In preparation to further extend the University’s efforts in fundraising, University President Dave Frohnmayer has announced that Allan Price, vice president of institutional advancement at Arizona State University, will take over the office of vice president for university advancement at the University of Oregon.
When reached by telephone at his ASU office in Tempe, Price said he was eager to start his new job, which begins in July at the University.
“I’m really excited about it,” he said. “The position represents a tremendous professional opportunity.”
Duncan McDonald, who currently holds the position, will return to the classroom as a professor at the University’s School of Journalism and Communication, where he served as dean from 1994 to 1997.
Frohnmayer was unavailable for comment, but in a prepared statement he said that Price “has been extremely successful at convincing alumni, donors, legislators and the public that the health of Arizona’s economy is closely tied to the quality of the state’s universities and that experience will be very helpful to Oregon.”
As vice president for university advancement, Price will oversee several aspects of University administration: University fundraising; public, media and government relations; alumni affairs; University publications; and marketing and licensing of University merchandise.
After living in Arizona for 24 years, Price said he and his wife look forward to moving to Eugene where he said there is support for the University both on and off campus.
Once he has arrived in Eugene, Price said, his “first goal will be to listen and learn as much as I can.”
As excited as Price was to be joining the University administration, McDonald was equally excited to be rejoining the University faculty.
“School of journalism in September — I’m looking forward to that,” he said.
McDonald said he will be teaching several core classes that he helped create when he was previously on the faculty, such as Grammar for Journalists and Information Gathering, which is often referred to by journalism students as “info hell.”
“Info hell has always been my favorite,” he said.
The University is poised to initiate another large campaign for donations similar to the Oregon Campaign, McDonald said, and he added that he didn’t have the desire to put in the high level of commitment required for campaigns of that sort.
But he stressed that the primary reason why he is stepping down from his post is that he just wants to return to the classroom.
“It’s pretty simple — the most important person at the UO is the next student who walks into my office,” he said.
Because McDonald has been away from the classroom for almost 10 years, he said he is eager to see how students have changed and also to look into the “dramatic dependence” students now have on the Internet for acquiring information.
“In some ways, I’m also returning as a student,” he said.
Tim Gleason, dean of the journalism school, said he was eager to have McDonald teaching again.
Gleason and McDonald worked together when McDonald was still with the journalism department, so a good working relationship has already developed, Gleason said.
“We are extremely pleased to have Duncan returning to the classroom,” he said. “He is an outstanding teacher.”