A unique program inviting University of Oklahoma students to create their own businesses will grow and thrive through a $5.35 million gift from Ronnie K. Irani of Oklaho­ma City. This is the largest single gift in university history from an international alumnus.

Irani’s commitment to the OU Foundation benefits the Center for the Creation...

Three new members recently joined the University of Oklahoma Foundation Board of Trustees, and two longtime trustees said goodbye after a combined 18 years of service.

The board welcomed Jeb Boatman of Chi­cago; Keith Jackson of Little Rock, Ark.; and Larry Pinkerkton of Tulsa, Okla., at its Feb­ruary meeting. Leaving the board after three...

Steve and Kathy Swatek’s marriage, friendships and pro­fessional lives all were shaped by the University of Oklahoma. They have chosen to share the fruit of those relationships through a $1.5 million planned gift to the OU Foundation.

The bequest will be distributed among three areas, with $1 million to the Library Center of Excellence Fu...

The Stanley White Foundation of Tulsa has continued its longtime support of the Univer­sity of Oklahoma’s Michael F. Price College of Business with a recent $50,000 gift to the Center for Entrepreneurship.

Since 2003, the Stanley White Foundation has provided more than $1.6 million to foster OU entrepreneurial programs. In recognition of...

University of Oklahoma alumni and supporters gathered together in spirit and deed during “OU Giving Day,” a first-of-its-kind online event that raised $179,257 for unrestricted scholarships on Feb. 28.

Eighteen colleges and two programs from each of OU’s campuses hosted mini-campaigns through the university’s “Thousands Strong” website, th...

Every child deserves access to quality den­tal care – it’s the very reason the University of Oklahoma’s Division of Developmental Den­tistry exists. And a $1 million gift from Dr. Jerome B. Miller will ensure dental care is of­fered at the most updated, technologically ad­vanced clinic available.

Miller, a retired Oklahoma City dentist, i...

Two new scholarships for University of Oklahoma students began six decades ago with a flat.

During Christmas break in 1956, Donna Wilmoth was driving around campus when she saw an acquaintance and his friend rolling a tire to a local garage. She offered them a ride, and was introduced to Ray West.

“I’m not sure you could say it wa...

Oklahomans living in the southwestern part of our state will enjoy better health outcomes due to the generosity and fore­sight of the McMahon Foundation of Lawton.

A $150,000 gift to the University of Okla­homa Foundation will provide $1,000 schol­arships over three years to 50 students in the Lawton-based program offered by OU’s Fran and...

Nearly eight years after her death, a re­tired nurse has made a $1.27 million estate gift to the University of Okla­homa Foundation to benefit the OU College of Medicine.

Avis Stoll made a career of nursing and nurse education. She was born in 1913 near Medford, Okla., the youngest of five children. She graduated from Medford High School...

While it’s common for alumni to sup­port their alma mater, it’s much more unusual when someone creates a scholarship before graduaing. But that is what Indianapolis alumna Olivia Salsbery did.

Salsbery initiated the Lorene D. Salsbery Scholarship at the University of Oklahoma Foun­dation in memory of her mother. The $2,500 annual award pro...

The service and devotion of the late Dr. Joseph Salamy, whose re­markable career changed the landscape of family medicine in Tulsa, have been honored with a $100,000 gift to the University of Oklahoma Foundation from Founders of Doctors’ Hospital Inc.

The gift will fund the Joseph Salamy, M.D., Intern of the Year Award, which is given annu...

Five outstanding University of Okla­homa sophomores have been named re­cipients of the prestigious 2016 Rita H. Lottinville Prize. The students were honored during a November luncheon at which OU Foundation President and CEO Guy L. Pat­ton presented their awards.

The five winners were selected from a pool of 526 OU sophomores who took a mi...

|Paul Mershon, a noted petroleum ge­ologist whose love of adventure, education and world travel made him a hero among his extended family, has left a $3.3 mil­lion legacy to students who follow in his footsteps at the University of Okla­homa.

Mershon established an estate gift at the OU Foundation that will pro­vide support for faculty in...

OU-Tulsa will un­dergo a $1 million campus beau­tification project through the generosity of the Stuart Family Foundation.

Formerly a research center for BP Amoco Oil Co., the 60-acre Schusterman campus has been home to OU-Tulsa’s academic programs since 1999.

More than 30 undergraduate, master’s and doctoral degree programs and...

A $230,400 estate gift from the late University of Oklahoma alum­nus T. Jay Thompson will benefit students in the disparate fields of piano, math and physics.

Thompson, an Alfred P. Sloan Scholar who was elected to Pi Mu Epsilon national hon­orary mathematics frater­nity during his time at OU, stipulated that half of his gift go to establ...

