Tulsa Foundation Honors Legacy with Endowed Chemistry Professorship at OSU

Monday, January 29, 2007

STILLWATER-- Oklahoma State University (OSU) Foundation officials announced today a $500,000 gift received from the Edward E. and Helen T. Bartlett Foundation to create the Harrison I. Bartlett Professorship in chemistry. The gift is also eligible for state matching funds.
 
The Bartlett professorship is the first endowed position in chemistry and will allow its holder to conduct research and play an important role in helping fulfill the university’s overall goal of achieving status as a top 75 research institution.
 
“Endowed chairs and professorships are an important part of creating a pipeline for excellence,” said Dr. Peter Sherwood, dean of the college of arts and sciences. “Highly regarded in the academic world are those persons who hold endowed professorships.  These appointments produce strength in teaching and research at the university and unify the intellectual framework of the institution.”
 
The professorship continues a lengthy partnership between the Bartlett Foundation and OSU and is the second endowed faculty position at the institution that bears the Bartlett name.  Previously, the foundation established a Chair in Chemical Engineering with the help of a $500,000 gift matched by an Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education that doubles contributions to endowments for chairs and professorships.  In total, the Bartlett Foundation has provided OSU with more than $1.5 million over 45 years.
 
“Bart and Claudia Bartlett have a passion for excellence in education, whether it is primary, secondary or higher education,” stated Kirk Jewell, president and CEO of the OSU Foundation. “The decades of support from the Bartlett Foundation for the students, faculty and programs at Oklahoma State University is impacting education at our land grant institution.”
 
The Bartlett Foundation is currently managed by Bart Bartlett, Harrison Bartlett’s son.  A trustee of the Edward E. and Helen T. Bartlett Foundation from 1979 until his death in 1994, Harrison Bartlett attended OSU,  then Oklahoma A&M College, from 1941 – 1942 before entering the U. S. Army Air Corps.
 
“Dad was passionate about the Foundation and OSU,” said Bart Bartlett.  “I can not think of a better way for the Foundation to remember him than to endow this professorship in his memory at the University that he loved.”
 
The Oklahoma State University Foundation is the private fundraising organization for OSU, as designated by the OSU Regents. Its mission is to unite donor and university passions and priorities to achieve excellence.  For information about the Oklahoma State University Foundation log onto www.osugiving.com   or call 405.385.5100.