About the Jane Higdon Foundation

Foundation Description

The Jane Higdon Memorial Fund is dedicated to the dreams and aspirations of Jane Higdon, who was tragically killed May 31, 2006, when she was struck by a truck while on a bicycle training ride on one of Oregon’s beautiful rural roads outside her home in Eugene, at the age of 47.

Jane wanted to make a difference in the world and sought ways to make her life more meaningful. To continue Jane’s spirit in a significant and lasting way, her friends have established a fund with The Oregon Community Foundation seeded by Jane’s savings and other contributions.

We need your help to make this a lasting fund for:

• Scholarships and grants to encourage and empower girls and young women to pursue healthy and active lifestyles and academic excellence
• Donations to non-profits that advocate and work for bicycling and pedestrian safety in Lane County, Oregon.

Jane set an example of motivation and perseverance in academics, work, and lifestyle. She earned graduate degrees in nursing, exercise physiology, and nutrition. She authored textbooks, scientific articles, and a nutritional website as a faculty researcher at Linus Pauling Institute at OSU in Corvallis, Oregon. She was an avid endurance athlete who participated in local running and swimming events and in international Ironman triathlons, her specialty. She participated in seven international and two Hawaii Ironman World Championships (in 1999 and 2000).

She felt fortunate to have had the opportunity to pursue her academic and athletic goals. She strongly believed that opportunity, development of self-confidence, and the support of mentors along the way, were keys to her personal achievements and ability to help others. She would be pleased to know opportunities for others were being provided in her memory.

Please help us remember Jane’s great love of life, her warmth, sense of humor, and her personal determination. She was an inspiration to many. Through our contributions to the fund, her memory and legacy will continue to inspire young women of our future.

Information regarding organizations funded, other activities in memory of Jane, and related links can be found on other pages within this site.