Behind the Scenes: The man who started it all

Lee George Osborne attended Utah State University between 1963 and 1965. He received a degree in elementary education.

Osborne worked here at USU for 32 years overall as assistant director and, later, director of housing.

The Osbornes originally came to Logan due to a job working in Richards Hall. From there, they moved up the ladder.

“I remember when we bought the student living center from the church,” Osborne said, “it was a hard time getting to campus due to the distance.”

It was then that he had the idea for a shuttle system. Beginning with a 15-passenger van, Osborne started up a bus program that would deliver students to on-campus sites for free.

It soon became evident, Osborne said, that a 15-passenger van was not going to be enough for the amount of students who needed transportation.

“So then we bought a couple of school buses,” he said, “one of them had really bad brakes and we had to keep changing them every month.”

Various buses were gathered from different places and, eventually, the Aggie Shuttle System was formed.

“That’s how we started the shuttle system,” Osborne said, “with a 15-passenger van.”

Still living in Logan today, he said that the campus has changed greatly since his time.

“Going up there now I hardly know the campus,” Osborne said, “Everything just kind of exploded and there are new buildings everywhere.”

When he worked here, the Taggart Student Center was a parking lot. The Spectrum originally had no seats, everyone simply sat on the concrete. The Lundstrom was a women’s dormitory, and then used by the football department.

According to Osborne, however, The Quad is sacred ground and no changes will be made to that in his lifetime.

“We don’t go on campus much anymore,” Osborne said, “We go to Aggie Ice Cream though.”

“Starting with him,” Makenna Osborne, his granddaughter, said, “we have a family history here.”

Lee Osborne, his wife Nadine, their son, granddaughter, grandson, and more to come have all attended USU.

“Lee is very service-oriented,” Nadine said, “he loves doing for others and family.”

The Osborne family is a pillar of the Logan community and helped to build the university into what it is today.

“My grandparents were definitely a big reason why I came here,” Makenna said, “I wanted to go somewhere with family.”

— savannah.lund@aggiemail.usu.edu

@savannah_lund