UO supporters, faculty members, students, and community representatives honored Renée James "86 (College of Arts and Sciences), MBA '92, with a University of Oregon Pioneer Award on May 19 at the Portland Art Museum.

The Pioneer Award was established in 1979 to recognize rare individuals who have been true agents of progress in business, philanthropy, communication, politics, or the arts. The award dinner raises funds for the best and brightest students from Oregon to attend the UO through the Pioneer Award Presidential Scholarship.

James, who received her MBA through the Lundquist College's Oregon Executive MBA program, has supported several university efforts and serves on the board of the College of Arts and Sciences.

She joined Harry Glickman "48 (School of Journalism and Communication) as a 2016 Pioneer Award honoree.

A highly accomplished technology executive, James enjoyed a lengthy career with Intel Corporation where she was named president in May 2013. She served as a protégé to Intel's former CEO and employee number 1, Andy Grove.

During her 28 years with Intel, James established a global research and development network, managed global profit and loss for a decade, spearheaded major mergers and acquisitions, and expanded operations, among other accomplishments.

James said she was proud of the significant progress Intel made on its diversity and inclusion initiative as well as its philanthropy and giving.

She left Intel in January 2015 to pursue an external CEO role.

President Barack Obama selected James for the National Security Telecommunications Advisory Committee in 2013. She currently serves as vice chair.

Fortune ranked her 21st on its “Most Powerful Women in Business" list in 2014, and Forbes ranked her 45th on its “100 Most Powerful Women" list in 2015. James is also a member of the C200, a membership organization of the world's most successful women entrepreneurs and corporate innovators who collectively generate more than $1.4 trillion in annual revenues.