Every promise Mr. Schill has made hinges on the success of a $2-billion capital campaign. The money will be used in part to hire 80 to 100 new tenured or tenure-track professors over the next four to five years.
Oregon has already begun a cluster-hiring effort, which will recruit small groups of two to five scholars in 10 key areas, including programs like biology and special education, which have strong track records of research productivity. Other hires are expected in genomics and sports-product marketing and design, which proponents have described as critical to the economic development of a state with hundreds of athletics companies — including that one known for the big swoosh logo.