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UO's Frohnmayer to move on.

Article Excerpt
Byline: Greg Bolt The 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.

Frohnmayer said a combination of circumstances led him and his wife, Lynn, to the retirement decision. Among them are the graduation of their youngest daughter, Amy, next year; the expected conclusion of the Campaign Oregon fund drive later this year; and the desire to give the chancellor and state Board of Higher Education plenty of time to pick a successor.

"We're very comfortable with the decision and feel very blessed to have had the experience," he said.

Pernsteiner said the process of choosing a successor will begin immediately and that he expects a replacement will be selected before Frohnmayer steps down. University presidents in Oregon are hired by the state board. Campus representatives usually are included in the search committee.

Accolades rolled in almost immediately from state leaders and faculty even as bloggers and anonymous Internet posters began dissecting Frohnmayer's legacy in less charitable terms. His decision to pursue $200 million in state bonds for a new...

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