Q&A with New Arts and Sciences Dean Jacqueline Van Hoomissen

Family is at the center of new College of Arts and Sciences Dean Jacquie Van Hoomissen’s world. Most of what is important in her life came from her family or the influences it presented to her. She is especially close to her mom. Spirit asked our new dean to tell us about herself. 

Where did you grow up?

I grew up in a tiny little farming community 25 miles west of Portland called Banks, population 500. I lived on a multigenerational farm founded by great grandfather, Trephan Dierickx from Aalter, Belgium. He and his brother settled the farm in the early 1900s, primarily as a dairy farm, which my grandfather continued. My father transitioned the operation into strawberries, black raspberries, wheat, barley, corn, grass, alfalfa and clover and said goodbye to the cows and milking every 12 hours. The area was mostly settled by Belgian and Dutch immigrants, who were all Catholic. My great grandfather helped build the local church and school I attended growing up. In 1979 my parents built the house I grew up in. And in 2018 my husband and I built a home next to my parents on the farm for us and future generations to live in.

What did you enjoy doing as a youngster?

I grew up as a farm-girl, which meant doing whatever needed to be done. I did everything: Hoe weeds in strawberry fields, move hand-line water irrigation pipes, drive tractors, clean stalls, take care of the barn animals, mow a lot of grass, and help my grandmother who lived next door.

We were engaged in Catholic Youth Organization basketball/volleyball leagues and high school dance team and volleyball, 4-H chapters (pie baking to sewing to dog showing), horse riding clubs and a lot of art over the years.

My real talent was piano. I started playing when I was 4 or 5 and have never stopped.

How’d you end up here today?

I really wanted to be an architect and attend U of Oregon. But my cousin wanted me to go to the U of Portland with her so I applied and was only able to attend because UP gave me a full-ride scholarship, work study, and eventually, set me on my current path. But they didn’t have an architecture degree and they canceled my second choice, Japanese, the year I got there. So, my mom said, “You should be a doctor,” so that’s how I became a biology major and entered the world of STEM!

Great experiences in college included an undergraduate research program funded by the Murdock Charitable Trust and Oregon Health and Sciences University, in collaboration with NASA’s STS-80 mission. I also spent a year in UP’s Salzburg Program as a student and then served as a professor there years later.

Education

• University of Georgia, Athens, Ga. Ph.D. in Exercise Science (neuroscience & psychology), 2002
• University of Portland (Oregon) B.S. in Biology, Summa Cum Laude, 1997

University of Portland Positions 2002-2024

• Associate Dean, Scholarship and Creative Engagement
• Director, Undergraduate Research
• Associate Dean, Academic Affairs
• Biology Professor

What are your early impressions of the greater Spokane area?

Love it! Enjoying all of the outdoors, people are soooooo friendly, and there is no traffic like PDX! And the airport is amazing ... no lines!

What do you like to do for fun?

Play piano, gardening, watercolor, ceramics, hike, read, walk, admire architecture, engage in arts.

If you could meet anyone for the first time, who would it be and why?

The Dalai Lama. I’ve been learning more about the intersections of different faith traditions and have a good friend who is a practicing Buddhist. I am a practicing Roman Catholic and we have such wonderful dialogues about the intersection of these two traditions. I would love to sit with the Dalai Lama and have a dialogue.

If you could go on a 10-day, all-expense-paid trip anywhere, where would you go, and why?

Somewhere in a beautiful house surrounded by nature and I’d bring all my friends and family and we’d talk, eat, walk, hike, kayak, explore and connect.

Would you like to share anything about your family?

My husband is a special education teacher and administrator, running alternative education programs for Portland Public Schools. I am amazed at his dedication to supporting children and their families in crisis and have always wanted to be as kind and considerate as he is to others.