Oregon Gov. Kate Brown nominated seven new trustees for the University of Oregon Board of Trustees. Pending confirmation from the Oregon Senate in May, the seven nominees will begin their terms on July 1, 2021.
The UO Board of Trustees is made up of 14 voluntary public officials who handle the school’s overall finances, management, oversight and sustainability. Every important decision regarding the university is the result of several conversations between the board and university leadership.
Board Chair Chuck Lillis, who was first appointed in 2013, said he will remain on the board until the new members understand how the university operates well enough to be an effective trustee. While his current term expires in June 2021, he said this process usually takes about a year.
“I will work at getting the trustees as exposed to the university as quickly as possible, which entails arranging meetings with the deans, provost and faculty, and then we have our regular business that we conduct all year round,” Lillis said.
Board members usually meet four times a year, although they met more often over the past year due to the pandemic. The board has three committees — the Executive and Audit Committee, Academic and Student Affairs Committee and Finance and Facilities Committee.
The Executive and Audit Committee handles the general management of the board, as well as audits, compliance and risk management. The Academic and Student Affairs Committee oversees matters related to the school’s teaching, research and public service programs, as well as anything concerning faculty, students and staff. The Finance and Facilities Committee considers issues such as budget, tuition and fees, investment and property.
Marcia Aaron is one of the six current board members who will serve a full second term. She said she is looking forward to bonding with the new members because it is necessary to understand one another in order to lead during a crisis.
“For a board to be effective, you need to have those strong relationships so that you’re willing to push and have those conversations that need to be had,” Aaron said. “It’s an interesting line that you want to have between strong relationships, diverse opinions and ability to push and pull.”
UO sophomore Julia Lo is the nominee for the student seat of the board, meaning she will be the voice of the student body so board members can better understand student needs and opinions on big issues. If confirmed, she said she will be able to work this role into every aspect of her life by using each conversation with students and faculty to better understand their feelings about UO.
“This seat encompasses every single thing that I want to do within one position,” Lo said. “My goal and hope is that with every action or vote that I make on the board, I want it to be said to promote racial and social equality on our campus in order to create a space where all students feel they have a voice.”
Vice Chair Ginerva Ralph, staff trustee Jimmy Murray, Connie Seeley, Ross Kari, Elisa Hornecker and Marcia Aaron will all remain on the board. The trustees leaving the board are Peter Bragdon, Andrew Colas, Allyn Ford, Joe Gonyea, Mary Wilcox, student seat Katharine Wishnia and faculty seat Laura Lee McIntyre.
Lillis said if there’s one thing he wants to continue before he leaves the board, it’s the powerful working relationship between the university leadership and the board that comes from clear communication.
“It was more work than I anticipated, but I think if you really like the university, or love it as I do, it’s work that is just worth doing,” Lillis said. “I’m such a strong proponent of very high quality public university education, that even when we’re working lots of hours, it’s easy to do the work.”
MEET THE NOMINEES
Julia Lo (student seat):
Lo is a sophomore in the Clark Honors College majoring in biology and minoring in business. During her term she plans to address issues around mental health, finances and racial equity. She leads philanthropy for her sorority Delta Gamma and has worked at the Oregon Health & Science University as a researcher. In high school she formed Be Write Back, a program in which children of incarcerated parents can obtain free letter writing kits to write to their parents in prison.
Tim Boyle: Boyle is the CEO and president of Columbia Sportswear Company. He graduated from the UO School of Journalism and Communication and has served on the board of the UO Foundation, Journalism Advancement Council and UO Portland Council. He co-chaired the Oregon Campaign Leadership Committee and has been inducted into the SOJC’s Hall of Achievement. He also received the UO’s Oregon Business Hall of Fame award in 2008.
Renee Evans Jackman: Jackman is the Grants Management Officer at the Washington, D.C., Department of Behavioral Health. Originally from Portland, she received a degree in sociology from UO and was the first African American woman to serve as Board President on the UO Alumni Association Board of Directors. For 15 years she was a leader in grants and program management with the District of Columbia Government, and she spent eight years at the DC State Education Office.
Toya Fick: Fick is the Oregon executive director with Stand for Children, a nonprofit whose mission is to ensure students graduate from high school with access to higher education. She is the Board Chair of the board of trustees with the Meyer Memorial Trust Foundation and has deep experience in racial equity policy and public service. Previously she held positions at Oregon Health & Science University and the Alliance for Excellent Education in Washington, D.C.
Ed Madison (faculty seat): Madison is an associate professor at the UO SOJC. He is a co-founder of the Journalistic Learning Initiative, a nonprofit that teaches journalistic practices to middle and high school students in underserved communities. He worked for 27 years in network television, film and commercial projects. He graduated from Emerson College in 1979 and received his Ph.D. in Communication and Society from UO in 2012.
Dennis Worden: Worden is the Director of Global Regulatory Monitoring and Enforcement for Walmart. He graduated from UO in 2006 with a B.A. in geography. He is a member of the Coeur D’Alene tribe and served as the Legislative Director for the Native American Contractors Association and the Legislative Assistant for the National Indian Health Board. In 2020 he was recognized with the UO Alumni Association’s Outstanding Young Alumni award.
Steve Holwerda: Holwerda is the Managing Director of Ferguson Wellman and is a portfolio director with clients in Portland, Vancouver, Eugene and Medford. Prior to working at Ferguson Wellman, he was a regional director for the UO athletic department and a national director for the NCAA Volunteers for Youth. He received his B.S. in economics from South Dakota State University and his MBA from UO. He has served as president or chairman for the UO Foundation, Portland Business Alliance, Portland Golf Club and Boys and Girls Club of Portland.
Editor’s note: This story has been updated to fix the following minor factual errors

• The board of trustees is made up of 14 volunteers members, not 15, as the president of the university is not a volunteer but sits on the board.
• Chuck Lillis was appointed to the inaugural UO board in 2013, not 2014.
• All members remaining on the board are not serving a second term, but instead are operating on varying timelines.
• Dennis Worden was awarded UO Alumni Association’s Outstanding Young Alumni in 2020, not 2010.