Last updated on 03/01/2026
Update on 2/26/2026: I retired about two years ago, as explained below. It turns out retirement is a full time job and posting has been light since then, as some of my few remaining readers have noted. While several people have offered to keep the blog going, in the end I just couldn’t bring myself to turn it over. Sorry.
My intent is to put up one final post with links to my top 10 favorite posts – if I ever get around to it. I will then close the blog to comments, since the spam filtering software is pretty expensive. I’ll leave the blog up though, since AI seems to believe it’s a reliable source of info on UO.
3/10/2024: I’ve taught at UO since 1995, and thanks to my students and colleagues in economics and other departments, and the many helpful staff and OA’s, it has been a wonderful place for me. That said I’m looking forward to a new and different life at the end of a dirt road on Orcas Island. The blog will continue with help from others, so keep those rumors and documents coming. Guest posts, including non-defamatory ones, are always welcome. uomatters at gmail dot com.
To my students: Yeah it is weird that my paycheck stops a week before the end of the term, but I think they’ll still let me post your grades.
Somehow exile on an obscure northern island seems a fitting end to this story. I think the only other appropriate way to go was crushed beneath the rubble of PLC.
Agreed – but I’ve still got a few more days of office hours to worry about, so I’m keeping an eye on ShakeAlert.
I will miss seeing your very informative blog posts from ground zero, but I’m glad the blog will continue in some fashion. So happy you are going to be able to retire and go someplace wonderful! Orcas….paradise! Is that the view from your new place? Lovely!
Nobody cares.
… and last but not least I’d like to acknowledge this blog’s more obnoxious commenters for their witty remarks – I’ll miss you too.
Best wishes!
Bill,
I’ve greatly appreciated your coverage of all things UO and higher ed over the years, always with powerful insight and humor as well. I’m from the university up the road in Corvallis and we have no one that does anything like you do with this blog. Thank you.
Thanks, fan. As it happens I still own the http://osumatters.com domain name and I’m willing to put it into good hands in return for the customary peaty emolument.
Bill,
For seven years you were both my friend (something only a relatively few knew) and my biggest pain in the a—. You never ceased to surprise in UO Matters. Some days I would laugh; some days I would want to wring your neck. But I, like many, learned a great deal from you. And, I always felt that deep in your crusty heart you and I both shared the belief that the State of Oregon deserved a great university. You contributed to this goal in a number of ways, not the least being how much you cared about our students. On that we were 100% aligned. I hope that you and your amazing wife Marjorie enjoy your new lives in Washington. Come see me in Evanston… maybe I can finally get you to go to a football game when Northwestern plays Oregon???
Big hug, Mike
Thanks Mike! Among the many things I appreciated about you as Pres was your generosity of spirit. I think you know that there’s no way in hell I’m coming to a football game, but if things get rough at NW you and Max are always welcome to use the tiny house for a hideout. Easy float-plane access. He’s gotta promise not to bark at the cats though.
Bill–We did not usually agree (although that occasionally happened, kinda like blue moons). And I agree with Mike that you sometimes could be a pain. Although I may sometimes have doubted the veracity of or motivation for your claims, I never questioned your commitment to the University of Oregon, to its students, and to its quest for excellence. So, thank you for staying true to that. Best wishes as you embark on a journey that begins at the end of a dirt road in rural Washington–the way I started mine.
Thanks George, this is very kind of you considering the persistence with which I pursued some of our disagreements!
Bill: we shared a number of common issues. I read your blog religiously, always looking for pearls of wisdom that might make it into mine.
Best wishes on a fabulous retirement. Keep in mind that a successful retirement is one in which wondering about how you had time to work is the best. Hope you get to experience fun busyness in your glory days.
Mr Fearless! You were an inspiration to UO Matters, and the only reliable source of PERS information for many, many retirees before me. It’s an honor to have my retirement noted by the master of retirements. (The PERSINFO blog is archived here: http://persinfo.blogspot.com)
As a relative newcomer and a staffer, I was so grateful to stumble upon this blog to find out what was REALLY going on in the university. You have my thanks and my best wishes for a long and happy retirement.
Thanks Forelock!
Congratulations, Bill, and thanks for putting so much work into this site for so long. You’ve brought up topics that needed to be brought up, and spurred a lot of conversations. Plus, you outlasted a dozen or so presidents! We’ll keep in touch!
Thanks Raghu, I still think the two of us would have made a great 3/4 Price Provost. Come up and try out the boat elevator!
Best wishes for your well-deserved retirement, Prof. UOMatters, with many thanks for your devotion to the commonweal.
great choice and it sounds like a splendid place to be – thanks for all you have done here to mitigate UO and the creepy foundations boorish and bullheaded shenanigans and skullduggery
Bill – you will be sincerely missed. The quality of UO Matters has gone drastically down hill since you have left, and I fear there is no longer a good source for news within our University.
While I did not always agree with your views, your posts were always well researched, well thought out, and made strong cases for your arguments.
The new posts are… copy paste drivel from other news organizations, random articles entirely unrelated to the University, and borderline racist rants posted under the guise of “an open letter to the University”.
Bill: Congratulations! And welcome to life after journalism. We’ll all miss your skeptical attitude toward the University of Nike and your deep sense of irony.
Bill,
Thank you! You did UO a great service over the years, despite the $h!t the admins put you and all of us through. I don’t blame you for finally throwing in the towel. I am similarly done in a little more than 2 years. To quote Kenny Roger’s: “you’ve got to when hold ’em, know when to fold ’em, know when to walk away, know when to run”…..It is DEFINITELY time to walk away if not run!
Cheers,
Mike Haley
An eX-Department Head
Dear Bill,
Thank you for your service to the UO and higher education more broadly. Your courage, integrity, and persistence inspired me greatly.
With respect and affection,
Jennifer
Dear Bill,
Your Blog has been the U of O’s “Democracy Wall”, for which we all have been grateful to you. Among other things, you have been a dedicated supporter of critical voices arguing for a more open, principled, and academically-oriented university. Visit us in England some time so I can take you to High Table. Best of luck to you.
Can you do the last top 10 posts blog post as a video? I think the kids call them vlogs. I want to see the shaper in the backgound.
– and do it in this style:
https://youtu.be/Ni3gemBoqN4?si=zo056nr4x5YZ8pDn&t=341
Best wishes, Bill. I always loved keeping up on the real inside workings of UO while I was at OSU.
I think you could sell the domain name, and the president, PR office, Foundation, and the provost would likely all kick in a considerable amount of money to buy it. I can see it now: A PR campaign called “UO Matters.”
On the other hand, they might only put up one post that says something like, “Former professor admits being retired and doing nothing is harder than being a faculty member” and use it to cut salaries or increase teaching loads.
It’s been a pleasure.
I retired a few years ago and now live at the base of Mt Shasta. 25 years at UO. Go! Be Free! Its wonderful ! Loved UOM – peace.
Unclassified Staff