Donors and Alumni

"Nobody ever told me I couldn't do something, and as a result I tried all sorts of things" said Carolyn Chambers '53, the trailblazing entrepreneur who died on Monday, August 8. Chambers's entrepreneurial spirit blossomed while she was still in her twenties, when she borrowed $100,000 from her father, pooled that with funds from other investors, and applied for an FCC license. Her request was granted and KEZI went on the air in 1960. This was just the start for Chambers, whose vision and drive propelled her into cable television, construction, and the wine industry, among other ventures.

"Who is this guy?" was the question on everyone's lips when first-year pro triathlete Jesse Thomas came out of nowhere to win this year's prestigious Avia Wildflower Triathlon with a time of 4:04:45. Folks at the Lundquist College of Business knew Thomas as a 2009 graduate of the school's MBA program in the sports marketing track with a secondary concentration in entrepreneurship. After graduating, Thomas put off his job search to follow his dream of becoming a professional athlete.

I am pleased to introduce Katie Rohrer, who joins us as senior director of development.

"Proost!" The traditional Dutch toast rang out as glasses of jonge jenever were hoisted to celebrate the first official reunion of the UO | Nyenrode Business Exchange Program. Braving stormy spring weather, about eighty guests came to the cocktail event in the Lillis Atrium, where they were greeted by our own Dean de Kluyver and Maurits van Rooijen, the rector magnificus of Nyenrode Business Universiteit, who had come all the way from the Breukelen campus for the occasion.

What inspired CEO and founder of Mazama Capital Management Ron Sauer to travel from his company's Portland headquarters to Eugene to teach the five session portfolio management analysis course this winter term? The students. "They're like wet sponges," said Sauer. "They're very knowledgeable and very passionate about what we're talking about." For his students, the excitement is all about seeing the concepts they've learned at school used in the real world by an expert practitioner.