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CORVALLIS, Ore. - Mary F.T. Spilde, the president of Lane Community College, is returning to her alma mater on May 7 when she gives the sixth-annual Charles Carpenter Memorial Lecture at Oregon State University.

Spilde will speak on "Community College: The Hopeful Enterprise." After earning a law degree from the University of Edinburgh, Scotland, she received a master's in adult education and a doctorate in post-secondary education at Oregon State University.

Spilde has held several leadership positions in higher education, with a particular focus on sustainability and women's issues. She became president of Lane in August 2001. Before becoming president, she was Vice President for Instruction and Student Services at Lane for four years and worked at Linn-Benton Community College from 1980 to 1995, where she served as Dean of Business, Training and Health Occupations. She has served and currently serves on several national committees and boards dedicated to the betterment of education and education professionals.

At Lane Community College, she has focused on leading and supporting initiatives that will help develop a culture of innovation, achievement and improvements in the learning environment. She co-chairs, with OSU President Ed Ray, the governor's Post-Secondary Quality Education Commission.

The memorial lecture honors Charles "Chuck" Carpenter, a former community college leader and a professor at Oregon State. Carpenter helped establish the Community College Leadership Program at Oregon State, which is currently in its 18th year. The program has a strong tradition of producing community college leaders at the state, regional and national levels.

The lecture takes place at 7 p.m., Friday, May 7, in the Joyce Powell Leadership Center Journey Room, Memorial Union, on the Oregon State campus. A reception follows.