The Central Oregon Community College Board will hold its commencement ceremony at 10 a.m. on Saturday, June 11, at the Mazama Field on the COCC Bend Campus. Of the more than 880 graduates receivingdegrees and certificates, approximately 350 are expected to participate in the ceremony. Four students will be honored by the college for their outstanding achievements. A reception will follow in the courtyard of the Coats Campus Center.
Max Williams, president and CEO of The Oregon Community Foundation, will present the keynote address. Born and raised in Bend, Williams’ career has encompassed business, law, politics and criminal justice. Williams attended COCC for one year before transferring to Brigham Young University and earning a bachelor’s degree in information management. He worked in the computer industry for both IBM and its business partner companies before attending law school at Northwestern School of Law of Lewis and Clark College in Portland. He graduated magna cum laude in 1991.
He was a practicing attorney for more than 12 years at the Portland law firm Miller Nash LLP. Representing Tigard, he had a distinguished career in the Oregon Legislative Assembly, where he was chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, chairman of the Legislative Counsel Committee and a senior member of the House Revenue Committee.
Williams is a former member of the Oregon Law Commission and the Oregon Progress Board. In July 2002, he was elected to the executive committee of the National Conference of State Legislatures. In 2002, he was named Tigard’s ‘First Citizen’ for his volunteer work and leadership in the community. Williams was appointed director of the Oregon Department of Corrections by Governor Ted Kulongoski and served from January 2004 to December 2011. During his tenure, he addressed mental illness in thousands of inmates, recasting how the prison system handles one of its most challenging populations, according to the Oregonian.
In early 2012, he joined The Oregon Community Foundation, the largest foundation in the state. Under his leadership, the Foundation manages the stewardship of charitable funds that are distributed statewide. Additionally, he is responsible for overseeing the $1.6-billion endowment, which is comprised of more than 1,900 permanent funds.
Married with three children, Williams enjoys studying history, running, biking and sailing.