Commonwealth Hall, 1960 / Oregon Digital
UO History 101: Lundquist College of Business
Over its 108-year history, the Lundquist College of Business has taught close to 40,000 alumni in bachelor’s, master’s, and PhD programs.
In 1900, four years after the university was founded, the first business curriculum at UO was started. The School of Commerce was formally introduced in 1914, making Oregon one of the first four-year universities in the nation to offer a commerce program.
Peterson Hall, 1901 / Oregon Digital
Over the next decade, Peterson Hall and Anstett Hall were built, and the college was renamed to be the School of Business Administration.
Commonwealth Hall, which connected Peterson and Anstett (similar to the current atrium), was built in 1952. Fifteen years later in 1967, the School of Business Administration became the College of Business Administration, consisting of the Undergraduate School of Business and the Graduate School of Management.
Chiles Center, the first building on the UO campus that was built solely from private support, opened in 1986. The following year, the College of Business Administration surpassed an enrollment of 3,000 students for the first time. In 1988, Charles H. Lundquist helped create the Lundquist Center for Entrepreneurship, which has become an undergraduate minor and major concentration and an MBA specialization.
The 1990s brought even further success to the College of Business Administration, which was renamed as the Lundquist College of Business in 1994 for Charles H. Lundquist’s multi-million dollar endowment for the college. The Warsaw Sports Marketing Center, the first sports marketing program in a business college, was founded by James H. Warsaw that same year.
In 2003, the Lundquist College of Business replaced what was known as Commonwealth Hall with the first sustainable public building in Oregon: Lillis Hall.
Over the past two decades, the Lundquist College of Business has grown exponentially. From its leadership on the Portland-based Oregon Executive MBA Program, to expanding the Sports Product Management Program and climbing the ranks in undergraduate business and green MBA programs, the Lundquist College of Business continues to positively impact the UO community and the business world at large.
-By Peyton Hall, UO Alumni Association Student Associate