Hardesty Family Foundation provides opportunities
to ‘dream and achieve’

Michelle and Roger Hardesty.

Michelle Hardesty, CEO of the Hardesty Family Foundation, fondly remembers what her dad, Roger, instilled in her from a young age—education and hard work lead to self-esteem and a way out of poverty.

Through her family’s foundation gifts, she is helping Tulsa-area residents realize their dreams by offering nursing scholarships while also providing the Tulsa community with an educated workforce.

The Hardesty Family Foundation, established in 2005 by F. Roger Hardesty and his wife, Donna, has supported the University of Oklahoma-Tulsa through more than $556,000 in gifts to the OU Foundation since 2013. Their most recent grant of $275,000 supports the Hardesty Family Foundation Scholarship Fund and the Hardesty Family Foundation Nursing Simulation Fund for OU-Tulsa.

“We are incredibly grateful to the Hardesty Family Foundation for their continued investment in nursing at OU-Tulsa and in the nursing students who are preparing to take their places in the country’s most trusted profession,” said OU Fran and Earl Ziegler College of Nursing Dean Julie Hoff.

“My parents had to sacrifice in those early years,” said Michelle. “My dad was very entrepreneurial. Through hard work and sacrifice came success.”

Roger is the founder and CEO of United States Aviation Co. and The Hardesty Companies, Oklahoma-based businesses with diversified holdings employing more than 1,000 workers in the Tulsa area.

With wellness as an area of focus, Michelle said that the OU-Tulsa nursing program caught the attention of their board. “Our foundation recognizes the need for quality healthcare, which in turn requires a robust nursing workforce. These OU-Tulsa scholarships will provide students interested in studying nursing with the opportunity to ‘learn where they live.’

“My maternal grandfather, Loyd ‘Bull’ Manley, was an unlikely college student because he grew up very poor. He came to OU with $50 in his pocket—enough for housing and food for one semester. But through football and wrestling scholarships and hard work, he was able to complete his OU bachelor’s degree in education in 1935 and become a teacher at Carnegie, Okla.”

The Hardesty family was like-minded, she said. “My mom was a teacher, and my dad values the honorary degrees he has received through the years. He has always instilled the importance of education in our family, employees and community.”

The Hardesty Family Foundation also supports the OU-Tulsa Social Simulation Program Non-Profit Fund established at the OU Foundation supplementing the cost for Tulsa Area United Way agencies to participate in training.

Michelle emphasized the significance of the project, which provides trainings utilized by clinical providers and employees of nonprofit organizations in the Tulsa community who need additional training and certifications.

“As a foundation, we invest in improving health outcomes, mental health, workforce development, addiction recovery, and other causes with many organizations in the Tulsa area. OU-Tulsa is a valued partner in helping us meet the needs of our community.

“Through these partnerships, we can fulfill our family mantra—believing in the American Dream of hard work and tenacity—'If you can dream it, you can achieve it.' "