Sarah E. Nutter, new dean of the University of Oregon's Charles H. Lundquist College of Business, will have additional resources thanks to a $5 million naming gift from Cynthia and Edward Maletis, alumni who serve as UO volunteers, advocates, and donors.

This is the first deanship to be named as part of the UO's current fundraising campaign, and is the third among the UO's nine schools and colleges, following the Donald and Willie Tykeson Dean in the College of Arts and Sciences and the Edwin L. Artzt Dean in the School of Journalism and Communication.

“Cyndy and Ed Maletis" extraordinary gift will help the dean support the university's priority of boosting our academic standing and impact — for that we are deeply grateful," said UO President Michael H. Schill. “Cyndy and Ed have channeled their UO experience into personal and professional success, while always giving back to education and their community."

“The bedrock of my formal education in business began at the University of Oregon and was immensely valuable while being very affordable," Ed Maletis said. “The following decades of disinvestment from Salem necessitates the need for private funding to continue to provide an affordable option for those young aspiring students to have the same opportunity that my wife Cyndy and I had. We feel very fortunate to be in a position to give back to the institution that provided us with a wonderful launching pad."

The income from the endowment created by the gift will provide the Edward Maletis Dean with resources to take advantage of fast-rising entrepreneurial and strategic opportunities, said Bruce Blonigen, interim dean of the Lundquist College of Business and chair of the search committee that recruited Nutter from George Mason University.

The Maletises regularly host events in Portland, Seattle, and California and encourage others to make gifts to the UO, while making personal contributions to the School of Journalism and Communication, the Lundquist College of Business, and Intercollegiate Athletics, Blonigen said.

“Cyndy and Ed share a passion for education and a ‘Go Ducks" spirit that is simply infectious. Their contributions to the UO and the Lundquist College have now helped us secure a new dean, as well as retain top-tier faculty and assist outstanding students. We're so grateful for this support, which will have an enduring impact on the college," Blonigen said.

Ed Maletis is the former chair of Columbia Distributing Company of Portland, one of the largest wine, malt beverage and nonalcoholic beverage distributorships in the United States. He currently runs several Northwest-based businesses and real estate ventures.

A 1976 graduate in business, Ed Maletis also received his MBA in 2008 from the Fuqua School of Business at Duke University. He began serving as a UO Foundation trustee in 2008 and retired from the board in June 2016. He played a significant role during the university's presidential transition and championed the UO's successful effort to form its own governing board.

Ed Maletis continues to serve on the Lundquist College's Board of Advisors. He has contributed to construction of the Ford Alumni Center and the School of Journalism and Communication's Allen Hall expansion, where the atrium is named in honor of his wife, who graduated in 1978 with a journalism degree.

The couple has three children: sons Andrew, Bryan, and John. Andrew is a 2013 UO graduate with a degree in economics, and his wife, Joana Maletis, earned a 2010 UO degree in sociology.

—George Evano, University Communications