Renee Irvin named vice provost for academic affairs

Dear Colleagues,

I am pleased to announce I have selected Renee Irvin, professor in the School of Planning, Public Policy and Management, to be the next vice provost for academic affairs. She will start July 1.

Renee joins the Office of the Provost where she will focus on supporting the academic success of UO faculty by overseeing personnel actions such as tenure, promotion, faculty performance reviews, post-tenure review, development plans and sabbaticals, as well as training and development of faculty members across their careers.

Renee has demonstrated strong leadership skills throughout her time at Oregon and brings expertise, academic rigor, and good judgment to the vice provost role.

Renee came to the UO in 2001 after serving on the faculty at the University of Nebraska - Omaha. She’s held several leadership positions at the UO, including interim director of the School of Planning, Public Policy and Management, head of the Department of Landscape Architecture, and associate dean for finance in the School of Architecture & Allied Arts.

She has served as founder and director of the Graduate Certificate in Nonprofit Management and of the Master of Nonprofit Management Programs, and director of the Master of Public Administration Program.

She earned her bachelor’s degree in German from the UO, graduating magna cum laude, and her master’s and doctoral degrees in economics from the University of Washington. Her research interests include economics of nonprofit organizations and philanthropy.

Her academic honors include being named a Wayne Morse Center Resident Scholar; serving as president of the Nonprofit Academic Centers Council; being appointed as an Ian Potter Foundation Visiting Fellow at the Australian Centre for Philanthropy and Nonprofit Studies, Queensland University of Technology; and receiving Public Administration Review’s 75th anniversary Most Influential Article award. Renee was invited to the White House Social Innovation and Civic Participation’s Convening on Community Foundations; was a Fulbright Scholar at Zhongshan University School of Governance; and received a University of Oregon Faculty Excellence Award.

I want to thank members of the search committee, which included members of the faculty, staff, and academic leadership.

Please join me in congratulating and welcoming Renee in her new role. 

Janet Woodruff-Borden
Interim Provost and Executive Vice President