Helmerich Family Pledges $9 Million For OSU-Tulsa's Research and Technology Center
Wednesday, September 28, 2005
TULSA – Oklahoma State University announced today that Walter and Peggy Helmerich
and The Helmerich Foundation are pledging $9 million to OSU-Tulsa’s first research
and technology development center, which will be named the Helmerich Advanced Technology
Research Center.
“This is a monumental gift and a substantial boost to our vision of building a center
that will be a state and national model for academic and economic stimulation through
innovative university-industry collaboration,” said OSU System CEO and President David
J. Schmidly. “We are extremely proud that our new Advanced Technology Research Center
now bears the Helmerich name.
“The Helmerich gift, along with the commitment of the people of Tulsa through VISION
2025 and the state bond issue, will allow us to create a facility that will attract
world-class faculty and propel OSU-Tulsa to new levels of achievement,” Schmidly said.
Walter Helmerich said, “This is a unique opportunity for our family and our foundation
to support research and technology development that can truly make a difference here
at home and around the world. There is exciting potential to leverage the fundamental
research conducted at OSU-Tulsa’s new center into commercially successful enterprises.
The ATRC will make a lasting impact on the Tulsa economy.”
OSU-Tulsa will begin construction on the 123,000-square foot Helmerich Advanced Technology
Research Center in October and hopes to open the center in the fall of 2007. The city
of Tulsa committed $30 million through its 2025 initiative and then the state committed
$12.9 million through its higher education capital bond issue to make the center a
reality.
“We are truly grateful to the people of Tulsa and the state for their commitment
to this state-of-the art center,” said Gary Trennepohl, president of OSU-Tulsa. “This
gift from The Helmerich Foundation gives us the ability to completely outfit all laboratories
with the latest scientific equipment needed to reach the center’s full potential.
The Helmerich ATRC launches an important new chapter in the life of OSU-Tulsa.”
Karl Reid, dean of the OSU College of Engineering, Architecture and Technology, is
equally excited about what the Helmerich ATRC will mean to the Tulsa region and to
Oklahoma. “Our vision for the Helmerich ATRC is that it will be a national model for
economic stimulation through university research and technology development.
“The center will have a huge impact on our ability to attract faculty who are competitive
with the best, to prepare our graduates to be intellectual leaders in technology-based
organizations, and to make a difference in new enterprise development,” Reid said.
When fully operational, Trennepohl said he expects the center to house 40 faculty
and 100 graduate students with a payroll of $8.5-to-$10 million. The $9 million Helmerich
gift, which will be paid over five years, will help pay construction costs and for
the purchase of state-of-the-art equipment for the center’s core and thrust laboratories.
The Helmerich ATRC will focus on four strategic research and technology development
thrusts that are part of the fabric and the future of the Tulsa region – materials
science and engineering, bio-based technologies, energy technologies, and information
and control technologies.
Across these four areas, the ATRC will focus on development of advanced materials
that are derived from the application of nanotechnology to biological and biomedical
materials, ceramics, composites, sensors, aerospace materials, polymers, and metals.
“It is the scope of work and what it can mean to energy, aerospace and other industries
in our region and our state that is truly exciting,” Helmerich said.
The Helmerich Foundation was created in 1965 by Walter Helmerich and his father.
The Helmerichs have been valuable supporters of OSU. Mr. Helmerich was a leader in
the campaign to renovate OSU’s historic Gallagher-Iba Arena and Mrs. Helmerich has
been an influential supporter of the OSU Centennial Commission and the Friends of
OSU Edmon Low Library.