Financial Security

As "Mr. Geology of Oregon" the one indispensable tool Ewart Baldwin needed to map the lay of thousands of miles of Oregon's rugged landscape was his vintage Brunton pocket transit.

As "Mr. Geology of Oregon" the one indispensable tool Ewart Baldwin needed to map the lay of thousands of miles of Oregon's rugged landscape was his vintage Brunton pocket transit.

For charting their financial security, the retired UO geology professor and his wife, Margaret, tapped into gift planning.

"It's altruistic in a way, and in a way it isn't," Ewart says.

"It's a good financial deal. The interest rate ranges from about 8.5 to 10 percent. Not bad, when you compare it to what you'd get from a bank."

Over three decades, the Baldwins established five life income gifts to the UO: a charitable remainder unitrust, three gift annuities, and a pooled income fund.

In 2005, Ewart received the state's Outstanding Scientist Award from the Oregon Academy of Science. He wrote the first three editions of the venerable Geology of Oregon, the only comprehensive book on the subject when it came out in 1959.

"The university has been good to me, and I hope to be good to it," says Ewart, who turned ninety-three in 2007. "I owe my professional life to the university-and I'm grateful."