Hayes boasts decade of service at Pacific

One of the most prominent figures at Pacific University is former Dean of College of Arts and Sciences John Hayes, who is also the current director of The Center for Sustainable Society.

A graduate of Purdue University with a Ph.D. in Biochemistry, he is currently using his knowledge to help Pacific University reduce its carbon footprint and to introduce methods of sustainability throughout the Forest Grove community.

As director and only Center for Sustainable Society employee, he describes his job as “all-encompassing” and with the help of his three work study students, completes a myriad of tasks and projects, all leading to the objective of making Pacific University a more environmentally friendly place to be.

“One of the things that we did recently was replace the Marsh Hall boiler, which was running at about 70 percent efficiency,” said Hayes. “And we replaced it with a boiler that is 95 percent efficient, so that should save a lot of energy for the university, and therefore, a lot of money as well.”

Hayes has worked as director since the center’s inception in July of last year, but before that, many in the Pacific community knew him as the dean of college of arts and sciences, a job he held for nine years before retiring in 2012. Prior to that, he held careers as both a chemistry professor and the dean of arts and sciences at Marlboro College in Vermont.

“I was dean [of Marlboro College] for 12 years, so I had 21 years of experience as a dean,” said Hayes. “And it was just time to retire. I was of retirement age but before I could leave, we decided that I should start up this Sustainability Center and work at it.”

He describes his time as the dean at Pacific University as “interesting,” due to the many changes that impacted campus life over the past decade. Some of those changes include the switch from predominantly three-credit courses to four-credit courses, the increase in faculty members being hired, the implementation of new programs and majors, and the reinstatement of the football program.

He also supported the instatement of Focal Studies, which he said “seemed like a good idea at the time.” It was instituted based on a vote by the faculty, and while the intention was to create connections between academic disciplines, there have been mixed reviews and results produced among faculty and students, which Hayes has noticed.

“Not every idea that people come up with is the greatest idea,” said Hayes. “And while it might seem great on paper, in practice, it might have all kinds of difficulties attached to it.”

Outside of his life at Pacific, Hayes is an avid outdoorsman and birdwatcher. His name is currently attached to a program in which sculptures of birds, ranging from owls to acorn woodpeckers, grace various places around campus. Called “The John Hayes Campus Bird Tour,” it was introduced just as Hayes was retiring from his time as the dean.