Meet the New MAC President
DARWIN GREEN Story By Tom Hallman Jr.
o understand the heart and soul of the Multnomah Athletic Club – the larg- est indoor athletic club in the United States – it’s best to seek out a small and overlooked section within the sprawling 550,000-square-foot facility. Called the “Gallery of Presidents,” it’s just two walls filled with black-and-white photographs of the men and women who’ve led the club from the beginning and guided the institution through turbulent eras that included two World Wars and the Great Depression.
Most members walk by this bit of history on their way to someplace else. But last week, Darwin Green stopped, feeling the weight of his new responsibility and knowing that his photo will be on the wall. “I don’t take this position lightly,” he said of his election to serve a one-year term as the club’s 2012 president. “Everything I do in my role as president will be built on the foundation of the men and women on this wall. I hope that if my kids and grandkids come here 50 years from now, they can look at my photograph on that wall and say they were proud of what I accomplished during my term.”
Green, 55, is a Portland resident and director of sales and acquisitions for I&G Development LLC. He graduated from the University of Oregon in 1980 with a degree in finance. He’s active in the squash program, regularly works out in the Exercise and Conditioning Room and takes yoga. His wife, Antonia, is an avid tennis player. His son, Michael, a junior at the University of Oregon, plays basketball and his daughter, Geneva, a freshman at Oregon State University, enjoys dance.
“I remember the first time I came to the club,” Green said as he walked from the gallery to the Men’s Bar, where he sat for an interview. Every few minutes waiters and waitresses inter- rupted to ask if Green wanted anything to eat or drink.
“They put a photo of me up in the back,” he explained. “That way everyone knows who I am.” After emphasizing, again, that he was just fine, Green turned back to MAC and what drew him here in the first place. He and his wife each had individual memberships at another Portland-area athletic club, and Green – an avid squash player – came to MAC to participate in tournaments. “I loved the high-level of players here,” he said. “My goal was to get to the club to be part of that group. I also saw kids practicing karate, dance and ballet. I thought, ‘This is a place I want my kids to enjoy and experience.’” He joined MAC as a senior family member in 1998 through the club’s lottery system and became an active member. He’s served on numer- ous committees over the years, working his way up to the board.
“As a member you appreciate the club,” he said. “On a committee you learn how the club works. On the board you get more broad-based knowledge. As the president, it’s my job to bring it all together.”
Green said the committee system is critical to making the club function so efficiently. He said MAC is bigger than the board or the president, and the success stems from what he called team- work and thoughtful leadership.
“The committee system continually prepares the next generation of leaders,” he said. “A posi- tive is that we get a product members want. A
22 | The Wınged M | APRIL 2012
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