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OSU economist among hall of fame inductees

Tuesday, October 18, 2005

When it comes to straight talk about Oklahoma's economy, colleagues and reporters alike have rave reviews for Dr. Larkin Warner, economist and Regents professor emeritus at Oklahoma State University. They say it comes as no surprise that Warner is among those who were inducted into the Oklahoma Higher Education Hall of Fame October 18th during ceremonies at the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma City.

One of Warner’s colleagues at OSU, Dr. Jerry Lage calls him a true professional. “Larkin always managed to draw practical insights from economic data that he could share with others and that’s what makes that data so valuable in the first place,” says Lage, who adds that he was struck by Warner’s thoroughness, organization, disciplined thinking and logic.

Warner worked for OSU for 33 years and his economic-savvy brought a lot of attention to the university. He is mainly noted for his research that emphasized practical issues in public finance, education and transportation in Oklahoma.

“Larkin has been a tremendous asset to the state when it comes to our policy on expenditures. He worked on a project with the Kerr Foundation for years that actually tracked state expenditures and their functions and services. He knows how to interpret his findings and convert them into budgetary policy recommendations that can help the state develop over the long-term,” says Lage.

Former KOSU news reporter Paul Sund, who now serves as Governor Brad Henry’s communications director, says he remembers well his many interviews with Warner. “I knew I could trust Larkin as someone who could explain Oklahoma’s economic situation in a way that all of us could understand. It was a pure pleasure to be assigned to talk to him.” 

As good as he is as an economist and communicator, ask Warner himself about the task he has prized most over the years and his answer might surprise you: “I have always appreciated access to the Edmon Low Library (OSU). This is truly the university’s major academic asset. I particularly value my recollections of Edmon Low himself. I was chair of the Faculty Council’s Library Committee the last year that Mr. Low was head librarian—sometime in the mid-1960s.”

Warner’s own collection of research is available for use at the library.

As for his hall of fame honor, Warner insists it’s really the result of “being in the right institutional setting with colleagues and administrators who shared my commitment to research and public service for economic development in Oklahoma.”

“It is amazing that three of these individuals, all of whom are retired members of the Department of Economics and Legal Studies in business at OSU, have preceded me as hall of fame honorees—Richard Poole, Richard Leftwich and Robert Sandmeyer.”


 

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