John Moseley remembers a story from many years ago, when he first taught physics for the University. His wife, Susan, was working toward her doctorate in psychology, and while she was in class their daughter Stephanie stayed in a wicker basket in his office. One time, the University president, Paul Olum, suddenly burst into his office and was dumbstruck to see Moseley feeding his daughter during work.
The moment was awkward, but more than two decades later, Moseley, who would eventually rise to the second-in-command position at the University as senior vice president and provost, remembers the scene because it underscores how much has changed in his life since that day.
After 27 years of service to the University, Moseley will step down from his position at the end of this term. He plans to continue working for the University but to travel and spend more time with his wife, brothers, four children and two grandchildren.
“I just don’t want to work that hard anymore. I mean, it’s a 60-hour-a-week job,” Moseley said. “Last year I went skiing three times. I mean, that’s just not acceptable.”
He will now work part time and travel between Eugene; Portland; the Oregon State University Cascades Campusin Bend, where the University offers off-campus programs; his timeshare in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico; and France, where he vacations every few years.
As provost, Moseley traveled around the world to meet with people on behalf of the University, he said. He also said he spent money to improve the campus infrastructure, made hard and fast decisions on promotions and granting of tenure to faculty, and did it all with the handicap of poor funding.
“The budget situation since 1990 has basically been very difficult,” Moseley said. “We’ve got good faculty and we’re providing you with the classes you need and we’re doing it with no money.”
University President Dave Frohnmayer said it has been an honor to have Moseley as his friend and colleague.
“John’s encyclopedic knowledge of higher education finance, his decisiveness and his steadfastness in advocating for the University have made him indispensable in maintaining our financial stability during some of the most difficult times faced by higher education anywhere in the nation,” Frohnmayer said.
“He has not only carried the University, but in many instances the entire state system of higher education because of his wisdom, his knowledge and his judgment,” Frohnmayer said.
Moseley said he originally intended to be a mechanical engineer, but had a physics professor when he was an undergraduate who impressed him so much that after the class he knew he wanted to spend his life in the field.
After earning his Ph.D., he did research at Stanford and in Palo Alto, Calif. By the time he moved to Eugene in 1979 to teach physics, he had met and married his second wife, Susan. The couple planned to stay in town for only a few years so she could earn her Ph.D. and he could gain teaching experience, but they soon had two daughters and put down roots in the area.
Moseley taught physics from 1979 until 1985, when he became the vice president for research. He filled the post until 1994 when he became the provost and vice president for academic affairs. He was appointed senior vice president and provost in 2001.
“I didn’t ever really see myself going into administration,” Moseley said. “That was kind of an accident.”
Moseley grew up in New Orleans where his father was a Baptist minister. Moseley’s father was the first in his family to attend college, eventually earning his doctorate. His father’s successes gave Moseley a love of education that has followed him throughout his entire life, he said.
Moseley has two younger brothers, with whom he is close. One of them attended Willamette University and the other Stanford University. Moseley attended the Georgia Institute of Technology where he earned his bachelor’s, master’s and Ph.D., all in physics.
While studying in Georgia, he met his first wife, with whom he has two children. He was 22 years old when his first daughter, Melanie, was born. Melanie now works for the University through the AHA International study abroad program. Melanie was soon followed by Mark, who is now a software engineer for Intel.
He said although Melanie and Mark were teenagers when his daughters Stephanie and Shannon were born, they have all grown close.
He said he is grateful for all the people he has met and worked with, and that he is grateful to the University and Eugene. Moseley said his years at the University have left him with no regrets.
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