University of Oregon honors the legacy of Chuck Lillis

The University of Oregon remembers Chuck Lillis. On Sept. 16:

Marcia Aaron (UO Board of Trustees, vice chair): It’s with a heavy heart that I share that our founding board chair, Chuck Lillis, passed away over the weekend. When I think about Chuck, there are a few words that come to mind. One is he was by far a leader. He was a philanthropist. He was an alum, and when I talked to our former president over the weekend, he talked about Chuck being a mentor and a friend.

[00:00:34] Chuck and his wife, Gwen, are obviously major donors, and their name sits on the building of the Lillis Complex. They were leaders when they gave to that building. It’s the first LEED-certified business complex in the country. And they really married, in that building, not only business, but the environment.

[00:00:57] It is something that was new to the world of business schools. For those that don’t know Chuck, he really was the leader in our shift from being governed by the Oregon university system to becoming self-governed, and through that process I think there were a few things that I want to share that Chuck brought to the University.

[00:01:20] First and foremost, they hired our former president, Mike Schill, and Chuck helped Mike through his mentorship and guidance really transition from being the dean of a law school to becoming a successful university president.

[00:01:35] There’s three really visible things that Chuck did here. One was, we can see across the street, the growing Phil and Penny Knight Campus. Two is up in Portland, through his tutelage and during that time, was the Ballmer Institute. And then really the successful handoff of this board to first Ginevra (Ralph) and now Steve (Holwerda) that has led to continued strong governance of the university.

[00:02:08] And two other things that I think are less apparent, but clearly our remaining status in the AAU, which is so important to this university. And he helped guide us through the pandemic and COVID, which obviously had a significant negative impact on students and the university.

[00:02:29] Chuck led this board with compassion. He pushed the university and our president to dream bigger and really left the university in a much better place for our students, our faculty, and for the state of Oregon, for which I am ever grateful.

[00:02:47] So, our hearts go out to the Lillis family, and in particular to Gwen, who is also a great friend of this university.

[00:02:59] Karl Scholz (University of Oregon president): I want to follow and thank Marcia for her words. Chuck Lillis truly was a visionary leader, whose commitment and service had left an enormous positive mark on the University of Oregon. As Marcia said, he’s a former CEO, he’s an academic leader at the University of Colorado, and of course the namesake of the Lillis Business Complex, and his dedication and support for higher education was inspiring.

He’s also an extraordinary gentleman. And so as a new president, he was extremely welcoming, but also kind with offering advice that can make our university stronger. The family and Chuck were incredibly generous, so important philanthropists for many years, but as Marcia said, also played a pivotal role in the university’s governance transition in the early part of the last decade.

[00:03:57] And that has forged a path from which the university continues to benefit greatly. His legacy as, Trustee Aaron noted, is leadership for the Board of Trustees as its inaugural chairperson, and the UO has benefited for 10 years now from a productive relationship with a board that was, that is well run and effective and has held us to a high standard in part because of the precedent that Chuck set.

[00:04:24] So I, and I think all of us, are keeping Gwen and the family in our thoughts and we are deeply grateful for Chuck’s legacy.

[00:04:33] John Q: The University of Oregon honors the legacy of Chuck Lillis.