University of Portland

• 1. Introduction

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  The University of Portland sits on a bluff above the Willamette River, on land that a Methodist institution abandoned after the financial chaos of the 1890s. Archbishop Alexander Christie first noticed the empty building called West Hall from the deck of a ship passing below on the river. He found out the structure had been sitting vacant for years. That chance sighting from the water set in motion an institutional story that would last well over a century. How does a building rescued from neglect become Oregon's only comprehensive Catholic university, the largest employer in North Portland, and the training ground for two of the world's most celebrated soccer players? The answers reach from a bluff-top campus in 1901 to a national championship field, from a heart valve inventor to a bell tower that is now the tallest structure in an entire quadrant of the city.

• 2. From Bluff to University

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  West Hall had already outlasted one institution before the Catholic Church came looking. Portland University, founded by the Methodist Episcopal Church in 1891, was the first school on Waud's Bluff. The Panic of 1893 drained its finances and pushed it off campus entirely; from 1896 to 1897 it held classes in East Portland, briefly alongside the insolvent College of Puget Sound. When the Archdiocese of Portland purchased the bluff property, it got financial backing from the Congregation of Holy Cross. The new school was named Columbia University after the nearby river. On the 5th of September 1901, it opened its doors to exactly 52 young men. Eight Catholic priests from the local archdiocese served as the faculty. The Congregation of Holy Cross took formal ownership in 1902 at the archbishop's request. The university spent the next two decades reaching junior college status. Then 1925 brought a College of Arts and Sciences, and in 1929 a class of seven men received its first bachelor's degrees. The name University of Portland arrived in 1935. Three decades later, in 1967, ownership passed from the Congregation of Holy Cross to a board of Regents, and in 1969 the university absorbed Multnomah College, which had been established in 1897 as the Educational Department of the YMCA in downtown Portland and was the oldest fully accredited two-year college in the Pacific Northwest. Waldschmidt Hall, still standing on the bluff today, is what was once West Hall, renamed in 1992.

• 3. The Shiley Legacy

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  Donald Shiley arrived at the University of Portland the same year its engineering school was founded: 1948. He graduated in 1951 with a bachelor's degree in general engineering. The path that followed led him to invent a heart valve and a range of medical devices credited with saving thousands of lives. In 2007, Donald and Darlene Shiley of San Diego gave $12 million to the School of Engineering. At the time it was the largest single gift in the university's history. Shiley Hall, built with those funds, became the largest building on campus and earned several awards for sustainable design. The Shileys later contributed an additional $8 million, and the school was renamed the Donald P. Shiley School of Engineering in recognition. Darlene Marcos Shiley also backed the Shiley-Marcos Center for Design and Innovation, contributing $10 million of its $40 million total cost. That project represents a separate chapter of campus expansion. The engineering program Shiley entered as a student now ranks perennially in the top 40 among bachelor's and master's-granting institutions in the country, according to U.S. News and World Report. In 2012 it ranked 35th.

• 4. Soccer and the Clive Charles Era

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  Clive Charles began coaching the men's soccer team in 1986. Three years later, in 1989, he added the women's head coaching job, running both programs simultaneously until his death in 2003. The women's team won the NCAA Division I National Championship in 2002 and again in 2005. Both title runs were led by Christine Sinclair, a Canadian international star. The 2005 championship also featured Megan Rapinoe, who would go on to become a central figure in the United States Women's National Team. Home matches are played at Merlo Field, a 4,892-seat stadium that is part of the Clive Charles Soccer Complex on campus. The soccer program itself dates to 1910, making it one of the oldest college programs in the country. It was played as a club sport almost without interruption until 1977, when it achieved full varsity status.

• 5. Cross Country and Other Sports

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  The Pilots men's cross country program won 31 straight West Coast Conference Championships through 2010, one of the longest conference championship streaks in NCAA history. On the national stage, UP finished in the top ten at the NCAA Championships five times. In 2008 the Pilots placed seventh. They matched that finish in 2001 and again in 2013. In 2014 they placed third at the Division I national championships. In 2017 the program reached its highest finish, placing second nationally. Football, by contrast, ended in 1950 when funding ran out. The school now fields 16 varsity sports, including Beach Volleyball, which was added in 2017. In November 2010 the university announced it would add Women's Rowing for the 2011-12 academic year while dropping men's and women's golf. In November 2005, Sports Illustrated placed the university 25th in its College All Sport rankings. As of 2023, the Chiles Center serves as the training facility for the Portland NBA G-League team, Rip City Remix, and for visiting NBA teams that play the Portland Trail Blazers.

• 6. Nursing, Teaching, and the Schools

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  The School of Nursing and Health Innovations traces its roots to 1892, when it was established as the St. Vincent Hospital School of Nursing. That founding came two years after the first nurse training program in the northwest opened at nearby Good Samaritan Hospital. The St. Vincent school joined the University of Portland in 1934 and began granting four-year degrees in 1938. Most clinical practice still takes place at St. Vincent Hospital and facilities connected to Providence Health and Services. In 2007 U.S. News and World Report ranked the nursing school 72nd in the nation. The American Assembly for Men in Nursing separately named UP the nation's best nursing school for men. The School of Education received the 2002 Model of Excellence Award from the Association of Independent Colleges for Teacher Education. Its PACE program, the Pacific Alliance for Catholic Education, allows 15 to 25 teachers at a time to earn a graduate degree over three summers while spending each academic year teaching in a Catholic school. PACE students have lived in community in Utah, Washington, California, Alaska, and Oregon. The School of Business carries AACSB accreditation and, among the five AACSB MBA programs in Oregon, has the highest percentage of women, minorities, and international students. In 2025 its name changed from the Pamplin School of Business to the University of Portland School of Business.

• 7. Campus, Growth, and Economic Weight

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  The 100-foot bell tower adjacent to Christ the Teacher Chapel was completed in September 2009. It is the tallest structure on the UP campus and in all of North Portland. Mehling Hall held that distinction before it. Plans for a $30 million academic building were announced in March 2017. Construction began that September, delayed a few months while the university raised $15 million. The resulting Dundon-Berchtold Hall encompasses 65,616 square feet with 17 classrooms, 35 faculty offices, 12 informal and formal gathering spaces, 4 conference rooms, and the 146-seat Brian J. Doyle Auditorium. It was completed before the start of the 2019-20 academic year. The Beauchamp Recreation and Wellness Center, named for the university's 19th president, Rev. E. William Beauchamp, broke ground in May 2014 and was designed to include three gymnasiums, a suspended track, and a bike shop. Beyond its campus boundaries, the university functions as North Portland's largest corporation. Its annual economic impact on the city of Portland stands at $170 million, and more than 17,000 alumni live in the Portland metropolitan area alone.