The Condon Lecture Series was created in 1944 by the Oregon State Board of Higher Education and was named after the University of Oregon's first geologist, Thomas Condon. The collection contains published and unpublished versions of lectures.

Thomas Condon (1822-1907) was an Irish Congregational minister, a geologist and paleontologist who was appointed University of Oregon's first professor of geology in 1876 and continued as professor and chair of Natural Sciences until 1907. The collection (1897-1906) contains lecture notes, writings by Condon on a new fossil Pinniped, and books on skeletons and Pinnipeds owned by Condon.

Arnold Bennett Hall (1881-1936) served as president of the University of Oregon from 1926-1932. The collection contains records that document the functions, activities, and people of the Office of the President.

The Pine Mountain observatory operates under the University of Oregon's Department of Physics and under a special use permit from the Deschutes National Forest. The collection consists of construction and dedication records, committee and staff minutes, correspondence and reports, office files, guest registries, and a 2-volume history from 1963-1997.

The purpose of the UO Research Committee, and its successor, the General Research Council of the Oregon State System of Higher Education, was to stimulate research at the university. The collection contains one record book of minutes, correspondence, grant information, and project descriptions.

Sigma Xi was founded in 1886 (nationally) to honor excellence in scientific investigation and encourage a sense of companionship and cooperation among researchers in all fields of science and engineering. The Society of the Sigma Xi, University of Oregon Chapter, was founded in 1923 after a two year effort. Collection contains office files, correspondence, fraternity records, chapter book, and historical information.