College President Lost Limb, Not Sense Of Humor

CORVALLIS, Ore. - Oregon State University President Paul Risser doesn't seem to mind people asking him about the arm he lost to cancer.

In fact, Risser takes it as a personal challenge to show people how little his life has really changed and to remind them that he's lost only a limb, not his sense of humor.

"I can do most things," he said, "but I haven't been able to clap for anybody for some time."

Risser, 59, was back in his office just three days after the Aug. 13 operation to remove his left arm a few inches below the shoulder. It ended a 30-year battle against a stubborn cancer in the arm's connective tissues that 20 previous operations couldn't stop.

Risser was working toward a master's degree in botany at the University of Wisconsin in the 1960s when he first found out that the mysterious lump in his arm was cancer.

He endured one operation after another. All the while, he was climbing an academic ladder that went from positions at the universities of Oklahoma and New Mexico to the presidency of Miami University in Ohio.

Finally, after coming to the 14,000-student Corvallis campus in 1996, it became clear that Risser was losing his fight.

After the 90-minute amputation at Oregon Health Sciences University in Portland, Risser's prognosis is good and there are no signs the cancer has spread to other parts of his body.

So far, the right-handed Risser doesn't see any need for an artificial arm.

Riser figures he can continue playing tennis, though golf may come a little harder. "But I don't want to exaggerate," he said. "I don't play golf or tennis much."