James T. Lussier, founder and principal consultant with The Lussier Center/TLC, will deliver the keynote commencement address for Oregon State University - Cascades Campus. Commencement, scheduled for 2 p.m. on Saturday, June 12, 2010, will be held in Drake Park in Bend, Oregon.
Lussier has focused his professional life on high performance organizations for more than 36 years. He has served at the executive level and as a CEO in healthcare organizations and provided counsel and training to hospitals and health systems in The Netherlands, Africa, Japan, Canada and the United States. He has consulted with the University of Pittsburgh, The American Hospital Association and is currently serving as the research and development chair for the Facilities Guidelines Institute in conjunction with the American Hospital Association. He also serves as a consultant with Transformation Systems International/The Performance Center.
Lussier advocates for the transformation of healthcare and speaks internationally on organizational and personal leadership, transformational healing healthcare design and the development of integrated health systems designed to improve community health status. He presents board of director governance effectiveness and leadership development programs across the country to educational, healthcare and community boards and staff. Lussier is a guest lecturer for Concordia, Oregon State University and other organizations. He counsels numerous business organizations in the development of performance excellence utilizing the Baldrige National Quality Award program criteria and was a Baldrige program examiner in 2004.
He served on the board of directors of Cascade Healthcare Community (CHC) where he was president/CEO for 15 years until July 1, 2004 and as president emeritus until 2006. CHC operates St. Charles Medical Center-Bend and St. Charles Medical Center-Redmond. Under his leadership, St. Charles ranked as one of the nation's 'Top 100' hospitals and as one of the Top 40 places to work in Oregon and was a recipient of the Oregon Quality Award. He remains on the St. Charles Foundation Board of Directors.
Lussier is an active member of seven boards and commissions. He currently serves on the Oregon Institute of Technology Foundation, Volunteers of Medicine Clinic of the Cascades, the City Club of Central Oregon, Sparling Corporation, Health Matters, the Oregon Environmental Council, and the Facilities Guidelines Institute. He has previously served as both member and president of the Oregon State Board of Higher Education, overseeing the seven public universities in Oregon and the Oregon Health Policy Commission.
For Commencement 2010, OSU-Cascades will confer 47 candidates for the master of arts in teaching, 15 candidates for the master of science in counseling, and 197 candidates for bachelor of arts and bachelor of science degrees. School faculty and more than 1,000 family members, friends, and university colleagues will attend the ceremony.