UO 125th Anniversary • Timeline


1872	Legislature passes bill giving University of Oregon to Eugene.
1873	J. H. D. Henderson donates land for campus.
1876	Regents elect first faculty. John Wesley Johnson named president. First students register Oct. 16. The curriculum was modeled after that of Yale and Harvard with courses in Latin, Greek, philosophy, theology, and mathematics.
1877	First building completed.
1878	First graduation; five members in class.
1879	UO Alumni Association founded.

1881	Henry Villard gives financial aid to University.
1886	Villard Hall completed.

1891	Reflector, first student paper, started.
1893	John Straub named acting president. Charles Hiram Chapman succeeds Johnson as president. Judge Matthew Deady, first president of the Board of Regents, dies and Deady Hall named. First dormitory, Friendly Hall, opens.
1894	First football game.
1895	First track team organized. First summer session held, near Seaside.
1895	The Classical education of the early years is abandoned and replaced with pragmatic training.
1897	Oregon Monthly succeeds Reflector as newspaper.
1899	Frank Strong named third president.

1900	Sigma Nu, first fraternity, established. ASUO organized. Student newspaper renamed Oregon Weekly.
1901	Legislature increases University's financial support to $47,500 per year.
1902	Prince Lucien Campbell begins his 23 years as fourth president. First yearbook, the Webfoot, published.
1904	First Rhodes Scholar, Harvey Densmore, named. First sorority (later Kappa Alpha Theta) organized.
1907	First library building, Fenton Hall, opens.
1908	First "O" built on Skinner Butte.
1909	Mary Spiller Hall, first women's dormitory, opened. Student newspaper named Oregon Emerald.

1910	Oregana chosen name for yearbook. School of Education established.
1913	Plan to consolidate University with OAC defeated.
1914	Schools of commerce, architecture established.
1915	Law School moved to Eugene from Portland.
1916	School of Journalism established.
1917	Military science and training added to curriculum. Hendricks and Oregon halls opened.
1919	The Pioneer statue is unveiled on campus by artist A. Phimister Proctor.
1919	Ed's Coed filmed on campus.

1920	Gerlinger Hall completed. Oregon Daily Emerald replaces Oregon Emerald. School of Physical Education established. Hayward Field opens.
1921	Authority to grant doctorate given. Judge David Fenton's gift of law library enables initial accreditation of School of Law.
1922	Fire destroys first gymnasium, frame building housing journalism. Phi Beta Kappa installs chapter.
1924	New journalism building and Condon Hall opened.
1925	President Campbell dies.
1925	William Sherman Savage becomes the first African-American to receive a UO degree.
1926	Arnold Bennett Hall selected fifth president. First Ph.D. granted. McArthur Court finished.
1929	John Straub Hall opened as men's dormitory.

1930	Alice Bahrs becomes the first woman in Oregon to receive a Ph.D. and only the second person to be granted the degree from the UO.
1930	"Mighty Oregon" becomes a nationwide hit after Fred Waring and the Pennsylvanians play the tune for the Carnation Contented Hour radio show.
1931	Art Museum completed.
1932	President Hall resigns. W. J. Kerr made chancellor and head of University of Oregon and Oregon State. Zorn-Macpherson bill to combine institutions at Corvallis defeated. Science courses removed to Corvallis.
1934	C. Valentine Boyer named sixth president. William Parry Murphy '14 awarded Nobel Prize.
1936	Infirmary opens.
1937	Library completed. Law School moved into Fenton.
1938	Donald M. Erb named seventh president.
1939	Oregon wins first NCAA men’s basketball championship, 46-33. Chapman Hall opens.

1942	Army, Air Force training units stationed on campus.
1943	President Donald M. Erb dies.
1944	Orlando J. Hollis named acting president.
1945	Harry K. Newburn named eighth president.
1949	Erb Memorial Union opens.

1950	Carson Hall opens.
1953	President Newburn resigns. Victor P. Morris named acting president.
1954	O. Meredith Wilson named ninth president. Renewed emphasis on faculty research.
1956	Jim Bailey runs first sub-four minute mile on American soil. Walter Brattain MA '26 awarded Nobel Prize.
1959	Honors College formed.

1960s	Biology professor Frank Stahl is first scientist to demonstrate how DNA reproduces itself.
1960	President Wilson resigns. William C. Jones named acting president.
1961	Arthur Flemming named tenth president.
1962	Oregon wins NCAA track championship. Free Speech Platform created. Virgil Boekelheide first faculty member named to National Academy of Science.
1964	Graduation class exceeds 2,000 students for first time.
1965	Library passes 1,000,000 volumes.
1967	Autzen Stadium opens.
1968	President Flemming resigns. Charles E. Johnson named acting president.
1969	Acting President Charles Johnson killed in auto accident. N. Ray Hawk named acting president. Robert Clark named eleventh president. University elected to Association of American Universities. Oregana stops publication.

1970	Oregon Bach Festival begins.
1970	Esslinger Hall and ROTC building damaged by fire. Bomb explodes in Johnson Hall. First men’s cross country NCAA men’s cross country championship won.
1971	Johnson Hall sit-in, sixty-three students arrested. Basement of Prince Lucien Campbell Hall bombed.
1972	Pre runs at the UO and solidifies Eugene's status as Track Town USA.
1975	Robert Clark becomes first president to retire from University. William B. Boyd named twelfth president. Oregana yearbook revived.
1976	UO celebrates its centennial.

1980	Paul Olum named thirteenth president of the UO.
1982	Biology professor George Streisinger becomes the first scientist to clone a vertebrate.
1985	Enrollment reaches 16,375.
1986	Earle A. Chiles Business Center dedicated.
1989	President Olum resigns. Myles Brand named fourteenth president of the UO. New four-building science complex opens.

1992	Riverfront Research Park dedicates first building.
1994	President Brand resigns. Dave Frohnmayer named fifteenth president of Oregon. Renovated Knight Library rededicated. University launches the Oregon Campaign, the state's largest fundraising drive.
1996	The Oregon Campaign surpasses $150 million goal two years early, sets new goal of $200 million.
1998	Ed Moshofsky Sports Center and playing fields dedicated. The Oregon Campaign ends after raising $255.3 million.
1999	William W. Knight Law Center opens.

2000	International students from ninety countries attend UO.
2000	UO ranked No. 1 public university for having the most students enrolled in international and travel abroad programs.
2000	Graduation class reaches 4,265 students.
2001	For third consecutive year, the UO is listed in the Fiske Guide to Colleges as one of the nation's "best buys."
2001	University enrollment reaches new high, eclipses 18,000 students for first time.
2001	UO freshman class grade point averages -- 3.43 -- are higher than any freshman class ever.
2001	University of Oregon celebrates 125th anniversary.