Contact: Di Saunders – Office, 503-725-5714; Cell, 503-807-5539
Portland, OR, August 17 – George Pernsteiner, chancellor of the Oregon University System, announced today that Ben Rawlins has been appointed to the new position of deputy chancellor for legal affairs and chief of staff for the OUS. Mr. Rawlins has served as general counsel for the OUS since 1999.
Chancellor Pernsteiner said, “Ben is an incredibly involved, trusted advisor and administrative official for the university system. We are grateful for his service as general counsel, and extremely fortunate that he will now serve the system in a broader capacity. His increased responsibilities now encompass management of legal policy and counsel, and oversight of internal operations for the Chancellor’s office.”
As deputy chancellor for Legal Affairs and chief of staff, Rawlins will serve as OUS liaison to the Department of Justice in monitoring statutorily mandated legal services, serve as legal counsel to the Oregon State Board of Higher Education, the chancellor, system staff and the institutions that are without counsel; oversee internal operations for the Chancellor’s office; and manage legal services from a policy perspective. Mr. Rawlins will also continue to oversee the legal affairs (former general counsel) department which is responsible for intellectual property oversight, educational contracting, risk management, legislative initiatives legal analysis, and policy development and analysis.
Prior to joining OUS, Rawlins served as special assistant to the chancellor for Legal Affairs with North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University, one of the nation’s premier and most competitive Historically Black Colleges and Universities, during a significant growth and infrastructure enhancement period. Previously, he served at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill as director of Judicial Programs, assistant to the vice chancellor for Administration, and the first acting affirmative action officer; provided legal services for a firm that represented eight construction unions; and served as law clerk with the U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia and for the Honorable H. Carl Moultrie of the Superior Court of Washington, D.C.
Mr. Rawlins holds a Juris Doctor from Georgetown University Law Center, a Masters in Public Administration from the University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill, and a Bachelor of Arts, Cum Laude, from Johnson C. Smith University in Charlotte, North Carolina. In addition to his professional commitments, he has dedicated time and resources to numerous local boards and initiatives including Habitat for Humanity and United Way of Greater Greensboro.