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Preserving Oregon’s Heritage
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| Portland Attorney and Civic Leader, Brian G. Booth |
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Latest Alumni Fellows
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“I’ve always been very proud of Oregon,“ says Booth.
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When he recruits young lawyers into his firm, Brian Booth ’58 will often tell them: “Oregon’s a place you can make things happen.”
Selected as the 2003-2004 Distinguished Alumni Fellow for the College of Arts and Sciences, Booth’s own achievements are a testament to that statement.
Listed in every edition of The Best Lawyers in America, Booth is a founding partner in the prestigious Tonkon Torp LLP law firm, which represents leading corporations such as Nike, Inc. as well as prominent members of Oregon’s creative community. He has also founded two non-profit organizations that have made significant contributions to Oregon’s literary and cultural life: the Oregon Institute of Literary Arts (now Literary Arts, Inc.) and the Oregon Cultural Heritage Commission.
These two organizations reveal the motivation behind Booth’s varied personal interests and civic involvements; they focus on building a better Oregon by valuing its rich and complex heritage. Indeed, he has been dedicated to that cause in a variety of ways: through invited public lectures on topics ranging from the arts to Oregon history; governor-appointed leadership of the Oregon Parks Commission; and an impressive list of memberships on regional boards, all aiming to protect and build the quality of life for Oregonians.
“There’s a tradition of private citizens having an impact on the state,” says Booth. Though he admits his idealism has changed a bit since his days as an economics student at the University of Oregon and as a law student at Stanford, he remains committed to the idea that the non-profit sector remains a “place you can get things done.”
A former trustee of the University of Oregon Foundation, he has also done much to protect Oregon’s strong tradition of public education: through support of the library’s collections, leadership on the boards of the Oregon Humanities Center and the Museum of Art, and membership on President Frohnmayer’s Council of 100.
During the late 50’s, Booth’s campus leadership roles reflected his evolving and diverse interests. He edited a column for the Oregon Daily Emerald, helped to found the Northwest Review, and served as president of both his fraternity and his class. However, even then, his active public life was balanced with an active inner life.
Graduating with departmental and Phi Beta Kappa honors, Booth cultivated his intellectual curiosity and talents through liberal arts coursework—in philosophy, creative writing, history, and political science—and, he says, lots of time in the library.
A fourth-generation Oregonian, Booth spent his childhood on an orchard near the Umpqua River, reading and “following all the Oregon teams.” “I never wanted to go to Stanford or Princeton,” he says. “I’ve always been very proud of Oregon.”
In many ways, Booth’s dedication to Oregon’s history is inextricable from his family history. His great-uncle Robert, known as R.A. Booth, started the parks movement in Oregon, preserving places along the coast and in the gorge that Brian himself would work to protect generations later. From his grand-father, who was an educational advocate and avid book collector, he gained “a sense of wonder about books” and an inspiration to build his own estimable private collection.
Much of his work now has to do with “rekindling that appreciation” of Oregon’s environmental and cultural resources. He says it’s about looking back at what others, like R.A., have contributed and saying: “This didn’t just happen. It took leadership, and gifts.”
Booth also credits his current family for inspiring and supporting his success. The father of two children and stepfather to four children, Booth feels fortunate that his wife, Gwyneth Gamble Booth, has both supported and participated in his civic involvements. In 1997, the couple was jointly presented with the Tom McCall Leadership Award for contributions to Oregon’s quality of life and named as First Citizens of Portland in 1998.
Booth’s family, with his classmates and colleagues, will come together to honor his accomplishments on October 24th on the University of Oregon campus.
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1245 University of Oregon • Eugene, OR • 97403-1245
(541) 346.3950 • FAX (541) 346.3282 • alumnidev@cas.uoregon.edu
Copyright © 2003 University of Oregon
Updated November 4, 2003
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