UO E-clips, April 29-30

Frohnmayer to retire from University of Oregon (Associated Press): After 14 years at Oregon's flagship university, Dave Frohnmayer is retiring as president of the University of Oregon. A well-known name across Oregon, Frohnmayer previously served as the state's attorney general and ran as the Republican candidate for governor in 1990, losing to Democrat Barbara Roberts. A native Oregonian, Frohnmayer oversaw the emergence of the University of Oregon as an athletic powerhouse and a building boom on campus, as well as a fundraising campaign, the largest in Oregon history, that's raised $759 million so far.

UO's Frohnmayer bows out (The Oregonian): Dave Frohnmayer announced Tuesday he will retire next year as president of the University of Oregon, ending three decades as one of the state's most prominent leaders in higher education and politics. Frohnmayer, 67, former attorney general and Republican candidate for governor, has headed the university since 1994, raising more than $1 billion in private donations and lifting its academic and athletic profile. "He has done a phenomenal job with the University of Oregon and has taken the entire system up as a result," said Kirby Dyess, president of the State Board of Higher Education.

Retiring from a university he remade (The Oregonian): Fourteen years ago, when he was named president of the University of Oregon, Dave Frohnmayer told reporters, "I don't want to stand here and tell you this is going to be a cakewalk." It hasn't been. But when Frohnmayer, 67, announced his retirement from the presidency Tuesday, he'd piloted the university through its most crunching times, to a point of heavy construction on campus and stabilization in the student body. Under his term, a university that had never been strong on fundraising brought in more than $1 billion in outside contributions -- not all of it from Phil Knight -- and increased its student body from 16,000 to 20,000.

UO's Frohnmayer to retire in 2009 (Register-Guard): After a tenure that saw more than $1 billion in donations, a doubling of research spending and a surge in construction and enrollment, University of Oregon President Dave Frohnmayer has announced he will retire a year from this June. Frohnmayer, first appointed to the UO’s top job in 1994, announced his retirement plans Tuesday in a letter to Gov. Ted Kulongoski and Oregon University System Chancellor George Pernsteiner. He is the UO’s 15th president and the third-longest serving president in the university’s history.

Farewell to a 'juggernaut' (Register-Guard, editorial): Informed of University of Oregon President Dave Frohnmayer’s announcement that he’ll retire at the end of the 2008-09 academic year, Oregon Senate President Peter Courtney, D-Salem, offered a one-word description of Frohnmayer’s transformative academic career. He has been a “juggernaut,” Courtney said on Tuesday. From one president to another, it was a fitting characterization. The word means “a huge, powerful and overwhelming force or institution.” “He leaves a remarkable legacy,” Oregon University System Chancellor George Pernsteiner said. Remarkable, indeed.

Holy Cow won't moo-ve on (Register-Guard): After more than three months of contentiousness that included discussion of legal action, the University of Oregon and Holy Cow, the campus’ only vegetarian cafe, have come to terms on a new lease agreement that will keep the restaurant inside the Erb Memorial Union for at least five more years. The business was set to be replaced by Portland-based Laughing Planet Cafe, another eatery that also has a restaurant in the Whiteaker neighborhood, but negotiations stalled between the UO and Laughing Planet, which wanted to find a way for it and Holy Cow to operate within the EMU.

UO panel to offer ideas for reuse of Mac Court (Register-Guard): The University of Oregon has named a committee to determine the fate of its iconic basketball arena once a new one opens. The 11-member panel will decide what to do with 81-year-old McArthur Court after the new pavilion opens in 2010. Final state approval to build the $200 million arena is expected to come in June, with construction starting in the fall. Deconstruction of the old Williams’ Bakery building just east of campus, where the new arena will be built, is under way.

UO committee to study future of McArthur Court (Portland Business Journal): The University of Oregon's McArthur Court may have a new life by early next year, depending on recommendations about the building and its surrounding area by a new committee of faculty, staff, a student and an alumnus, UO President Dave Frohnmayer announced Monday. The 81-year-old McArthur Court will no longer be used for athletics after the university constructs a new arena. University officials are committed to using the site and its surrounding area for academic purposes when the new arena is completed.

Government recommends spending spree (Register-Guard): The federal money spigot opened Monday as economic stimulus payments began showing up in bank accounts across the country. They will continue being disbursed electronically and by regular mail throughout the year. … But because the money will be distributed quickly, there will be a noticeable ripple through the economy, said Tim Duy, director of the Oregon Economic Forum at the University of Oregon.