| David B. Frohnmayer | |
|---|---|
| Frohnmayer in 2009 | |
| Attorney General of Oregon | |
| In office January 5, 1981 – December 31, 1991 |
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| Preceded by | James M. Brown |
| Succeeded by | Charles S. Crookham |
| President of the University of Oregon | |
| In office July 1, 1994 – June 30, 2009 |
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| Preceded by | Myles Brand |
| Succeeded by | Richard W. Lariviere |
| Personal details | |
| Born | July 9, 1940 Medford, Oregon |
| Political party | Republican |
| Profession | attorney |
Dave Frohnmayer (born July 9, 1940, Medford, Oregon) was the 15th President of the University of Oregon. He was appointed president on July 1, 1994. His last day as president was June 30, 2009. His tenure as president is the second-longest after John Wesley Johnson. He is the first native of the U.S. state of Oregon to run the University of Oregon. Frohnmayer previously served as the state of Oregon’s Attorney General from 1981 to 1991, and subsequently served as dean at the University of Oregon School of Law before serving as president of the entire university.
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Frohnmayer graduated magna cum laude from Harvard in 1962. He then attended Oxford University on a Rhodes Scholarship, and received his law degree from the University of California, Berkeley in 1967.
Frohnmayer, a Republican, served three terms in the Oregon House of Representatives from 1975 to 1981, representing southern Eugene.
Frohnmayer was elected as Oregon Attorney General in November 1980, and was sworn into office on January 5, 1981. Re-elected in 1984 and then again in 1988, when he was nominated by both the Democratic and Republican parties. Frohnmayer served as Attorney General until his resignation on December 31, 1991, when he became Dean of the University of Oregon School of Law. As Attorney General, one of his most notable cases involved leading the prosecution of members of the Rajneesh movement (followers of Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh.) Frohnmayer prevailed in six out of the seven cases that he took to the United States Supreme Court.
Frohnmayer was the Republican nominee for Governor of Oregon in 1990. Popular Democratic incumbent Neil Goldschmidt withdrew after Frohnmayer's campaign manager, Donna Zajonc, said "...you've got to believe that the best family will win" at a news conference,[1] which was then reported by Jeff Mapes in The Oregonian.[2] Zajonc's statement was interpreted at the time as threat to use Goldschmidt's collapsing marriage as a political issue.[2][3] Goldschmidt quickly withdrew from the race, an event that was considered one of the "great mysteries in Oregon politics"[1] until 2004, when Goldschmidt admitted to having a sexual relationship with a minor in the 1970s.[4] He and Goldschmidt had been classmates at University of California, Berkeley law school. Frohnmayer subsequently lost the election to Barbara Roberts, the Democrat who was nominated after Goldschmidt's withdrawal, in a three-way race that included independent, Oregon Citizens Alliance-backed[5] candidate Al Mobley.[6]
He served as Dean of the University of Oregon School of Law from January 1, 1992 until he was appointed President of the University in 1994. Frohnmeyer announced his retirement as President on April 29, 2008, and was succeeded on July 31, 2009 by Richard Lariviere. Frohnmeyer's tenure was widely acclaimed; The (Eugene) Register-Guard's editorial titled "Retiring from the a University he Remade" opined that "Dave Frohnmayer has steered the University of Oregon through grim and changing times and he's leaving a different and stronger institution." [7] The Oregonian called Frohnmayer's presidency "one of the most remarkable higher education performances in Oregon history."[8]
Dave Frohnmayer is active in support of research into treatment of the disease Fanconi anemia. Two of his daughters died from complications arising from this disease. He was a founding Director of the National Marrow Donor Program and served as a member of the Board of Trustees of the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center. He also serves on the Board of Directors of the Fanconi Anemia Research Fund, Inc. Lynn and Dave Frohnmayer established the FA Family Support Group in 1985, which they helped incorporate in the Fanconi Anemia Research Fund in 1989.[9]
Frohnmayer's father, Otto Frohnmayer, was a noted southern Oregon lawyer. His brother, John Frohnmayer, served as chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts under the administration of President George H.W. Bush and briefly challenged incumbent senator Gordon Smith in the 2008 election as an independent. His other brother, Phillip Frohnmayer, who resides in New Orleans, Louisiana is a professor of music at Loyola University. His son is Mark Frohnmayer, lead programmer of Starsiege: Tribes and Tribes 2 at Dynamix before leaving to co-found GarageGames with Jeff Tunnell, Rick Overman and Tim Gift. Mark has since started Arcimoto, designing a three-wheeled electric vehicle.
In 2005 the University of Oregon MarAbel B. Frohnmayer Music Building was named in honor of his mother.[10]
| Legal offices | ||
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| Preceded by James M. Brown |
Oregon Attorney General 1981–1991 |
Succeeded by Charles Crookham |
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