President
April 9, 2018
Businessman and philanthropist D. Allen Lund of Pasadena, Calif. passed away on April 7, 2018. He was a longtime supporter of the University of Portland, a member of the University’s Board of Regents since 2001 and Board Chair from 2008-2017.
The funeral mass for Allen will be Saturday, April 14 at 5 p.m. at the Cathedral of our Lady of the Angels in Los Angeles, Calif.
“I am deeply saddened by the loss of Allen. We will be forever grateful to him and his wife Kathie for their steadfast devotion and generosity to the University of Portland,” said Rev. Mark L. Poorman, C.S.C., University President. “As the former Chair of the Board of Regents, Allen was a committed partner in leading the University, a generous contributor to our projects and visions, a staunch colleague, and a treasured personal friend.”
Allen Lund and his wife Kathleen (Kathie) have contributed over $10 million dollars to the University, their generosity supporting the construction of the University’s Bell Tower, the establishment of an endowed scholarship for students, the building of Lund Family Residence Hall and Beauchamp Recreation and Wellness Center, and the purchase and provision of a Heritage Edition of the Saint John’s Bible that is on permanent display in the Clark Library.
In 2016, Allen and Kathie received the Christus Magister medal, the University’s highest honor.
Allen was also proud of his personal University of Portland connections. He and Kathie have a daughter, son-in law, and two grandchildren who are graduates as well as numerous current and future UP students.
During his tenure as Chair of the Board of Regents from 2008 through 2017, the University grew and prospered. Capital projects included the remodeling, expansion, and renaming of Donald P. Shiley Hall and School of Engineering; the expansion of Bauccio Commons; and the construction of the Bell Tower all in 2009; the redesign of Clark Library in 2013; and the renovated Pilot House and the new Beauchamp Recreation and Wellness Center in 2015.
To accommodate growing admission numbers, UP built three new residence halls during Allen’s term as chair: Fields Hall, Schoenfeldt Hall, and, most recently, Lund Family Hall, dedicated in November 2016. Since 2008, UP also acquired the Franz Campus which will be the site of a new physical plant building, tennis center, rowing center, track, intramural fields, and parking.
Also during his tenure as board chair, the RISE campaign was publically announced in 2010 and raised over $182 million for the University. The campaign supported many of the capital projects, as well as scholarships, which increased from $1.9 million in 2008 to over $3 million in 2017. Recent years have also seen such academic developments as the Franz Trading Room and Financial Research Lab, the Dundon-Berchtold Institute for Applied Ethics, and the start of construction of a new academic center, Dundon-Berchtold Hall.
About Allen and Kathie Lund
Allen and Kathie Lund met as teenagers in rural Utah, where Allen ran a ride at an amusement park and Kathie was the lovely girl who sold 35-cent tickets for the ride. They soon married and for eight years Allen operated heavy construction equipment. In 1968 at the age of 28, he went to work for C.H. Robinson, a third-party logistics company, which transferred the family to Los Angeles eighteen months later. In 1976, with $1,000, six children, Kathie working nights in a factory, and “a huge leap of faith,” as Allen said, he started Allen Lund Company – which today oversees 250,000 shipments a year and earns nearly $450 million annually. The company also continually receives the industry’s top marks for business ethics, financial strength, and credit practices.
The Allen Lund Company was selected as a 2015 Top Private Company by Los Angeles Business Journal, 2015 Top 100 Logistics IT Provider by Inbound Logistics, a 2014 Supply & Demand Chain Executive 100, a 2014 Great Supply Chain Partner, and was placed in Transport Topics' "2014 Top 25 Freight Brokerage Firms." In 2011 the company received the TIA 3PL Samaritan Award, and the NASTC (National Association of Small Trucking Companies) named Allen Lund Company the 2010 Best Broker of the Year.
The Lunds have also been major donors to the Catholic Church and have been deeply committed to Catholic education beyond the University of Portland. They received the St. Elizabeth Ann Seton award from the National Catholic Education Association in 2009 for their significant support of Catholic education, and in 2011 Kathie was named a Cardinal Honoree by the Archdiocese of Los Angeles.
In addition to the University’s Board of Regents, Allen Lund served on the board of directors of St. Francis High School where he was board president for 16 years; and for St. John’s Seminary in Camarillo, Calif.; on the finance council for the Archdiocese of Los Angeles; as trustee for the Catholic Education Foundation of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles; and as Chairman of the Board of the Magis Institute. Allen and Kathie also served for 12 years as the co-chairs for the Los Angeles Catholic Prayer Breakfast.
“God showered us with the gift of our Catholic faith, with six holy children, with success in business like we never could have dreamed, and amazing and wonderful friends and religious to walk with us every step of the way,” he once said. “We are truly blessed to be able to help others.”
Allen is survived by his wife Kathie, six children and their spouses, 22 grandchildren, and two great-grandchildren.
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