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original intent of each gift is scrupulously observed.
The formation of the Foundation was in response to prospective private donors’ concern that money given directly to the University, an agency of state government, might be diverted to the state treasury and that donor intent could not be guaranteed. They also feared that the legislature could reduce state support for an institution receiving private funding. The University’s solution—at the time a pioneering concept for Oklahoma—was an independent organization to receive, administer, invest, and expend private funds solely for the benefit of the institution.
First organized as a trust in 1944 at the instigation of OU President George L. Cross, who served as its chairman, the Foundation spent its fledgling years in Cross’ desk drawer. The trust was governed by three ex-officio trustees—the presidents of the University, the Alumni Association and the Dads’ Association—with its limited business affairs conducted by OU officials. By 1947, however, the Foundation had assets after expenditures of $34,000, and its certificate holders (donors receiving one vote per $100 contribution) had a total of 471 votes, enough to elect a board of trustees and officers.
A year later, the trustees hired the Foundation’s first staff member, R. Boyd Gunning, who on February 15, 1948, began more than 30 years as executive secretary, later executive director. Until the University formed its own development office in 1969, Gunning both procured and managed the institution’s private funds. When he retired in 1978, the Foundation’s assets totaled $17.5 million. He was succeeded by Ron D. Burton, who previously had served as the Foundation’s treasurer.
Burton retired in October 2007, ending 29 years as the Foundation's chief executive. Guy L. Patton, who had held a number of high-level executive positions with Fidelity Investments, most recently in Boston, became only the third president in the Foundation's 63-year history.
The Foundation had outgrown the 1944 trust arrangement by the early 1950s, both in size and scope of its holdings and responsibilities. At President Cross’ suggestion, the trustees in 1951 elected the corporation’s chairman from the membership; the first to hold that office was Ward S. Merrick, Sr., of Ardmore. Subsequently a more flexible charitable corporation was formed under the laws of the state of Oklahoma and therefore tax exempt under section 501 (c) (3) of the Internal Revenue Code. Under the new charter, articles and bylaws were adopted, including a 20-member governing board of trustees (a maximum of 40 was authorized by the charter; the present board numbers 22). The corporation’s certificate holders retained their one vote per $100 contribution, up to 1,000 votes. The first trustees meeting of the new University of Oklahoma Foundation, Inc., was held on April 20, 1955.
While a substantial portion of Foundation funds is received for special projects and may be expended in their entirety, a rapidly increasing percentage of private gifts is held in trust with only earnings spent to achieve the donors' objectives. By June 30, 2007, the Foundation’s total assets stood at $863.9 million with nearly $642.6 million of that figure permanently endowed.
Growth over time has necessitated the addition of professional staff and support personnel. The first full-time treasurer was hired in 1968; an accounting department was added; computerization brought in technical specialists; the responsibility for publishing Sooner Magazine was assumed in 1980. By 2007, the Foundation's staff numbered 20.
In 1967 an auxiliary office was opened at the OU Heath Sciences Center in the Robert Bird Library Building. After several moves on the Norman campus, the Foundation built its own $1.3 million facility at 100 Timberdell Road in Gunning Park on the University’s south campus. Financed entirely by private gifts from its Board of Trustees and completed in 1983, the property was deeded to the University and in turn is leased by the Foundation for a dollar a year.
In addition to its own staff and the volunteer expertise contributed by committees of its trustees, the Foundation employs the services of several professional fund managers, whose performances are monitored by a separate investment advisory firm. Annual independent audits are conducted by a major accounting firm.
By 2000, the rapid growth of the Foundation once again necessitated streamlining and modernizing its corporate structure. Modifications included establishing an effective committee system; eliminating the $100 voting membership; vesting control directly in the hands of the Board of Trustees, and adopting staff titles more reflective of responsibilities, notably the executive director becoming president of the Foundation.
The areas of the University that have benefited from private contributions to the Foundation are as varied as the institution itself. Projects as small as publication of a single book and as large as multimillion-dollar buildings owe their existence to Foundation funds and the funding expertise of Foundation personnel. The faculty has been strengthened immeasurably by professional endowments and other salary supplements, as well as research, travel, and publication grants. Students attend OU on Foundation scholarships, fellowships, and loans. Conferences, lectureships, and academic journals receive Foundation sponsorship. Laboratory equipment, both simple and sophisticated, is financed by Foundation money, as are library acquisitions, facility furnishings, campus beautification, and museum exhibitions. The list goes on and on.
Whatever the source of private funds, whatever the beneficiary, the responsibility of the University of Oklahoma Foundation remains the same: To guarantee that the private contributions entrusted to its care are managed, invested, and expended in a sound, efficient, and ethical manner. The Foundation exists only to benefit the University of Oklahoma and in the last analysis is answerable only to its donors.
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