Earle M. Chiles, the president of the Chiles Foundation whose gift in the name of his father helped renovate what is now known as the Earle A. Chiles Business Center, passed away surrounded by friends June 23, 2016. He was 83.

In 1985, the Chiles Foundation provided the Lundquist College of Business with a lead gift for the Earle A. Chiles Business Center, which houses business classrooms, collaboration areas, a computer lab, and the Business Research Institute. Earle M. Chiles named the building for his father, a 1927 college of business alumnus whose family owned Fred Meyer, Inc. The Chiles Center was the first donor-initiated building on the University of Oregon campus.

The Chiles family was committed to advancing educational opportunities for young people. The Chiles Foundation has provided funding for scholarships to innumerable students at the University of Oregon and beyond. The foundation's gifts support many universities and Portland-area causes, including cancer and immunotherapy research.

Earle M. Chiles was a 1998 winner of the University of Oregon Presidential Medal for “visionary investments that have helped transform the University of Oregon into one of the ‘rising stars" of America's best research and teaching universities."

“Our greatest achievements have been yours."—Earle M. Chiles