The University of Portland has dropped the name of one of its longtime benefactors from its school of business.

Last week, several media outlets reported that the University of Portland had removed Robert Pamplin Jr.’s name from its business school, after Pamplin admitted his company violated federal pension laws surrounding his company’s pension fund.

A longtime Oregon philanthropist, Pamplin, 83, previously owned more than two dozen newspapers across Oregon, including the Portland Tribune. He sold the newspaper company to Mississippi-based Carpenter Media Group in 2024.

In a statement, the university said that the name of the school was “subject to an agreement that has concluded,” but declined to comment further. Pamplin earned a master’s degree in business and education from the University of Portland.

The name change, first reported by The Oregonian, follows a lawsuit by the U.S. Department of Labor, alleging that Pamplin unlawfully sold over-valued real estate to his company’s pension fund for years. That real estate left the pension underfunded and risked damaging the pensions of retirees from Pamplin’s companies. Pamplin later admitted that his business violated pension laws, selling undesirable real estate to the pension numerous times.

A trustee is now working to sell off that land, including Pamplin’s ranch near Madras, wineries near Newberg and other properties. Once finished, Pamplin will be required to repay the balance of what the pension would have earned had it remained invested in high-quality stocks and bonds instead of his real estate.

Pamplin’s name is also on the college of business at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, commonly referred to as Virginia Tech. That building is named for both Pamplin and his father, Robert Pamplin Sr., who made his fortune as an executive with paper company Georgia-Pacific.