Duncan Wyse
President
Oregon Business Council

Like many of his colleagues at Wilson High School, Duncan Wyse wasn't too excited about going to classes. He was doing skating academically -- there wasn't any spark of interest in school. "I was more excited about playing my guitar than going to classes," said Duncan.

At the beginning of his sophomore year, Duncan signed up to take English and Journalism with Mrs. Janet Smith. Mrs. Smith was known to set very high standards and was quick to critique writing samples. In fact, she would critique the writing in the daily Oregonian, much to the amusement of her students. "She was quite remarkable," said Duncan. "She really taught me the importance of good writing, which is something I've carried with me my entire life."

Being the English and Journalism teacher meant that Mrs. Smith was also the official advisor to the school newspaper and she quickly recruited Duncan to serve as a reporter. He worked on a variety of articles his sophomore year and became very interested in journalism. "Working on the school newspaper really helped me get focused," said Duncan. "I loved reporting; it brought school to life for me and had a positive impact on my attitude and effort in all of my classes."

Mrs. Smith helped show Duncan how important writing and school was to his future, and encouraged him to try harder - in fact, Duncan was appointed editor of the school newspaper his senior year and became active in school life. Later that year he was elected Student Body President. "Mrs. Smith was an important mentor to me in high school," said Duncan. "Every student deserves that kind of personal connection, whether it is with a teacher, parent or adult volunteer,"

Today, Duncan is President of the Oregon Business Council, a private non-profit, non-partisan organization that focuses on key, long-range public policy issues facing Oregon. He serves on a wide-range of boards and commissions, and is known as one of the leading policy advisors to business and government leaders in the state. He spends a great deal of his time writing…which we're sure would make Mrs. Smith smile.