Dr. Mitchell joins higher-ed stalwarts in hall of fame

Tuesday, October 18, 2005

When describing his 38-year legacy at Oklahoma State University, 2005 Oklahoma Higher Education Hall of Fame inductee Dr. Earl D. Mitchell Jr. recalls a story about 19th-century biologist and chemist Louis Pasteur. Reputedly, the man who said, “Chance favors the prepared mind,” was blessed by good fortune in discovering chirality.

“Pasteur went on to discover many, many things, but as a doctoral student, he demonstrated that organic molecules exist in right-handed and left-handed forms by comparing crystals of tartaric acid,” Mitchell said. “We now know that had he not been in Paris at that time of year, with perfect environmental conditions, he would not have achieved the crystallization.

“Without any kind of climate control, what Pasteur did would have been impossible just about anywhere else in the world. Sometimes, doing things is all about being in the right place at the right time.”

OSU has been the right place for Mitchell since 1967 when, as a postdoctoral student, he joined Dr. George Waller’s research team in the biochemistry and molecular biology department. OSU had recently become the first in the United States to possess a gas chromatograph mass-spectrometer, setting the stage for groundbreaking research.

The group’s work led to numerous publications, including a 1969 Science magazine cover story on feline metabolism and productive collaborations. Years later, when the Nixon administration launched a federal initiative to fund meriting agricultural research programs at historically black colleges and universities, Mitchell co-wrote Langston University’s successful proposal with Dr. Steve Latimer, a colleague of Waller’s at the school.

The mass spectrometer is now an artifact in the Smithsonian Institute, and many of Mitchell’s early collaborators have moved on. Still, he has sought to create opportunities for others in each of his subsequent capacities — as a professor of biochemistry and molecular biology, assistant dean of OSU’s Graduate College, and associate vice president for Multicultural Affairs.

Since its establishment in 1994, Mitchell has served as the Oklahoma director for the Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation. The National Science Foundation-funded program seeks to increase the number of students pursuing science, mathematics, engineering and technology degrees with scholarship support, summer internships and research opportunities.

“When we started in 1994, 214 Hispanic, African American, Native American and Pacific Islander students received baccalaureate degrees at state schools, and the number is now around 720,” Mitchell said. “And Oklahoma now produces approximately one-third of all Native Americans graduating nationwide each year with four-year degrees in science, math, engineering and technology fields.”

Mitchell has also impacted the supply of exceptional student prospects at colleges and universities in the state.

“I knew Frank Harbin, a state legislator from McAlester, from my time on the state Merit Protection Commission, and Dan Draper, who was Speaker of the House, was my neighbor here in Stillwater,” Mitchell said. “I also visited Penny Williams, the state representative from Tulsa, and Sen. Bernice Shedrick here in Stillwater, and it just solidified something they’d been thinking about.

“They [Williams and Shedrick] took the ball and ran with it and authored the bill that established the Oklahoma School of Science and Math."

Shedrick, an attorney in Stillwater, said Mitchell brought to the endeavor his unparalleled ability to inspire others with ideas.

“Dr. Mitchell approached Sen. Williams and me with this vision of creating a math and science high school for the state of Oklahoma,” Shedrick said. “It’s one thing to put your ideas out there, and it’s another to bring people along with you, but he brought his expertise to the table with detailed research showing us how this type of specialized instruction would be a major investment in the young people of our state.

“Today, OSOM sets the standard nationwide with its comprehensive education and ranks among the top in the nation in students’ scores on college entrance exams."

The Oklahoma Higher Education Hall of Fame Induction is perhaps the ultimate accolade for OSU’s first tenured African American faculty member. Although he speaks of retiring in the not-too-distant future to spend more time with his wife, Bernice, and their children and grandchildren, Mitchell will not relent in his quiet efforts behind the scenes.

A noted civil rights proponent, Mitchell is also active in the United Methodist Church as well as the Democratic Party, including serving as a delegate to the National Convention last year.

“The world would work a lot better if no one was concerned about who gets credit,” Mitchell said. “My attitude has always been about getting the right people together to get things done.

“When we’re not worried about who gets credit, people can do a lot.”