Northwestern names University of Oregon leader as new president

The president of the University of Oregon and a former University of Chicago law school dean on Thursday was named 17th president of Northwestern University.

Michael Schill, who has led the University of Oregon since 2015, has a tenured faculty appointment in the University of Oregon School of Law. He previously was the dean and Harry N. Wyatt Professor of Law at the University of Chicago Law School, dean of the UCLA School of Law, and was a chaired professor at NYU and the University of Pennsylvania, officials at Northwestern said in a statement.

Despite earning degrees from two Ivy League institutions — an undergraduate degree in public policy from Princeton University, which he attended on a scholarship, and a Juris Doctor degree from Yale Law School — Schill said he is most proud of his background as a first generation college graduate.

A native of Schenectady, New York, Schill’s father worked in a clothing factory and his mother was a registered nurse. He credits his parents with instilling in him and his sister a passion for education.

“What is increasingly important is that people like me, who come from modest backgrounds, have sufficient financial aid, and we make sure as a country that everyone is educated, which opened up the world for me and my sister,” Schill said.

Reflecting on the unrest that erupted on university campuses nationwide following the murder of George Floyd in May 2020, including at Northwestern, Schill recalled being present at a Black Lives Matter student protest at the University of Oregon campus.

“The students knew I was there, and I made a point to be out there, and afterward, I asked the leaders to come back to my office, so we could all talk,” Schill said. “What students need, and what a president needs to do, is to listen. It doesn’t mean you necessarily will always agree. But just listening made a huge difference.”

Schill’s appointment comes just one month after Northwestern’s President-elect Rebecca Blank announced she was diagnosed with an aggressive form of cancer and would no longer be able to fulfill her role as the 17th president and first woman to lead the university.

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Blank, the former chancellor of the University of Wisconsin at Madison, said last month she planned to return to the Madison area for cancer treatment and would spend the coming weeks and months focusing on her health and family.

“I really extend my best wishes to Becky, who is a friend of mine,” Schill said. “She will be a really helpful resource, and I wish her the best to beat this illness.”

Schill, whose academic research for decades has focused on affordable housing, land use and race discrimination in the housing market, said he “looks forward to enhancing Northwestern’s standing as an innovation hub for the Chicago area, for Illinois, for the nation and the world.”

The founder of the Furman Center for Real Estate and Urban Policy at New York University, which has become the nation’s leading research center on housing and the built environment, Schill was presented with the Impact Award for Excellence in Housing from New York City’s Citizens Housing and Planning Council in 2010, officials said.

In 2016, Schill ushered in a billion-dollar initiative called the Phil and Penny Knight Campus for Accelerating Scientific Impact to transform innovation at the University of Oregon, and he fostered a partnership between the university and Oregon Health and Sciences University for societal benefit and to advance treatments and cures for cancer, officials said.

“I am committed to diversity,” Schill said in a statement. “The true potential of a place like Northwestern cannot be fulfilled without bringing people of diverse backgrounds, experiences, abilities and identities together as well as students, staff and faculty members who span the spectrum of ideological and political viewpoints.”

kcullotta@chicagotribune.com