Board of Alumni

Michael Holtzclaw

Class of 1987
Bend, OR

Mike earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in international affairs with a minor in Soviet & East European studies from Lewis & Clark in 1987. While at the College he participated in four study abroad programs (Costa Rica, Hungary, the Soviet Union, and Indonesia). He was also a four-year varsity letterman in football, layout editor for the yearbook, dorm manager in Copeland Hall and resident assistant in Hartzfeld Hall.

After graduation, Mike worked for two years as an assistant dean of admissions for L&C before getting the travel bug again. He left the admissions department to move to Taipei, Taiwan, to become an ESL teacher. After working there for a year, he began graduate school in the geography department at Ohio State University. He finished his studies in 1997 after completing an M.A. and a Ph.D.

Mike taught geography for 13 years at Central Oregon Community College in Bend and achieved the rank of professor. He led two study abroad programs for the College (Nepal and Florence, Italy) and spent a full year in Italy with his family while on sabbatical. In 2010, he became an instructional dean at Central Oregon Community College and continues in that role today. Mike is married to Sarah Lowell Holtzclaw ‘88, and they have three young children, Craig, Alice, and Jill.