COMMENCEMENT AWARDS
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Distinguished Alumnus Award Delma Tayer
Delma Tayer was born into a pioneer family that migrated from Quebec to Malheur County, Oregon. In 1947 she moved to Yakima to marry Harold Tayer. The couple and young son, made their life and home in Selah, WA. After her husband began his dental practice, Delma attended Yakima Valley College before transferring to Central Washington University (formerly known as Central Washington State College). There she studied English literature, art and philosophy. As a Ford Foundation Scholar, she earned a bachelor's in English education and philosophy, and later two master's degrees and required course work for an M.F.A. in art. Her passion for education led her to take not only all of the English classes CWU ofered at the time, but the art classes, too. After earning her degrees she taught English at YVC for 20 years, then joined the administration and served as dean of Arts and Sciences from 1984 until her retirement in 1990. She also served at the national level in the formation of the Commission for the Humanities and is a past president of the Board of Trustees of Humanities Washington. She also served as President of the Two-Year-College English Association, Vice-President of the Northwest English Association, and with associates from Evergreen and Washington State Universities initiated the Art Touring Service. In 1974 she began serving as the Director of the Larson Gallery, along with her other duties, an assignment she continued until her retirement. She has also received many awards and honors including the Allied Arts Council Award for contribution to the excellence in arts. She was also recognized with the YWCA's Woman of Achievement Award, the Washington Community College Humanities Association's John N. Terrey Award, the Humanities Washington Heather C. Frank award and the Larson Gallery's 2000 Woman of the Year award. Upon her retirement she has spent many hours in her studio, in her garden, and traveling internationally.
Faculty Emeritus Award Gordon Koestler
Working full-time as a gravedigger in Tacoma by day and attending college classes part-time in Auburn at night, Gordon Koestler earned an Associate of Arts degree from Green River Community College in 1978. Moving to Pullman, Koestler graduated summa cum laude in American Studies from Washington State University in 1981, eventually serving as a reporter and editor for the WSU Daily Evergreen student newspaper. Koestler was then an award-winning journalist for weekly newspapers in Western Washington, ultimately earning a National Newspaper Association award for his writing (1989). Following a new calling in education, he returned to college and in 1992 graduated from Central Washington University with a master’s degree in English Language Learning. Over the next 27 years, Koestler taught composition, literature, and integratedlearning and student-success courses at YVC. Koestler was founding director of the YVC Writing Center and served many years as liaison to the Washington Center for Improving the Quality of Undergraduate Education. In 2005, he was honored with the Robert M. Leadon Excellence in Teaching award. He retired in 2019, a true believer in the power of community colleges to transform lives and communities. He lives in Yakima with his wife, former YVC English instructor Jean Raabe.
9 Yakima Valley College
