University of Oklahoma Schusterman Center

University of Oklahoma Schusterman Center. . (side 1) , The university of Oklahoma Schusterman Center was established in 1999 and named in honor of Charles and Lynn Schusterman of Tulsa. Charles Schusterman, distinguished OU alumnus and inaugural member of OU's Seed Sower Society, served as founder, chairman and CEO of Samson Investment Co. He graduated from OU in 1958 with a degree in petroleum engineering and was honored posthumously with an honorary degree from OU in May 2001. Lynn Schusterman, a leader of many national and international charitable organizations, along with her husband, was inducted into the Tulsa Hall of Fame in 2000. Charles was inducted to the Oklahoma Hall of Fame in 2000 and Lynn was inducted in 2006. Partners in philanthropy and in helping others, together they founded the Charles and Lynn Schusterman Family Foundation. An unsolicited gift from the foundation enabled the University of Oklahoma to purchase the former BP-Amoco Research Center and the surrounding 60 acres and transform it into the main campus for OU-Tulsa., Prior to the establishment of the Schusterman Center, OU programs in Tulsa had been scattered in a wide variety of locations across the city. The earliest program of the University of Oklahoma in Tulsa started in 1957 as a partnership with the Tulsa City-County Library. This was one of the first programs to be part (Continued on other side). (side 2) (Continued from other side). of the Tulsa Graduate Center, which became University of Tulsa in 1982. In 1972, the Oklahoma State Legislature created a clinical branch of the University of Oklahoma College of Medicine in Tulsa. When he became President of the University of Oklahoma in 1994, David Boren established the goal of bringing OU's many Tulsa programs together on one main campus for better coordination and to strengthen the University community. He had opened negotiations with BP-Amoco about the campus location when the gift was offered through a telephone call from Charles Schusterman. Ken Lackey served as the first President of OU-Tulsa. By the fall of 2002, all OU academic programs in Tulsa were located at the Schusterman Center. The Schusterman Center campus was greatly expanded under Ken Levit, who succeeded Lackey as President. Under Levit's leadership, a strategic plan for OU-Tulsa and a campus master plan were developed. In May of 2004, the Oklahoma State Legislature passed a statute officially recognizing OU-Tulsa as part of the University of Oklahoma system. In 2006, Dr. Gerry Clancy became President of OU Tulsa, continuing the commitment and vision of building a nationally recognized center of excellence that emphasizes strong campus and community partnerships and leverages the unique opportunities and needs in the Tulsa region.