Campaign YouTube
Campaign Flickr
OSU Facebook
OSU Twitter
Powered By Orange
Hallie Ford Center for Healthy Children and Families
Children brought forward the building blocks of the work of the Hallie Ford Center for Healthy Children and Families. 
Building the OSU legacy of an amazing Oregon philanthropist with a great heart for children and their families. 
Setting the stage for the launch of the Hallie Ford Center for Healthy Children and Families. 
Hallie Ford’s children Allyn Ford, left, and Carmen Ford Phillips, second from right, joined HHS Dean Tammy Bray and President Ed Ray to celebrate the launch.
Tammy Bray welcomed launch guests as campus chimes announced the arrival of the auspicious moment, 9:09 a.m. on 9/9/09. 
Carmen Ford Phillips recounted how her mother became the first in her family to graduate from college, despite the Great Depression. 
Allyn Ford expressed his hope that the Hallie Ford Center will "move the dial" on complex issues affecting the welfare of children. 
HHS student Holland Snider recounted how she discovered her passion for childhood education at OSU. 
Children thank the Fords with flowers.
HHS Dean Tammy Bray greets Carmen Ford Phillips, with Allyn Ford at left. 
HHS Dean Tammy Bray visits with Jean Roth.
Members of the Ford family with OSU leaders (from left): Martina Ford, Cheryl Ford, Allyson Ford, Allyn Ford, David Phillips, Tammy Bray, Carmen Ford Phillips, Gerald Phillips, Kathy Phillips Bauer, Ed Ray.
The Hallie Ford Center for Healthy Children and Families carries forward the legacy of an extraordinary woman.
A teacher, painter, and renowned Oregon philanthropist, Hallie Ford believed deeply in the transforming power of education. Shortly before she passed away at the age of 102, she chose OSU for her final gift, culminating a lifetime of advocacy for Oregon's children and their families.
Ford's gift will build a new facility for the center. It also created an endowment for the center's director.
Auspicious Day Marks Launch of Hallie Ford Center for Healthy Children and Families
The Memorial Union bells chimed at 9:09 a.m. on September 9, 2009, as OSU launched the Hallie Ford Center for Healthy Children and Families, a new research initiative focused on the human lifespan, with a special emphasis on the physical, mental, and behavioral health of children. The center was made possible by a generous $8 million gift from the late philanthropist Hallie Ford, and is part of the College of Health and Human Sciences.
In the ceremony, President Ed Ray noted that the center will bring new focus to one of the three signature areas in the university's strategic plan, Improving Human Health and Wellness.
"Yet the most important contribution of the Hallie Ford Center for Healthy Children and Families is to marry the spirit and memory of an extraordinary woman to educating and inspiring countless students who will leave OSU ready to resolve critical challenges facing human health," he said. "Their determination, skill, and odds of success will be dramatically increased because of the generosity — and the spirit — of Hallie Ford."
Special guests included Mrs. Ford's children, Carmen Ford Phillips and Allyn Ford, and several grandchildren. The launch ceremony was followed by a symposium highlighting faculty research on children and families.
Learn more about the Hallie Ford Center for Healthy Children and Families:
- Launch opening remarks by Tammy Bray, Dean of the College of Health and Human Sciences
- Hallie Ford's $8 million gift
- Launch symposium video
- Oregon Stater article (PDF)
- The center has four research cores: Healthy Development in Early Childhood; Risky and Protective Behaviors and Environments for Youth; Obesity Prevention in Children and Families; and Vulnerable Children and Families.
- The physical building that will house the bulk of the work of the Hallie Ford Center will be completed in 2011.
- The Sept. 9, 2009, launch date was chosen by Dean Bray because nine is an auspicious number in Chinese numerology that signifies change and transformation.
