University of Oregon Receives $10.2 Million to Recruit, Retain Faculty

Funds will help maintain schools excellence in the face of looming retirements.

Photo courtesy: ORegon State University

(EUGENE) - More than $10 million in recent gifts will help the University of Oregon recruit and retain outstanding faculty members.

The funds will be critical, said UO President Dave Frohnmayer, in the university's efforts to replace the wave of top professors expected to retire over the next ten years.

Frohnmayer announced a $1 million gift from Bay Area investment company owner Abbott Keller and his wife, Laura, for a distinguished scholar award and two faculty fellowships in the Lundquist College of Business Department of Finance; a $5.2 million gift from an anonymous donor to create the Fund for Faculty Excellence; and a $4 million contribution from the estate of Haya Wallace, widow of the late news magazine journalist James Wallace, for an endowed chair in writing and reporting in the School of Journalism and Communication and for support of faculty excellence.

"Private gifts like these will guarantee that we can compete on an equal footing with other top universities vying for the next generation of outstanding professors," Frohnmayer said. "This is a crucial investment in the future quality of education we offer our students."

"Faculty support gifts are essential to the University of Oregon's future," agreed Senior Vice President and Provost Linda Brady. "During the next decade, more than 50 percent of our faculty will reach retirement age. This is a national trend that will create fierce competition among research universities for the next generation of faculty. Faculty support gifts will enhance our success in the recruitment and retention of the very best faculty in an increasingly competitive marketplace."

The Kellers' gift is a good example. The gift, which eventually will support a full endowed professorship, is currently being used to supplement salaries and support the research of three junior faculty members: assistant professors Jonathan Reuter, Ro Gutierrez, and Woodrow Johnson. The three are recent top finance faculty recruits from MIT, Texas A & M, and Columbia University respectively.

Because of the Keller gift, "we were able to get salaries up to a level where we are less afraid these 'rising star' faculty members will be stolen by other universities," said Jim Bean, dean of the Lundquist College of Business. "It's important for the college to retain such outstanding junior faculty members to eventually replace top finance professors who are nearing retirement age," he added.

Jonathan Reuter, the Laura and Abbott Keller Distinguished Research Scholar, said the Kellers' support "allows me to focus much more on my research in the summer than I would otherwise be able to." The extra money also "allows me to travel, attend conferences, and interact more with the profession and that additional knowledge definitely shows up in my teaching," he said.

Abbott Keller, a 1972 University of Oregon business graduate, is cofounder and chief investment officer of Kestrel Investment Management Corp. in San Mateo, Calif. Laura Keller received her degree in sociology from the university in 1971.

Keller said he made the gift because, "I wanted to give something back to the university that enabled me to start my career in the investment business." Keller, who frequently comes to campus to talk to classes and meet with faculty members, said he's been impressed with the quality and dedication of the finance faculty.

In the School of Journalism and Communication, the Wallace estate gift will create "our first endowed position focused on reporting and writing," said Tim Gleason, Edwin L. Artzt Dean of the school.

James Wallace, a 1950 UO journalism graduate who worked as a foreign correspondent for both The Wall Street Journal and U.S. News & World Report, died in April 2004. His wife, Haya, died in April of this year.

"Jim was part of a generation of journalists, and specifically foreign correspondents, that helped define U.S. coverage of the rest of the world in the second half of the 20th century," said Gleason. "Jim had an incredible love of the University of Oregon and the state of Oregon. He would come to campus every year to meet with the students at Flux magazine, and meeting with 'Mr. Wallace' became a coveted part of the Flux experience."

Wallace, who was inducted into the School of Journalism and Communication's Hall of Achievement in 1999, covered the Middle East and Cuba for The Wall Street Journal in the 1950s and 1960s. He covered the Vietnam War for six years for U.S. News & World Report and in 1974, received an Overseas Press Club of America citation for his foreign affairs coverage. Wallace worked as senior editor of international news at the magazine from 1983 until his retirement in 1992. He was one of many at the employee-owned company to benefit from its sale in 1984 to publisher Mort Zuckerman.

In addition to the journalism school chair, the Wallace estate will provide more than $2 million for support of faculty excellence. Another portion of the Wallace bequest is in the form of art objects and artifacts the Wallaces collected while living and traveling in Asia, the Soviet Union, South America and many other areas of the world. Those will go to the Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art.

Brady said the Fund for Faculty Excellence will initially support five-year awards of $5,000 to $15,000 per year to faculty members, "deemed vulnerable to recruitment by other top institutions." Criteria for selecting award recipients will include "national and international standing in the field and contribution to strategic and significant areas of research and scholarship at the University of Oregon."

"Our goal will be to grow this fund dramatically over the next several years," said Brady." It will be a key to keeping our best faculty."

Brady noted that faculty salaries at the university average 81 percent of salaries at peer institutions. "The most significant gaps are at the rank of professor, generally the most senior, accomplished, and nationally and internationally recognized faculty at the University of Oregon," she said.

The $10.2 million in faculty support gifts will count toward Campaign Oregon: Transforming Lives, the University of Oregon's $600 million fundraising campaign that has raised $440.9 million to date. Of that total, $48.3 million has been for faculty support, including 30 new endowed chairs and professorships.