For two decades, retired Gen. Jerry Holmes was a teacher unlike any other at the University of Oklahoma. Former students and friends are stepping forward to ensure that the same can be said of a leadership program es­tablished in his name at the Gal­logly College of Engineering.

Two dozen donors have given more than $90,500 to benefit the...

A gift from the prestigious Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts is helping seven Oklahoma tribes re-envision how images of Native Americans are shaped through a unique collaboration between artist Will Wilson and the Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art.

A $44,000 gift to the University of Oklahoma Founda­tion will support PHOTO/SYNTHESIS,...

Donald Dumler’s career was decided at the age of 3.

That’s when the future principal organist of St. Patrick’s Cathedral was set on a path leading him to the University of Oklahoma and famed organ teacher Mildred Andrews Boggess. The gift of his genius now has become a scholarship for the next generation of organ students through a $25,00...

Henry James’ career took him far from 1950s Altus, Okla., but he never forgot where he came from or the peo­ple who helped create his future.

A longtime investment banking partner for Gold­man Sachs of New York City, James recalls walk­ing daily from Washing­ton Elementary School to his parents’ grocery store before going next door to esc...

As a young University of Oklahoma engi­neering physics student, Michael Ruby thought his job was to listen to lectures, read assignments, work the problems and memorize, memorize, memorize. But required liberal arts courses on the philosophy and his­tory of science set a course for discovery that would change his perspective and his life.

William D. Brewer would give the suit off his back to help make the educational dreams of any aspiring engineer a re­ality – in fact, he has. He also has made a $1 million pledge to create an endowed chair that will benefit countless students in the University of Oklaho­ma’s Gallogly College of Engi­neering.

Brewer established the W.D. Br...

Cathryn Withrow and her late husband, Jon, shared a passion for the University of Oklahoma, travel and for everything French. Now, their family foundation is making it possible for all three to be celebrated at an unprecedented alumni reunion.

On May 27, the OU France Alumni Network will welcome Sooners to a nightlong celebration at the Ei...

A couple whose marriage took them around the world has made OU College of Law students their last­ing legacy. The $620,000 Frank and Lucille Pope En­dowed Scholarship will generate more than $31,000 each year for law students, with pref­erence given to members of the Cherokee Na­tion. Frank Pope, a Tulsa native, was proud of his Cherokee heritage...

University of Oklahoma supporters, faculty, staff and students gathered beneath a bright blue Tuscan sky in Arezzo, Italy, on June 27 to celebrate a new era in international studies.

President David L. Boren and local dignitaries that included Arezzo Mayor Alessandro Ghinelli cut the ribbon that formally dedicated the Santa Chiara Monaste...

The 2016 University of Oklahoma Foundation Investment Forum brought the world of venture capital into focus for more than 100 guests who attended June’s seventh annual event.

“Sowing Seeds of Change: Investing in Innovation” featured an annual report on the Foundation’s performance; an update on global markets and the economy from Cambrid...

Every generation of alumni has its differences. Tastes in music, books and clothing change, after all. But a love for the University of Oklahoma School of Industrial and Systems Engineering is bringing its alumni population together in a big way.

The school is seeing large numbers of young alumni make financial gifts to support academic pr...

The towns of Marjayoun and Bdaydoun are not familiar to most, but are a beloved touchstone for generations of Lebanese descendants who became leaders throughout Oklahoma business, education, military and government.

The story of how dozens of families from two Syro-Lebanese villages settled and thrived in Oklahoma is being told for the fi...

Twenty thousand years of Oklahoma history are slowly coming to the surface through the continued generosity of Harold Courson of Perryton, Texas, and Arnold and Wanda Coldiron of Aurora, Ohio.

They are primary supporters of the High Plains Research Fund at the University of Oklahoma Foundation. The fund was established to further research...

Dave and Judi Proctor have turned the loss of their sons into a series of life-affirming gifts that will help generations of University of Oklahoma students.

Dave, a Seminole, Okla., native who attended the same schools as OU President David L. Boren, earned a 1962 OU mathematics degree. He went on to a successful career in the aerospace a...

Friends, family and colleagues of the late University of Oklahoma College of Architecture Dean Charles W. Graham are banding together to create a fitting tribute to his memory.

Graham, who died unexpectedly in February, had served as dean since 2009. He was the driving force behind expanding academic programs at the College of Architecture...

Sue Stein House had a reputation as a straight shooter, anindividual who liked to get directly to the point in conversations with others.

A complex, intelligent woman who managed to successfully combine a career and family, the OU alumna and Dallas native also was known for her generosity, grace and goodwill, along with a steadfast commitm...

