Congratulations to the Graduating Class of 2025!
Once a Duck, Always a Duck!
Congratulations to graduating Ducks from the College of Arts and Sciences! Whether your academic and professional journey began at the University of Oregon as an undergraduate or graduate student, you all found an academic home at the College of Arts and Sciences—and became a part of a thriving, dynamic community. This year, CAS is proud to celebrate nearly 3,000 graduating Ducks. This includes 2,611 undergraduates, 208 master's students, and 117 PhD students.
CAS commencement ceremonies are being held by departments throughout the college on Sunday, June 15, and Monday, June 16. Find out the details of this year's ceremonies.
News from CAS
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We Love Our Supporters
Gifts to the College of Arts and Sciences can help our students make the most of their college careers. To do this, CAS needs your support. Your contributions help us ensure that teaching, research, advising, mentoring, and support services are fully available to every student. Thank you!
Preparing New Generations of Global Leaders
A gift from one of Oregon’s most philanthropic families will inspire the next generation of global citizens and changemakers to address the world’s most pressing issues. A $25 million commitment from Portland real estate developer, philanthropist and UO alumnus Jordan Schnitzer and the Harold & Arlene Schnitzer CARE Foundation will raise the national and global reputation of the Schnitzer School of Global Studies and Languages.
This gift—the largest ever to the College of Arts and Sciences—will provide financial support for undergraduate and graduate students, as well as retain and recruit top-tier faculty members. It will also expand the reach of the recently formed Center for Global Futures, creating an interdisciplinary hub for scholars and practitioners dedicated to the understanding of, educating about and preparing for future trends and challenges across the world.
What’s Happening in CAS?
The urgency of climate change can’t be overstated. The Earth’s ten hottest years on record have occurred in the last decade, and 2024 has been the very hottest. This is leading to devastating and costly consequences. This month is a special issue that looks at how students are dealing with one of the bleakest futures of any generation and how CAS researchers are addressing climate change.
Find out how researchers in CAS are calculating the cost of climate change for Oregon households, chemists developing sustainable technologies, using economics to inform policymaking—and more.
Undergraduate Studies
Wherever your academic goals eventually take you at the UO, all Ducks begin their journey with foundational courses in CAS. More than 60 percent of students go on to pursue a major in a CAS department or program. With more than 50 departments and programs, there’s an intellectual home for almost any interest, talent, or career aspiration.
Graduate Studies
The College of Arts and Sciences offers more than 30 master's programs and more than 20 doctoral programs across a diverse range of disciplines. Both as contributors to research teams and through their own scholarship and teaching, our CAS graduate students are indispensable to the vitality of the UO academic mission.
Student Support Services
We provide our students with a variety of resources to help you thrive inside and outside the classroom. Through Tykeson Advising, we provide comprehensive academic and career advising from the start of your journey at the University of Oregon. Learn about career preparation and get assistance in selecting the very best classes. Connect with labs, libraries, IT and tutoring. Find your community on campus.
World-Class Faculty
The College of Arts and Sciences faculty members are a driving force of the high-output, high-impact research activity that has earned the UO membership in the prestigious Association of American Universities (AAU). Our world-class faculty members are inspiring teachers.
Among them are five members of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, four members of the National Academy of Sciences. They are committed to helping students discover their academic passion. Every day, they work to expand students’ intellectual horizons, preparing them for life after college with real-world knowledge and skills.
Meet our Dean
In the College of Arts and Sciences (CAS), we are committed to excellence in research and teaching, student success, and diversity, equity, and belonging.
A liberal arts education—one that offers a breadth of intellectual approaches and perspectives and depth in a major discipline—is the foundation to a purposeful life as a life-long learner, engaged citizen, and leader. The skills you will learn here—from written and verbal communication to analytical and quantitative reasoning, to compassion and understanding—are those that employers seek and will open the door to a wealth of opportunities.
You will find more than 50 majors and a multitude of minors within CAS, and seemingly endless opportunities for personal exploration and discovery. Whether you are an incoming first-year student, a grad student or a transfer student, you can map an exciting future and be part of a fun, warm, engaged liberal arts community here. Come join us. And go Ducks!
