Celebrating Jane Gordon JD '79

2025 Frohnmayer Award Recipient

About our Honoree

Jane Gordon, JD ’79 former Oregon Law associate dean and current vice president for UO Portland is the 2025 Frohnmayer Award for Public Service recipient. 

Beginning as assistant dean and later associate dean of student and program affairs, she served the Oregon Law community for 24 years and she spearheaded the creation of the nationally ranked Appropriate Dispute Resolution Center. She then joined the UO Office of the Provost where she was a senior project leader, working on projects that included the implementation of the first faculty union contract and a Title IX review. 

In 2015, Gordon began leading UO Portland and is now its vice president, overseeing operations including its recent expansion and move to a new campus. 

Recently, Portland Business Journal honored her as one of the 2025 Women of Influence. She received the PeaceBuilder Award from the Center for Dialogue and Resolution, formerly Community Mediation Services, and the Sidney Lezak Award for Excellence in ADR from the Oregon State Bar. The Association of Oregon Black Lawyers honored Gordon for her success in recruiting and providing support to minority students. She also received the Derrick A. Bell Award, dedicated to the pursuit of justice for people of color. 

Her extensive history of volunteer service spans nearly three dozen organizations over the course of her career. She currently volunteers with Friends of Mediation, serves on the education committee for Greater Portland Inc., as an ex officio member of Portland Metro Chamber, and on the boards of the EC Brown Foundation and the James Beard Public Market.

Gordon received her JD from Oregon Law and her BA in liberal arts from Sarah Lawrence College in New York.

About the Award

The Frohnmayer Award for Public Service, given annually since 2002 by the Law School Alumni Association, was 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.

Contact lawalum@uoregon.edu for more information about sponsorship opportunities for the 2026 Frohnmayer Award for Public Service Reception.

Past Honorees