program partner in the facility.

 

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Biography

Dennis Beetham was born in Rome New York in 1940 and married to Sue in 1965. Dennis is a father of 3 children , Denesa, Brent and Steve. Sue passed away in 1990. Dennis is currently married to Janet, his college sweet heart; and we reside in North Bend Oregon on the family ranch. Janet has 2 children Robin and Dean. Some milestones in Dennis’s career are as follows :

1. Lived in Texas, California, Washington ; however grew up in grade and high school in Portland Oregon.

2. Played football, wrestling, and track at David Douglas High School.

3. Graduated from Portland State University 1964 with a BS in Math and Physics.

4. Accepted to Oregon State University Graduate School of Chemistry in 1964 and awarded a Chemistry Teaching Assistantship .

5. Accepted to University of Oregon Graduate School of Chemistry 1965 and awarded a Chemistry Research Assistantship , working under Dr. Keanna on the steroid tetrodotoxin ,or the deadly toxin from a coral snake.

6. Hire by Celanese Chemical Company in Kingsville Texas 1968 , and promoted into the main research facilities for Chemical Process Development at Corpus Christi Texas , where Dennis was on the project team for a new process for vinyl acetate. Dennis also developed new processes in Hydrogenation and CO2 absorption .

7. Dennis was the technical supervisor for the new world scale plant in Clear Lake City Texas , and startup of new ethylene oxide , ethyl glycol , and ethylene di glycol plants.

8. Dennis was hired by Georgia Pacific Chemical Resins in Coos Bay Oregon in 1971 as engineering manager and built 6 new chemical resin plants in the USA. Dennis was also technical manager for developing UFC 85 continuous processes.

9. Dennis started DB Western (DBW ) 1975 with a new UFC and Resin plant in Las Vegas New Mexico, and supplying both UF and Melamine UF Resins to the wood products industry.

10. Dennis designed , fabricated and shipped a new generation UFC/UF/MUF plant for China in 1975 , built in North Bend Oregon. Dennis spent 3 months in China training and starting up the plant.

11. DBW designed , built , and owned plants in Turkey, Belgium, Montreal, New Brunswick, New York ,New Mexico, Texas, South Dakota, Louisiana, Nevada , California ; and built and sold plants listed in attachment.

12. DBW built DBWT in Laporte Texas in 2001 , which is family owned, and is the largest HCHO/ UFC/ Triazine plant in the world. This plant supplies 100% of the raw material to Dupont to manufacture “ Spandex “ fiber along with many other products.

13. DBW’s facilities in North Bend Oregon is one of the largest ASME Code fabrication shops in the western US and is home to the technical and engineering resources of DBW , DBWT, DBWM , and DBWC. DBW has designed and fabricated “ Black Cell “ pressure vessels for Bechtel Engineering for the Hanford Nuclear Plant ; critical Pharmaceutical sterilizers for the Pharmaceutical Industry; Stainless Steel screens for numerous dams to prevent fish entering the electrical turbines; and numerous large vessel for the manufacturing industry as far away as Alabama and New York , Montreal, in North America and overseas to China, Europe, Far East, Malaysia, Turkey, Trinidad, Nigeria .

14. Dennis passed his State of Oregon Engineering Exams in Civil, Chemical , Mechanical, Nuclear, and Electrical Engineering in 1986 and given No. 2333.

15. Dennis was awarded “ Science Alumni of the year “ at University of Oregon.

16. Dennis was awarded “ Cub Master of the year” and was the Scout Master 761 for 6 years. He continues to serve on the Eagle Board of Review for over 25 years and has been a major donor .

17. Dennis has been Council President of his church; president of the Boy and Girls Club during a 5,000,000$ building program; major donor to 4H , Hospice , Women Crisis Center, AL timers Center, Boys and Girls Club, and many youth programs.

18. Dennis has donated over 8 complete computer labs for libraries, schools and college.

19. Dennis and Janet enjoy our 5 children ; 11 grandchildren ; and our dog named “ Teddy Bear “ , while living on the family ranch in Oregon. Four of our children and 4 grandchildren work in the family business. We feel blessed.

 

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Dennis Beetham – D.B. Western, Inc.

To say that Dennis Beetham is a successful businessman is an understatement. Dennis Beetham is a successful man, period. He is Oregon grown and educated, and his primary business is in North Bend (and Texas) where he and his wife work. Four of their 11 children work for the family business, as well as four grandchildren. And when you’re in a technical/chemical/engineering/fabrication business, you have to be considerably educated, and so they are.

Although born in New York, Dennis attended grade school and high school in Portland, OR. He attended college at Portland State earning a BS in Math and Physics in 1964, and went on to the Graduate Schools of Chemistry at both Oregon State and the University of Oregon. His professional career started in Texas with the Celanese Chemical Company to research new processes for vinyl acetate, hydrogenation, and carbon dioxide absorption.

In 1971, Dennis was hired by Georgia Pacific as an engineering manager to develop six new chemical resin plants throughout the U.S. He was also the technical manager for developing UFC 85 continuous processes. In 1975, he started DB Western with a partner, but ultimately became sole proprietor. Since then his company has designed and built chemical plants in North Bend (to ship abroad) and in many countries throughout the world. In many instances, Dennis has had to spend considerable time in these foreign countries to train the new plant operators. Other areas of his company deal with pharmaceutical stabilizers; pressure vessels for various industries, including nuclear power plants; and a great deal more

The DBW facility in Texas was built in 2001 and is the largest chemical plant of its type. It supplies 100% of the raw material to DuPont to manufacture “Spandex” fiber, along with many other products. But Dennis spends most of his time in North Bend, where he and his wife play tennis most mornings before going to work. He has also been heavily involved in the community, including Cub Scouts, Eagle Scouts (over 25 years), the Boys and Girls Club, 4H, Hospice, Women’s Crisis Center, the Alzheimer Center, schools, libraries, colleges and youth sports. Dennis Beetham is smart, talented, kind, generous and nice to be around… a truly successful man.