Though new to the Linfield University Board of Trustees, the most recent elected members are no strangers to Linfield. Ryan Harris, the longtime president of Domaine Serene Vineyards and Winery, brings with him a deep connection to the Linfield’s wine studies program. Marvin Henberg, a former vice president for academic affairs and interim president at Linfield, is a lifelong philosophy scholar and educator with voluminous academic publications. Both began stints as trustees in November 2021.

Ryan Harris

Harris joined Domaine Serene in 2013 and, not long thereafter, began attending the International Pinot Noir Celebration hosted at Linfield University. He redoubled his involvement when Domaine Serene owners Ken and Grace Evenstad endowed the Evenstad Center for Wine Education at Linfield. Undergraduate and master’s programs offered through the Evenstad Center are the first of their kind in the United States.

“We are driving for excellence in that program. Several programs do a great job of preparing students in viticulture, enology and wine-making, but Linfield prepares students with a broad education in business, marketing, finance and accounting as well,” Harris said. “The vertical integration of the industry from farm to luxury branding requires knowing all facets.”

Linfield’s location in the heart of Oregon wine country puts students within reach of all the tools they need to succeed in the wine industry, he said, another benefit to an already world-class program. Harris isn’t simply providing lip service either. One of Domaine Serene’s recent hires was one of the first graduates of the Linfield wine studies program, Patrick McKee.

Harris hopes his business acumen is an asset to the Board of Trustees.

“Businesses and institutions can take moments of intense change and translate them into the plans that sustain them for years to come,” Harris said. “By focusing on excellence in everything Linfield does, we will strengthen the university for generations to come.”

Marvin Henberg

Henberg joined the board as Linfield’s first Faculty Senate-nominated trustee. The position, created in 2021, could have sought no better candidate.

Henberg first joined the Linfield faculty in 1994 as a professor of philosophy. He had previously held positions at the University of Idaho, Texas A&M University and the University of Southampton in England. While at Linfield, he directed the Environmental Studies Program, served as vice president for academic affairs and dean of faculty, and acted as interim president after the departure of former president Vivian Bull.

He said Bull was “the best boss everyone deserves at least once in a lifetime,” and during his time as an interim president, Henberg sought to uphold Bull’s high standards. Something he now brings back to the university as a trustee.

His love of Linfield is still omnipresent on campus. Henberg is the author of “Inspired Pragmatism: An Illustrated History of Linfield College,” a written and pictorial account of Linfield’s past.

Henberg also participated in crafting Linfield’s mission statement, incorporating the “arts quadrangle” that includes the Vivian Bull Music Center and Jereld Nicholson Library, and leading curriculum revisions that are still woven throughout the student experience.

“When I read the new university bylaws establishing the Faculty Senate-nominated trustee, I thought I would be a good fit for the position,” Henberg said. “I’ve had forty years of experience teaching and administering in higher education, and I know and love Linfield from my fifteen years there.”

After his service to Linfield, Henberg joined The College of Idaho as its president until 2015; he still holds the position of president emeritus. At The College of Idaho, Henberg led major fundraising efforts, hired staff, faculty and administrators and spearheaded major curriculum revisions.

“I have been privileged to experience two fine liberal arts institutions both from the ground up and the top down,” he said. “Two of my strong points are patience and the ability to broker good will by fostering honest conversation.  I will do my level best in these regards for Linfield University.”

Linfield’s Board of Trustees is the governing body of Linfield University. As the university’s fiduciary, the board is responsible for Linfield’s long term health, overseeing and aligning its strategic direction, educational policy, finances and operations with the mission of the University.  All of the trustee positions are volunteer, non-paid.