July 17, 1997 University of Oregon Foundation Contact Ann Baker Mack (541) 346-2127 or Maureen Shine 346-3145 EUGENE--Gretchen Pierce, one of Oregon's most prominent community and business leaders, will lead the University of Oregon Foundation Board of Trustees as president in 1997-98. Pierce, 52, is president and general manager of the Eugene real estate development firm Hult & Associates. She replaces John Herman, UO Class of `60, as board president. Herman, president of Duffel Sportswear in Portland, will serve as board chairman for the year. A 1966 marketing graduate of the UO, Pierce has been an active business and community leader in Oregon for more than 10 years. She became a member of the UO Foundation board in 1986 and also served on the UO College of Arts and Sciences Advisory Council. Pierce is a former president of the Eugene Chamber of Commerce and a former chair of Eugene's annual Women on the Move conference. She is a board member of Siuslaw Valley Banks and also served on the boards of the City Club of Eugene, Sacred Heart Hospital Foundation, Eugene-Springfield Metropolitan Partnership and Southtown Rotary Club. At the state level, Pierce served on the Oregon Economic Development Commission and the Governor's Task Force on Education and the Economy. A frequent advocate for higher education in the state, she was a member of UO Alumni Advocates and last year founded a new UO Foundation trustee committee on legislative relations. In 1990, she received a March of Dimes White Rose Award given to women of achievement in Oregon. Pierce worked for Boise Cascade Corp. in Portland and Boise, Idaho, for 20 years before taking over management of her family's business after the death of her father, Nils Hult, in 1985. Nils Hult served on the UO Foundation board from 1978-84. The Hult family operated lumber mills in Lane County for many years, but sold the mills in the 1960s and went into property development. The family contributed $3 million toward construction of Eugene's Hult Center for the Performing Arts in 1982. Pierce and her husband, Howard, have two children and live in Eugene. The 48-member UO Foundation Board of Trustees oversees operation of the foundation--a private, nonprofit corporation established by the Oregon Legislature in 1957 to support fund raising and to receive and administer private gifts and grants to the University of Oregon. Board members also serve as advisers to the UO administration and as advocates for the university. The board currently supports The Oregon Campaign, the university's drive to raise $200 million in private gifts by the end of 1998 for uses such as student scholarships, endowed professorships, curriculum development, equipment and facilities. The campaign recently topped $180 million. Other new UO Foundation board officers for 1997-98 are: * First vice president and president-elect--Michael "Mick" Humphreys, UO Class of `64, a real estate developer in Sunriver and retired co-founder and partner in Vintage Properties in Foster City, Calif. * Second vice president--Randy Papé, Class of `72, president and CEO of The Papé Group, a heavy equipment and aviation sales and service company based in Eugene. * Treasurer--David Sparks, Class of `66, a certified public accountant and partner in the Eugene firm of Kernutt Stokes Brandt & Co. * Secretary--David Stern, a Portland investor. In addition, five new members have signed on for five-year terms on the board. They are: * H. Matthew Day of Bend, president of Tumalo Creek Development Co. and Hooker Creek Ranch and a director of the W.M. Keck Foundation in Los Angeles, Calif. * Howard "Larry" Hull Jr., Class of `51, of Costa Mesa, Calif., a consultant for Larco Advisors, Inc. * John E. Jaqua, Class of `49, LLB `50, a retired Eugene lawyer. * Jordan Schnitzer of Portland, Class of `73, president of Jordan Schnitzer Properties. * William R. Swindells of Lake Oswego, Class of `79, owner of a commercial property development company. Trustees retiring from the board at the end of June were Richard Cole of Portland, Class of `37, and Norm Ruecker of San Rafael, Calif., Class of `54. -30- #O-4003/Local,OrDailies,OrBUS, Special