ONEOK Gives $1 Million to OSU-Tulsa
ONEOK Gives $1 Million to OSU-Tulsa
THE GIFT: OSU President Burns Hargis, ONEOK, Inc. Chief Executive Officer John Gibson, and OSU-Tulsa President Gary Trennepohl were at the announcement Sept. 30 of the $1 million gift from ONEOK, Inc. to OSU-Tulsa.
DANIEL C. CAMERON for GTR Newspapers
Oklahoma State University announced in September a $1 million gift from Tulsa-based ONEOK, Inc. to establish a faculty chair to enhance teaching and research in the area of finance.
Once fully matched dollar-for-dollar by the Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education and T. Boone Pickens’ chair match commitment, the gift will provide $4 million in endowed funds for OSU-Tulsa.
“We are extremely grateful to ONEOK for its generous gift that will elevate the level of teaching and finance research in OSU’s Spears School of Business,” says OSU President Burns Hargis.
ONEOK Chief Executive Officer John Gibson says endowing the chair through the OSU Foundation is a result of the company’s commitment to higher education and relationship with the university.
“It gives us tremendous pride to know that our investment will help OSU attract and retain a faculty of the highest quality and reputation, producing graduates of exceptional ability, who will help Oklahoma companies like ONEOK meet the energy challenges that lie ahead for our country,” said Gibson.
OSU-Tulsa President Gary Trennepohl says the gift will create the first endowed Chair in finance at OSU-Tulsa.
“ONEOK is providing a valuable resource by establishing permanent funding to attract and retain world-class faculty to OSU-Tulsa,” Trennepohl says.
In order to take full advantage of the state’s dollar-for-dollar match, and make the most significant impact on OSU academics, ONEOK made the gift prior to the July 1 change in the state’s endowed chair matching program. This gift is part of the $68 million in endowed faculty gifts OSU announced this summer.
The impact of the ONEOK gift will be leveraged by Pickens’ historic $100 million academic donation on May 21. Pickens’ donation was used to match other donor gifts to faculty chairs and professorships in the area of the donor’s choice. As a result, the donors’ original gifts will quadruple once matched by the State.
Updated 10-21-2008
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