Oregon Gov. Kate Brown has nominated seven people for seats on the University of Oregon Board of Trustees to replace incumbents whose terms are winding down and who will be departing the board this summer.

For the five upcoming vacant at-large positions on the board, Brown has nominated Tim Boyle, Renee Evans Jackman, Toya Fick, Steve Holwerda and Dennis Worden. For the student and faculty board seats, Brown nominated Julia Lo and Ed Madison, respectively.

The departing at-large trustees are Peter Bragdon, Andrew Colas, Allyn Ford, Joe Gonyea and Mary Wilcox, all of whom were part of the board’s inaugural group in 2013. Student trustee Katharine Wishnia and faculty trustee Laura Lee McIntyre are also leaving their positions on the board.

In addition to the five nominees for new at-large appointments, the governor has asked current trustees Marcia Aaron and Chuck Lillis to continue their service on the board.

Aaron, originally appointed in 2018, has been nominated for reappointment for her first full term. Lillis, who was first appointed in 2013 and who currently chairs the board, does not plan to serve an additional full term but will remain in his seat for the time being for continuity and institutional knowledge, especially as the board welcomes several new trustees.

Similarly, trustee Jimmy Murray, who currently holds the nonfaculty staff seat on the board, also will remain in his position for the time being. As with the at-large seats, this provides continuity during a period of transition. The position has a number of qualified applicants and a new trustee will be considered for appointment, likely in the next academic year.

All of the nominations are subject to confirmation by the Oregon Senate. The nominations will be considered along with the governor’s other executive appointments during the current session of the Legislature, likely in May. If confirmed, terms for each of the nominees would begin July 1.

Here are the nominees:

• Tim Boyle is chief executive officer, president and chairman of the board of Columbia Sportswear Company, overseeing operations of the active outdoor company from its Portland headquarters. Boyle is an Oregon native and graduate of the UO’s School of Journalism and Communication. He has served on the board of the UO Foundation, the UO Portland Council, and Journalism Advancement Council, and he has co-chaired the Oregon Campaign Leadership Committee. He has been inducted into the School of Journalism and Communication’s Hall of Achievement and received the UO’s Oregon Business Hall of Fame Award in 2008. He is also an emeritus trustee of Reed College.

• Renée Evans Jackman, an Oregon native and UO graduate, is currently the grants management officer at the District of Columbia Department of Behavioral Health. She has 15 years of service with the District of Columbia government as a leader in grants and program management, with a background in compliance. Evans Jackman also is past president of the UO Alumni Association’s board of directors. Evans Jackman received her undergraduate degree in sociology from the UO and a graduate degree in social work from Howard University.

• Toya Fick has been executive director of Stand for Children, Oregon, a nonprofit organization whose mission is to ensure students graduate high school prepared for and with access to higher education, since 2014. She has previously held government affairs posts at Oregon Health & Science University and the Alliance for Excellent Education in Washington, D.C. Fick currently serves as chair of the board of trustees of the Meyer Memorial Trust. She is a graduate of the University of Chicago. 

• Steve Holwerda, a UO Executive MBA graduate, is managing director of Ferguson Wellman, a Portland-based capital management firm. He previously worked as a regional director for the UO athletic department and a national director for the NCAA Volunteers for Youth. Holwerda has served as president or chairman for numerous community and nonprofit boards, including the University of Oregon Foundation, Portland Business Alliance, and Boys and Girls Club of Portland, among others. He earned his undergraduate degree at South Dakota State University.

• Julia Lo (student seat) is a sophomore at the University of Oregon, studying biology and business administration in the Clark Honors College. She is also a Stamps Scholarship recipient. An Oregon native and graduate of Sunset High School in Portland, Lo founded Be Write Back, a  foundation providing free kits for children to write to their incarcerated parents. She was then invited to become a council member for the governor’s Reentry Council, implementing the “Bill of Rights for Children of Incarcerated Parents” as the representative voice for children who are often marginalized.

• Ed Madison (faculty seat) is an associate professor at the UO’s School of Journalism and Communication and has affiliated faculty status with the College of Education. Madison previously worked as an entertainment news/television producer and is also co-founder and executive director of the Journalistic Learning Initiative, a nonprofit organization that uses journalistic strategies to improve student academic outcomes in underserved communities. He is a graduate of Emerson College and earned his doctorate from the UO.

• Dennis Worden, an Oregon native and UO graduate, currently is a director of global regulatory monitoring and enforcement for Walmart. He previously worked in government affairs in the U.S. House of Representatives and for the Native American Contractors Association. Worden graduated from the UO in 2006 with a degree in geography and was a recipient of the Diversity Building Scholarship at the time as a member of the Coeur D’Alene tribe. He was recognized in 2020 with the UO Alumni Association’s Outstanding Young Alumni award.