Letter from UO President Frohnmayer to the UO Community April 21, 2006

April 21, 2006

Dear Colleagues:

I rarely complain about the weather because our lush environment is always so rich with beauty. But, as Thomas Hobbes observed several centuries ago, "É the nature of foul weather lieth not in a shower or two of rain but in an inclination thereto of many days together É." I know I join with thousands of others who are well past ready for the rains to abate and to allow a deserved Willamette Valley springtime of sunshine and floral abundance.

Welcome back to spring term, with my hope that holidays, religious observances, or time with family and loved ones have been occasions of renewal for you.

Spring term is when a great number of matters come to fruition. A strong and respected group of university and community citizens has agreed to serve as the Diversity Advisory Committee during our consideration of what I hope to be the final stages of an implementation draft of our diversity plan. I thank these generous individuals for their service; I urge all of you to attend and participate in the many university and community forums and smaller meetings scheduled for this term; and I hope for decisive action through presidential and university senate approval of the plan in late May. We are frequently reminded that issues involving a broad diversity agenda are among the most difficult we face as a university and society. Different perceptions even of the same factors can leave parties mutually angry, baffled and hurt. I am grateful for the efforts of so many to remain engaged and productive in this effort.

Numerous well deserved honors for members of the university community have been announced in recent weeks. The stature of the university is enhanced and reinforced by these welcome developments. Congratulations to Dare Baldwin, psychology; Patrick Phillips, biology; and Stephen Shoemaker, religious studies, who have won the coveted and highly competitive Guggenheim Fellowships. (This year we tied Columbia and Yale and beat Princeton in the number of Guggenheims awarded). Earlier in the month we learned that Scott Maier of journalism and communication will receive the Sigma Delta Chi award for research about journalism to be presented at the National Press Club. And, as I write, the ink is still drying on notice of the Pulitzer Prizes won by University of Oregon alums Doug Bates and Rick Attig for their distinguished Oregonian editorial series on the abysmal conditions at the Oregon State Hospital in Salem.

Closer to campus, last week included a special night of celebration of Law School Dean Emeritus Rennard Strickland's 40 years of teaching and 40th book publication. I also was honored to join more than 100 members of the university community last Monday in saluting the outstanding award winners among our officers of administration and classified staff. A new event will be launched this upcoming June by Vice President Rich Linton to recognize our research excellence. With major sponsorship by TIAA-CREF, the celebration will feature awards to our top faculty recipients of research grants, inventors with patents assigned to the university, and creators of leading spin-offs over the past five years.

Continuing on this celebratory note, we reached new landmarks in philanthropy last month as the university passed the two-thirds mark in Campaign Oregon. We now have raised $410 million toward our $600 million goal. Particularly heartwarming is the generosity of staff and faculty; more than 54% of us have now contributed to a broad variety of campaign objectives and have triggered the generous matching gifts of Carlyn Schreck and Randy and Susie PapŽ. Thank you all for this continuing faith in the university's future; I know that in many cases your own resources are limited and carefully rationed. Your generosity is all the more touching in these circumstances.

I will be attending the Spring AAU meeting next week. Much of the agenda will be dedicated to literacy challenges and to global competitiveness. In reference to our own increasing global involvement, we have had a number of distinguished international visitors in the past two months. They have included Presidential Lecturer Dr. Lee Hong-Koo, former prime minister of South Korea; Mrs. Pornnipha Limpaphayom, secretary general of the Thai Ministry of Education; and a delegation from Vietnam National University that included Vice President Pham Quang Hung.

We expect to make further reports on the proposed sale of Westmoreland Housing complex after responses to the Request for Proposal are received and evaluated in early May. I will report at that time as to the nature of remediation efforts, if any are necessary, for the current residents. I am pleased to report that child care issues have been resolved at least for the near future with an addition to our child care capacity through the purchase of a portable facility that will become a part of the Vivian Olum complex.

Provost-Designate Linda Brady will join us on a permanent basis on May 22 and will assume the duties of provost on July 1. She has already had two week-long orientation visits here and reports her delight with the high level of energy and welcome focus on academic priorities that the visits have revealed to her. Chunsheng Zhang, our new vice provost for international affairs and outreach, will join us on May 1 to begin immediately to fill the very respected shoes of his predecessor Tom Mills in this increasingly important area of the university's activities.

I know you join me in welcoming the new colleagues who will be arriving in the weeks ahead. I thank you for your enthusiasm and for your commitment to our students and our work together. As always, I welcome your comments at pres@uoregon.edu.

Warm regards,

Dave Frohnmayer President