Rounding out the two-day on campus meeting, the UO Board of Trustees elected former business leader Chuck Lillis as chair and philanthropist Ginevra Ralph as vice chair.

“I am honored by the confidence my peers have in me to assume the position as the board chair,” Lillis said. “This is a critical time for the University of Oregon and we take our roles very seriously as we gather information and deepen our knowledge of the university.”

Lillis and his wife are major donors who gave $12 million towards the construction of the Lillis Business Complex, according to The Register-Guard.  He received his doctorate from the UO in 1972 from the Lundquist College of Business.  He has also served on the foundation boards at the University of Washington and University of Colorado at Boulder.

Ralph is a former UO alumna and a former faculty member.  She received a bachelor’s degree in history in 1983 and a master’s in special education in 1985.  Ralph is also the co-founder and director of education for Eugene’s John G. Shedd Institute for the Arts and is also a co-founder for the Eugene Opera and the Oregon Festival of American Music.

Ralph was a trustee member for the UO Foundation from 2006 until June 2013, and has also served the past board president of the Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art.

The Board also adopted by-laws and established three committees—the Executive and Audit Committee, Academic and Student Affairs Committee and Finance and Facilities Committee.

The new institutional body will officially assume authority July 1, 2014.