In 1962, Weppner was a U.S. Air Force officer to Norman to earn a master’s degree in electrical engineering. “I hadn’t been west of the Mississippi,” the New York native said. “It was a big culture shock, but I thoroughly enjoyed my years there.”

Weppner was deployed to Massachusetts before receiving his diploma. He eventually worked on fl...

Pioneer Natural Resources USA Inc. has continued its long support of energy education at the University of Oklahoma in 2016 with two $100,000 gifts to schools within the Mewbourne College of Earth and Energy.

Pioneer, which is based in Irving, Texas, is a large independent oil and gas company that was formed through the 1997 merger of Park...

Physics education at OU will forever be changed with the construction of a state-of-the-art complex made possible by major gifts from the Avenir Foundation of Lake­wood, Colo., and former faculty member Chun C. Lin.

A new aca­demic building, to be named Lin Hall, will pro­vide more than 18,000 square feet of research laboratories and 15,00...

Iran appears to be slowly emerging from decades of tension with the United States and the West and will be a key piece of U.S. foreign policy. OU students will be uniquely positioned to encounter this new global reality through the help of a $4 million commitment from the Farzaneh Family Foundation.

The gift is the largest in OU history fr...

As a law librarian, Marilyn Nicely spent her career making sure that information is available to the public in perpetuity. Now she is ensuring the same through a planned gift to KGOU Radio.

KGOU is a full-service public radio station licensed to the university and operated by OU Outreach. The station serves the greater Oklahoma City metrop...

OU’s men’s and women’s golf teams will soon have one of the finest practice courses in the nation, due to the generosity of alumnus Jerry Ransom of Greenville, Texas.

Ransom, a 1966 engi­neering physics graduate, made a $2.75 million gift to the OU Foundation for construction of a four-hole “short course” that will be named the Ransom Sho...

The OU Foundation is doing its part to conserve resources with a paperless receipt system.

For the past year, OU donors have had the option of digital gift receipts set up on a schedule of their choosing. A printable e-mail with tax-deduction information can be sent each time a gift is made or on an annual basis.

The paperless o...

A unique public-private partnership be­tween the OU College of Medicine, the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma, the CDC Foundation, the Oklahoma State De­partment of Health and the Gilead Founda­tion has set its sights on eliminating Hepatitis C among Native Americans.

The Gilead Foundation established the Hepatitis C in Native Americans Fund at...

Lloyd Austin freely credited his long and successful career with Texaco to two things: God, and the excellent education he re­ceived at OU. Austin came to the university through the GI Bill after serving in the U.S. Navy as a World War II radioman.

A few days after graduating from OU with a 1951 petroleum engi­neering degree, Lloyd hitche...

The unexpected death of OU As­sistant Professor Owen Kulemeka devastated his family and a legion of devoted students, colleagues and friends. Now, an endowed scholarship fund es­tablished in Kulemeka’s name will keep his joy of learning and mission of service alive.

More than 20 donors have contributed $26,000 to the Owen Kulemeka Memorial...

The third year of medical school can be an overwhelming financial challenge, as Dr. Diane Heaton well knows. It’s a precarious time when medical students are still a year away from earning a regular income, yet often are required to travel extensively for resi­dency interviews.

“My father passed away unexpectedly in my third year, but I wa...

Charles Holliman’s parents made it possible for him to earn a debt-free OU education that took him to the pinnacle of scientific exploration at NASA. But a part of him was al­ways back in the high school classrooms where he had learned to love the liberal arts.

“I was good at math and science and all the things that go into engineering, so...

Construction of Gallogly Hall, the future home of OU’s Stephenson School of Biomedical Engineering, will start soon on the former site of Craddock Hall. These World War II barracks were moved from the former Naval Air Station on OU’s north

campus in 1947 and long served as headquarters for the university’s U.S. Air Force ROTC unit. Last su...

The OU College of Law is making its noted ener­gy law program available to even more students through two endowed scholarships pro­vided by gifts to the OU Foun­dation. The Mahaffey & Gore En­dowed Scholarship was estab­lished by a $105,000 gift from the Oklahoma City law firm, considered one of Oklahoma’s premier leaders in energy law. Many at...

Pride of Oklahoma alumni and friends have made the band’s new uniform campaign a resounding success, high-stepping past the $300,000 fundraising goal.

To date, more than $350,000 has been raised to underwrite 425 sets of uniforms. A lead gift of $150,000 was made by the McCasland Foundation of Duncan, with generous gifts of $50,000 from bo...

A new website inviting donors to join forces to benefit “mini-campaigns” is bringing the power of social media to bear on OU people and programs.

“Thousands Strong” launched in February and allows OU students, fac­ulty and staff members to dream their best ideas into life by sharing alterna­tive funding opportunities with OU supporters.