WW has learned from two reliable sources close to the University of Oregon that long-time school president Dave Frohnmayer will announce his retirement tomorrow.
Frohnmayer, 67, will not actually leave office for another 14 months.
Before starting his university presidency in 1994, Frohnmayer was Oregon’s Attorney General from 1981 to 1991. He also ran for governor as a Republican in 1990 but lost to Democrat Barbara Roberts.
He capped a 14-year run as the university’s president last month by convincing the Legislature to OK a $200 million bond issuance to fund a new basketball area on campus. His unwillingness to share financial information about that deal led WW to name Frohnmayer Rogue of the Week just this week.
A Rhodes Scholar who earned degrees from Harvard and Oxford, Frohnmayer was a law professor before entering politics. Despite his intellectual bent, he may be best remembered for his close assocation with U of O alum and sugar daddy Phil Knight, the Nike chairman who has been an extraordinarily generous donor to the university and particularly to its athletic programs. 
there once was a fellow named dave
to king knight he said "i’m your slave!"
got down on his knees
said "do as you please.
fill me up phil, you’re my fave!"
Cannot wait to read the maudlin, cloying piece in the Eugene Cashregister-Guard lauding Frohnmayer’s UO tenure. He has presided over an academic slide from mediocrity to woeful deficiency, and an athletic program built on a house of cards.
Frohnmayer now earns $540,000. The OUS board has been giving him big raises to pump up his retirement payoff. It will be the largest in PERS history, probably on the order of $300,000 per year.
Frohnmayer has also set up a golden parachute program for retiring UO administrators. By taking advantage of this himself, he can probably make another $300,000 by doing a few odd jobs around campus.
He’s taken all the prudent steps for a fat retirement and he’ll leave a very wealthy man.
UO, on the other hand, is in a very tough spot. Our academic ranking is falling, and in research $ we’re now behind OSU. Our provost and other top administrators were appointed by Frohnmayer because he thought they wouldn’t rock the boat. They are barely competent with planning and budgeting. (Ask the SOS auditors!)
Why do people think this very venal man, who has done so little for UO and so much for himself, is some sort of a saint?
Why do people think this very venal man, who has done so little for UO and so much for himself, is some sort of a saint?
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Because people get their news from the whOregonian and the inbredgister guard instead of Willamette Week.
WW (5.12.04) http://wweek.com/story.php?story=5091
At the time Susan was raped, Goldschmidt was finishing his second year as the governor of Oregon.
He had made progress on key projects, such as reforming the state’s workers’-compensation system and recruiting many of the high-tech giants who today make up Oregon’s Silicon Forest. But Goldschmidt knew he would face a strong challenge in the 1990 election from then-Attorney General (and now University of Oregon President) David Frohnmayer, a Republican.
While that battle took shape in 1989, the defense and the prosecution were battling in a Seattle court over how much of Susan’s counseling files–and perhaps the identity of her abuser–should be introduced into the record.
If Goldschmidt’s name–or even a more precise description–were in the counseling records, he could have been finished politically. On Aug. 9, 1989, Susan’s rapist was convicted and the bulk of the counseling records remained under seal per the judge’s order. But in October, the defense appealed the verdict–arguing that the counseling records should have been fully introduced. If the Washington Court of Appeals agreed with the defense attorney, the risk of exposure for Goldschmidt remained great.
As the appellate court in Olympia prepared to consider this procedural question, 150 miles south in Salem reporters and pundits puzzled over Gov. Goldschmidt’s reluctance to announce his intentions for a second gubernatorial term.Part of Goldschmidt’s hesitancy may be traced to Frohnmayer’s August campaign kickoff event, when the AG’s campaign manager, Donna Zajonc, said, "I gotta believe the best family will win." (Zajonc says she was unaware that Goldschmidt was hiding a damning secret. "I absolutely did not know and have always regretted that quote," Zajonc says today.)
Funny, no hilariously uo has never been a reasearch u. So uo never has had more research money than OSU!
"in research $ we’re now behind OSU".
When has uo been ahead of OSU in research $$: NEVER.
Granted Frohnmayer has overseen uo as it continues to decline in academic achievement, but he didn’t make uo fall behin OSU in research $$. That has always been the case, and in all likelihood will always be the case.
Now we just have to keep him from kicking off as many idiotic projects as possible on his way out the door. There is a great book about Nike taking over cities with weird integrated branding and partnerships. Its content is very relevant to whats occuring in Eugene right now please read it or do a book review in WW. The book was published in 2004 and is called Who’s Afraid of Niketown. I state this here because Frohnmayer has been a Nike operative that has worked against the interests of students and community for years. This is a remarkable book.
Is pat kilkenny buying out Frohnmayer like he did with Moos? Are we going to see another rich athletic department booster as president?
Frohnmayer was a good student, unfortunately he attended schools that were around before the Amercian Revolution. He has been tutored in the common law tradition, which derrogates all things principled regarding the rule of law. If lawyers like Mr. Frohnmayer were taught that Common wealth countries have no written constitution like the United States does, this country would not be the victim of ‘old world’ imperialism. The rule of law so enshrined in a written constitution that was ordained and established for the United States of America is what’s missing on the U of O campus.
If the new president is any good he will fire Kilkenny immediately. No degree? Cutting wrestling? Seriously, bad hire.
great picture. the caption should read "just do me!"
http://blog.oregonlive.com/steveduin/2008/04/76_hours_later_willamette_week.html
Just got the word on the street-from a very reliable source-that the Register Gaurd’s Greg Bolt was doing an investigative piece on the disparities in pay of Frohnmayer and U.O. faculty and when Frohn heard it was going to get published he decided to jump ship and now the article(they decided)will never see the light of day.(they don’t want to seem like a bunch of meanies with him leaving and all). Will this jump from the life raft save his pathetic, illegal Nikearena? The R.G. should finish the damn article instead of protecting Frohnmayers "legacy".