$100 Million Given to Oklahoma State University by Alumnus T. Boone Pickens
Chairman of BP Capital Management and philanthropist, T. Boone Pickens, is giving $100 million to Oklahoma State University — the single largest academic donation ever made to a college or university in the state of Oklahoma, according to a university press release (“Largest Academic Donation in Oklahoma History,” May 21, 2008).
“Without question, Boone’s gift will enable us to retain and attract extraordinary faculty members better ensuring OSU students will be inspired by exceptional and accomplished professors and researchers, said OSU President, Burns Hargis. “It launches us on our way to achieve big dreams.”
Pickens, a 1951 graduate of Oklahoma State, has donated a total of $400 million to the school. His most recent gift is eligible for a dollar-for-dollar match through the State of Oklahoma’s endowed chair program, which doubles the gift’s value to $200 million, and will more than double the current number of faculty chairs.
OSU currently has 101 fully funded and matched chairs and professorships set at $500,000 and $250,000 each respectively. The endowment gift will establish more than 150 chair and professorship positions, which will be determined by the university.
“This gift is due in large part to the vision and leadership of Burns Hargis,” Pickens said in his address to the school. “He is absolutely the right person at the right time to be OSU president and I believe he will guide OSU to levels of success we have never seen before.”
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