College of Business

Shannon Ferrigno of SmithCFI in Portland has built her interior design career on a foundation of “compassion and professionalism,” one of her former teachers says, and that includes doing everything she can to help other Oregon State graduates.

“You cannot have a more supportive alum than Shannon,” says Marilyn Read, an associate professor in the College of Business.

Ferrigno, who graduated in 1998, is an architectural and design consultant at SmithCFI. The company is a commercial dealership that represents roughly 200 lines of furniture products for offices, higher-education buildings (such as Austin Hall, a SmithCFI project), medical facilities, “anything other than what you’d find in your home,” Ferrigno says.

During her teen years, Ferrigno and her family lived in a farm-type setting in Sherwood that sparked an interest in studying veterinary medicine at OSU. But she soon began to explore career possibilities in art and design, which she previously had thought of simply as a hobby.

Switching her major to interior design, she studied under Read and another person who became a key figure in her life, Associate Professor Emerita Carol Caughey, then the head of the program.

In Read, Ferrigno found someone who challenged students to dig deeply.

“She would make sure we understood the technical aspects of the profession,” Ferrigno says. “She wanted us to know the building construction and building systems we’d need to understand and be proficient with.”

And in Caughey, Ferrigno benefited from an educator who “had a vision for me that I didn’t necessarily have for myself.”

As she neared graduation, Ferrigno had decided to work in residential design, but Caughey connected her with commercial design sales professional Larry Marceaux, a 1972 OSU graduate. Marceaux became Ferrigno’s mentor, and they worked together for several years at SmithCFI.

“He put me on the right path career-wise and for growth and development, and after 16 years, I have a lot of latitude in the role,” Ferrigno says. “I’ve been able to tailor it to change as business has changed and my interests have changed.”

One thing that hasn’t changed is Ferrigno’s generosity toward both those already in the field and those aspiring to be. She’s a founding member of the OSU Design Network, a professional association aimed at furthering the careers of Beaver alumni, and readily consults with students as well.

 “I tell them I know you’re busy and you have a lot on your plate, but take the time to make some connections to professionals in the field to understand what the profession really is,” she says. “Understanding your major and what other people are doing can make for a happier career when you finally land in that thing you’re going to spend most of your life working on.”