Since the founding of the University of Oregon in 1876, the twenty-one presidents of the University have exercised a huge influence on the direction of education in the state and nation. The papers of these twenty-one presidents contain a unique and valuable record of the development of the University of Oregon and the history of higher education in the United States.

The purpose of this project is to highlight this rich history through selected documents from the Office of the President records and the personal papers of presidents. Students participating in the Honors College colloquium on university history and other presidential history researchers selected some of the documents displayed on the site. Currently those presidencies represented are those currently studied by students at the university. The long-term goal of this collection is to represent all of the presidencies and provide a gateway to further research.

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UO Presidents

1876-1893 John Wesley Johnson	1953-1954 Victor Pierpont Morris (acting)
1893 John Straub (acting)	1954-1960 O. Meredith Wilson
1893-1899 Charles Hiram Chapman	1960-1961 William C. Jones (acting)
1899-1902 Frank Strong	1961-1968 Arthur S. Flemming
1902-1925 Prince Lucien Campbell	1968-1969 Charles Ellicott Johnson (acting)
1926-1932 Arnold Bennett Hall	1969 N. Ray Hawk (acting)
1932-1938 Clarence Valentine Boyer (acting 1932-33)	1969-1975 Robert Donald Clark
1938-1943 Donald Milton Erb	1975-1980 William Beaty Boyd
1944-1945 Orlando John Hollis (acting)	1980-1989 Paul Olum (acting 1980)
1945-1953 Harry K. Newburn	1989-1994 Myles Brand
	1994- Dave Frohnmayer

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Related Collections

Students participating in the Robert D. Clark Honors College colloquium on university history also selected some contextualizing documents for this digital collection from the following personal papers collections.

Laura J. Bock Papers	Ken Metzler Papers
Robert D. Clark Papers	Wesley Goodson Nicholson Papers

For a related collection of student research on the Clark presidency and the issues affecting the campus at the time, see the Arts and Letters Colloquium : The University in Peace and War collection.

 

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For questions or information about University of Oregon Office of the President materials, please contact Heather Briston, Richard & Mary Corrigan-Solari University Historian & Archivist, at 541-346-1899.

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Last Modified: June 24, 2008
Comments and questions to Digital Collections Administrator
Metadata Services and Digital Projects, University of Oregon Libraries