The College of Arts and Sciences includes:
Happening at CAS
noon
Human Biology in Focus: Evolutionary Genomics and Diabetic Neuropathy
Join us for a dynamic lunch-hour lecture featuring two cutting-edge researchers exploring human biology from distinct yet complementary angles. This event reoccurs monthly during term-time, and will showcase the work of two to three amazing international faculty or researchers currently hosted by the University of Oregon. Coffee, tea, and a light snack will be served, bring your own lunch!
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Carolina de Lima Adam (Institute of Ecology and Evolution) Insights into primate evolution through genomic Tandem Repeats Carolina will delve into how rapidly evolving DNA sequences—tandem repeats—shed light on recent evolutionary changes between humans and chimpanzees, revealing patterns of genetic conservation and selection.
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Mathew Varre (Department of Human Physiology) Diabetic Neuropathy: Can you diagnose it earlier? Mathew will discuss innovative approaches to diagnosing diabetic neuropathy earlier, using biomechanical analysis and wearable technology to prevent complications like foot ulcers and amputations.
Dr. Mathew Sunil Varre is a Research Associate in the Department of Human Physiology. Prior to joining UO, he was a postdoctoral scholar at the University of Washington and Center for Limb Loss and Mobility at the Veterans Affairs Hospital Puget Sound. He has Master of Science degrees in Biomedical Engineering from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and Mechanical Engineering from the University of Kansas.
Mathew’s primary research interests are aging-related diseases and how they affect walking and balance using biomechanical principles and wearable technology. His doctoral and postdoctoral work focused on the progression of diabetes-related foot complications and design and testing of 3-D printed insoles for people with diabetes. His work has been published in peer-reviewed journals such as Diabetes Care, Clinical Biomechanics, Gait & Posture, and Sensors. His future research interests in this area are to develop early diagnostic tools to prevent diabetes-related foot complications such as foot ulcers and amputations and providing patient-specific interventions.
Dr. Carolina de Lima Adam is a postdoctoral researcher in the Rohlfs Lab at the Institute of Ecology and Evolution at the University of Oregon. Originally from southern Brazil, she earned her bachelor's degree in Biology from a small liberal arts college before pursuing graduate studies at the Federal University of Paraná. There, she completed both her master’s degree (2017) and Ph.D. (2022) in Zoology, focusing on evolutionary biology and genomics.
During her doctoral studies, Carolina broadened her research experience through a six-month internship at the Hawaii Institute of Marine Biology. In 2023, she joined the University of Oregon, where her current research explores the evolutionary dynamics of tandem repeats in primate genomes using long-read sequencing technologies. Her work combines computational biology, evolutionary theory, and molecular genetics to better understand the forces shaping genome evolution.
3:15 p.m.
Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry Seminar 2025 Alumni Achievement Award
Jeremiah Marsden, Former President Cascade Chemistry & Owner, Claim 52 Brewing Event hosts: Vickie DeRose and Mike Haley
From Bench to Boardroom to Brewery
As a student it can be difficult to picture where your degree will take you. This talk provides a story of opportunities taken and lessons learned in growing and selling a successful chemistry business.
Followed by Light Refreshments, 4:15-5pm
2:00 p.m.
Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry Physical Chemistry Seminar Series
Physical Chemistry Rotation Talks
Revanth Elangovan “Enhanced Sampling of Ligand Binding Coupled to the RNA Conformational Dynamics“
Evan Wylie “An Application of On-the-Fly Probability-Enhanced Sampling to Gas-Phase Protein Unfolding“
3:00 p.m.
Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry Organic/Inorganic/Materials Seminar Series
Spring Rotation Talks
3:00 pm Sam Rundquist Jasti Lab 3:15 pm Ally Wagner Jasti Lab 3:30 pm Joel Ashton DWJ Lab 3:45 pm Robert Greenwood DWJ Lab 4:00 pm Natalie Lakanen DWJ Lab 4:15 pm George Piepgras Cook Lab 4:30 pm Campbelle Hunt DeRose Lab 4:45 pm Ernesto Lucatero DeRose Lab