UO Portland’s Jane Gordon Announced as 2025 Frohnmayer Award Honoree

Oregon Law announces Jane Gordon, JD ’79, an alumna, former Oregon Law associate dean, and current vice president for UO Portland as the 2025 Frohnmayer Award for Public Service honoree. 

Gordon's service to the legal profession, law school, UO, and the community has spanned more than forty years. Drawing on her legal expertise in mediation and collaboration, she has contributed meaningful experiences and outcomes for clients, students, UO, and the profession. 

“Jane Gordon played a leading role in law school leadership during a time of tremendous growth. She is an institution-builder with a strong focus on equity, inclusion, and public service,” said Interim Dean Jennifer W. Reynolds, Orlando John and Marian H. Hollis Professor of Law. “The law school owes Jane a debt of gratitude for her many years of dedication and service.” 

The Frohnmayer Award for Public Service, named after former Oregon Law Dean and UO President Emeritus Dave Frohnmayer, is presented annually by the Law School Alumni Association to a graduate, faculty member, or friend of Oregon Law whose public service brings honor to the school.

Receiving the Frohnmayer Award is personal to Gordon, who fondly remembers the late Oregon statesman and his legacy of relationship building and leadership. “He really connected with people in a very deep way,” Gordon recalled. “Dave committed to civil discourse that he paired with a genuine interest in and respect for others.”

Gordon’s own style of leadership, with mediation and collaboration at its core, can be seen throughout her career. She was a founder of Community Mediation Services, now known as Center for Dialogue & Resolution which is still serving the residents of Lane County forty years later. 

She served as assistant dean and associate dean for students and program affairs at Oregon Law. During her nearly twenty-five years with Oregon Law, Gordon spearheaded the creation of the Appropriate Dispute Resolution Center and the Conflict and Dispute Resolution master’s degree program. She also played a key role in helping design the plans for the law school building with a focus on an accessible learning environment for all students. 

The arched entrance to the Knight Law Center? That was Gordon’s idea. The entrance to the building was designed to create a welcoming environment, while also taking care to ensure universal access for accessibility without the need for special adaptations.  “All of the materials, everything we did, how many elevators we had, was very informed by universal access,” Gordon said. 

Gordon went on to the Office of the Provost as a senior project leader in 2013 where she led implementation of the first faculty union contract and a Title IX review.  There, she “put my dispute resolution work into practice.” 

Continuing that work, Gordon now serves as vice president for UO Portland.  Under Gordon’s leadership--and with vision and transformational investment from Connie and Steve Balmer--UO Portland moved to a new campus and continues to evolve. 

She counts as one of her greatest accomplishments at UO Portland facilitating the creation of a cohesive community, bringing together the academic units on issues including student services, equity and inclusion, safety, and academics. 

“People started working together creating a vision and strategy for the campus as well as solving problems as a community. ” Gordon said. “This carries out into our work within the Portland region and community partnerships.” 

In her own work, Gordon has been closely involved in dozens of nonprofit organizations and has been recognized with an award from the Association of Oregon Black Lawyers; the Derrick A. Bell award; the Sidney Lezak Award for Excellence in ADR from the Oregon State Bar; the Peacebuilder Award from Community Mediation Services; and the Portland Business Journal’s Women of Influence. 

“One of the great things about working at UO Portland is that my colleagues and our students are committed to service in the public good,” Gordon said. 

Students are one of the key reasons Gordon has devoted so much of her career to public higher education. “It just gets back to the students. That’s why I've stayed at the University of Oregon for so long.” Gordon said.

Oregon Law will honor Gordon at a reception on April 2 at UO Portland. For more information, please visit https://law.uoregon.edu/about/events/frohnmayer-award-public-service-2025.

About the Award

The Frohnmayer Award for Public Service has been given in most years since 2002 by the Law School Alumni Association. It is named in honor of the family of University of Oregon President Emeritus and Law Professor Dave Frohnmayer. The award recognizes a graduate, faculty member, or friend of Oregon Law whose public service brings honor to the school.