David B. Avison ’68

With the exception of his time on active duty with the U.S. Navy, David has lived his whole life in Oregon. He is married to the former Jean C. Bell, has two sons, two daughters and they share eight grandchildren. He resides in Tualatin with a very spoiled Golden Retriever.

Besides his doctorate in law (JD, Willamette University), David holds a Bachelor of Arts (BA) in History and a Master’s Degree in Public Administration (MPA), both degrees from Lewis & Clark College (L&C). While in college, he was active in student government both undergraduate and in law school and won several academic honors including selection as a Brooks Scholar, election to the history honorary and election as an Editor of the Willamette University Law Journal. David’s comment was published in that journal.

David served 24 years in the United States Naval Reserve, retiring with the rank of Commander. While on active duty (1968-1971), David served both in the Navy’s Amphibious service and in-country Viet Nam on detached duty with the First Marine Division in the DaNang area. David was personally decorated for his combat service. Subsequently, he served 21 years in the ready reservice, duties included selection to three commanding officer positions.

David B. Avison has been a practicing attorney for over 50 years. For a major part of his career he served as in-house counsel for an international engineering firm overseeing domestic and foreign operations. After that, he represented small businesses and professionals in a general practice that included litigation. Currently he is semi-retired, limiting his law practice to Estate Planning, Estate Administration and the representation of Nonprofit organizations.

Since college, David has volunteered in various roles at Lewis & Clark. Service included the Board of Alumni, serving as president. In addition, he served three years on the L&C Board of Trustees as well on several Dean search and other campus committees. Currently, he serves on the Albany Society Board as Chair..

David’s community service is not limited to L&C. He served many years as director and chair of the Board of the Metro YMCA in Portland. He also served as a member of the Planned Giving Advisory Committee for the Portland Community College Foundation. He spent many years as a director of the NW Planned Giving Roundtable, chairing its annual conference multiple times. David served on a several standing committees of the Oregon State Bar Association, often as chair. In the past, David volunteered in several settings for the Lake Oswego Public Schools. Currently, he is a director and past president of Lakewood Community Theatre.

David also serves in voluntary positions on the local, regional (Oregon, Southern Idaho & SW Washington) and national levels of his church denomination. For over 20 years, David served as General Counsel for his church’s region and, in addition, served as its Director of Planned Giving. On the national level, David served in several directorships and was one of the founders of the networking association of attorneys that represent the denomination in its regional and national settings.

On several occasions, David paused his law career to take nonprofit employed positions. These included serving as coordinator & administrator for a $2.2 million capital fund campaign, service as Executive Director of the Metro Portland YMCA and as Development Director for Frontier Missions.