Early career Immediately following his graduation from law school, he clerked for Judge
Marvin Katz of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania for the 1984 term. He practiced law at the law firm of
Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson from 1985 to 1987. In 1987, Schill joined the faculty at the
University of Pennsylvania Law School and its
Wharton School. He served as assistant professor of law from 1987 to 1992, and became professor of law in 1992. From 1993 to 1995 he was professor of law and real estate. In 1995 he moved to the
New York University School of Law and
Wagner School of Public Service, becoming professor of law and urban planning. Simultaneously, he became the founding director of the
Furman Center for Real Estate and Urban Policy. He held both positions until 2004, and in 2003 he additionally became the Wilf Family Professor in Property Law. During his five and one-half years at UCLA, Schill recruited leading legal scholars from top schools across the nation and established thirteen endowed chairs. He launched three new legal research centers and two academic specialization programs. Alumni participation in fundraising doubled during his tenure as dean, and private philanthropy tripled. Schill served as chair of the Council of Professional School Deans and sat on the UCLA Chancellor's Executive Committee. He focused on three priorities: enhancing academic and research excellence, supporting student access and success, and improving campus experience and diversity. In 2016, Schill announced the launch of the Phil and Penny Knight Campus for Accelerating Scientific Impact, a billion dollar initiative to transform innovation at the University of Oregon. The first phase, anchored by a $500 million gift from the Knights, was completed in December 2020 with the grand opening of the campus’s first building. In July 2021, the University of Oregon received a second $500 million gift from the Knights to fund the next phase of the campus. Under Schill's leadership, the University of Oregon partnered with Oregon Health and Science University to seed new academic opportunities to benefit society and create a
biomedical data science center focused on finding treatments and cures for cancer. In 2021, Schill announced that the university had surpassed its $3 billion fundraising goal, a university and state record. During his time as president, from 2015 to the end of the campaign, the University of Oregon raised $2.5 billion and extended its comprehensive campaign goal from $2 to $3 billion. The campaign was the largest in the university's history. Schill announced the Oregon Commitment in 2015, an effort focused on supporting student success by improving four-year graduation rates and providing more access to higher education through programs such as PathwayOregon, which provides free tuition, fees, and specialized advising to eligible Oregonians. As part of this effort, Tykeson Hall opened in August 2019, home to two dozen new academic advisors trained in an integrated approach to providing academic and career-readiness support to students. The university reached the goal of improving four-year graduation rates by 10 percentage points a year early, in 2019. In an effort to encourage the exchange of ideas and make campus more inclusive and equitable, Schill held a series of events focused on freedom of expression, launched an African American speaker series, oversaw the development of thirty-four diversity action plans for each major administrative and academic unit on campus, and championed the creation of a new Black Cultural Center, which opened in 2019. Schill also recommended changing the names of two campus buildings to send a clear message that racism had no place at the University of Oregon and that the welfare, inclusion, and success of Black, indigenous, and other students, faculty, and staff of color was central to the university’s mission. In 2020, Schill and Provost Patrick Phillips announced a major initiative to hire more faculty of color and retain those already at the university, to establish a center on racial disparities, and to promote inclusion in the University of Oregon’s classrooms. During Schill's tenure as president, Philip Knight's influence increased, as did the influence other mega donors and private foundations had on the public university, and the University of Oregon received some of the largest gifts in higher-ed history. Knight continued to build controversial athletic facilities, this time on the University of Oregon's main campus.
2024 Deering Meadow encampment controversy and resignation In April 2024, amid nationwide pro-Palestinian campus protests following the 2023 Hamas–Israel war, students established a “Gaza solidarity” encampment on Northwestern University’s Deering Meadow. After five days of demonstrations, the university — in a statement signed by Schill — reached an agreement with organizers that allowed the encampment to end peacefully in exchange for, among other terms, permitting continued protests through June 1 and expanding institutional support for Palestinian and MENA/Muslim students. Jewish communal groups including ADL Midwest, StandWithUs, and the Louis D. Brandeis Center denounced the agreement, arguing that Jewish students faced harassment during the encampment and that the university’s concessions rewarded conduct they viewed as antisemitic. Their joint statement called the administration’s response “reprehensible and dangerous” and urged the Board of Trustees to remove Schill. Schill’s handling of the encampment later became a focal point of federal scrutiny. At a May 2024 U.S. House Committee on Education and the Workforce hearing, Republican members accused him of failing to enforce university rules and protect Jewish students, criticizing what they described as a “disgraceful deal” with demonstrators. A subsequent House staff report concluded that “no NU student faced disciplinary sanctions” in connection with the encampment, a finding critics cited as further evidence of insufficient administrative action. In February 2025, Schill announced his resignation as president of Northwestern University. While the university’s official statement cited “leadership transition priorities,” multiple outlets reported that critics — including some trustee and donor factions — viewed his departure as linked in part to dissatisfaction with his handling of the 2024 encampment and broader concerns about campus antisemitism under his leadership. Schill has rejected claims that he failed to protect Jewish students, asserting in congressional testimony and campus messages that the agreement ended a “major antisemitic event” without violence and that due-process requirements limited the speed of disciplinary action. On September 4, 2025, Schill announced his resignation.
Advisory roles Schill was the chair of the PAC-12 CEO Group and a member of the Board of Governors for the NCAA. He is a member of the Board of Trustees of
Ithaka Harbors, the nonprofit parent of
JSTOR. He has served as a member of the
New York City Loft Board, the New York City Neighborhood Investment Advisory Panel, the Fannie Mae New York Partnership Office, Housing Policy Debate and the Board of Governors of
Argonne National Laboratory. He has also received research grants from the MacArthur Foundation, the Ford Foundation, and the United States Department of Commerce, among others. He has also co-authored
Reducing the Cost of New Housing Construction in New York City: 2005 Update (Center For Real Estate and Urban Policy, 2005) (with Jerry Salama and Jonathan Springer),
Revitalizing America’s Cities: Neighborhood Reinvestment and Displacement (State University of New York Press, 1983) (with Richard P. Nathan), and
The State of New York City’s Housing and Neighborhoods, 2003, 2004, 2005 (Furman Center for Real Estate and Urban Policy) (with Denise Previti). ==Honors==