Remembering Lifetime Trustee Bert Loughmiller, ’64

November 1, 2026

For Bert Loughmiller, ’64, giving back to Oregon State was about friendship, purpose and the joy of helping a university he loved thrive. Over decades of service, the OSU Foundation Lifetime Trustee became a beloved volunteer leader, generous donor and friend to many. He died Oct. 26 at age 84.

“When Bert was chosen for the Lifetime Trustee award, I had to avoid him like the plague because I was certain I would spill the beans. He was so deserving of the recognition and I appreciated him so much,” said Shawn L. Scoville, OSU Foundation President and CEO. “We will miss him terribly.”

 

Bert and Kaye Loughmiller

A civil engineering alumnus who went on to earn an MBA, Bert was president of APM, Inc. – a multinational company that manufactures packaging for the food and wine industry – for more than two decades. He achieved great success, but in the early 2000s Bert experienced a health crisis that he said led him to reevaluate his priorities and give greater focus to the areas he found most meaningful. OSU emerged at the top of the list. 

He served 14 years on the OSU Foundation Board of Trustees as well as various engineering and athletics advisory boards; both he and his wife Kaye Bailey Loughmiller, ’64, were on the planning committee for the Class of 1964 Golden Jubilee reunion. The couple jointly received the Dan W. Poling Service Award (2019) from the OSU Alumni Association. Bert was named to the College of Engineering Hall of Fame (2011) and chosen as a Lifetime Trustee (2025): the OSU Foundation’s highest recognition for volunteer leaders. 

“I was unwittingly pulled into a Trusteeship by sheer good fortune. It changed my life,” he said when receiving the Lifetime Trustee award. “Kaye and I both, when we became a part of the Foundation, we made friends, we worked together with people, and in that working together we bonded. Many of the best friends that we have are the result of the Oregon State University Foundation. While the satisfaction that came to me playing a minor role in the Foundation’s success has been very gratifying, the lasting bonds of friendship that have been formed along the way are the best reward of all.”

Ed Jennings, Larry Giustina, Bert Loughmiller

The Loughmillers met at OSU, and while Kaye came from a family of Beavers, Bert was the first in his family to pursue a college degree. A scholarship helped make it possible, and the couple has generously supported scholarships for future generations of students. Members of the Harris Society, they established an endowed Presidential Scholarship through a planned bequest and support the Catalyst Scholars program in the College of Engineering, among other gifts.

“I learned through experience that generosity is a joyful activity,” Bert said. “You give to things that you think are important, you see the consequence of what you’ve done, and it just makes you feel good.”

Kaye and Bert Loughmiller

Learn more:

2025 Lifetime Trustee video 

2019 Dan Poling Service Award video 

 

Photos from top: Bert Loughmiller at the 2025 OSU Foundation Lifetime Trustee celebration; Bert and Kaye at Reser Stadium; Bert with fellow Lifetime Trustees Ed Jennings and Larry Giustina; Kaye and Bert at the 2007 launch celebration for The Campaign for OSU.