Daughter honors “wildcatter” father with $250,000 professorship in water research and management
Monday, July 14, 2008
Dick & Malinda Berry Fischer gift to address state’s water availability, use and quality
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The chairman of Thomas N. Berry & Company, Malinda received a secondary education
degree from OSU in 1960. She attended Harvard Business School while Dick was attending
Harvard Law School. The professorship will focus on sustaining Oklahoma’s agricultural
water supply by helping producers, land owners and the public make informed and beneficial
decisions about water usage and management.
“The response from our alumni and friends has exceeded our wildest expectations,”
said OSU President Burns Hargis. “Inspired by Boone Pickens’ astounding generosity,
donors answered the call to make a lasting difference and open a new and exciting
chapter at OSU. We sincerely appreciate what Dick and Malinda have done for the benefit
of OSU academics and research and value this lasting way they have chosen to honor
her father.”
Thomas E. Berry was born in 1906 in Ripley, Okla, and was a lifelong resident of Payne
county. A firm believer that water research was as valuable as oil research, he pioneered
the use of waste water effluent to irrigate farmlands in Stillwater. By implementing
this process, Berry eliminated toxicity in water resulting in thicker grasslands,
and some of his methods are still implemented.
Malinda stated, “Water is very important, and my father believed it more than 50 years
ago. Because [OSU] is a land-grant institution, we all know focusing on this issue
was even more important today for Oklahoma as well as our communities as it was 50
years ago. As Americans, we don’t think twice about drinking water in any of our
towns or cities, but the rest of the world certainly can’t say that. Research into
conservation and desalinization is becoming very important as people are finding creative
ways to solve these sustainability issues, and we’re just happy to be able to continue
my father’s legacy.”
In order to take full advantage of the state’s dollar-for-dollar match, and make the
most significant impact on OSU academics, the Fischers made the gift prior to the
July 1 change in the state’s endowed chair matching program. This gift is part of
the $66.8 million in endowed faculty gifts OSU announced recently.
The gift will create the Thomas E. Berry Professorship in Water Research and Management
located within the College of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources. As availability
of water in many parts of the state becomes an increasingly urgent issue, a key to
agricultural-based businesses survival is managing this vital resource. This endowed
position will help Oklahoma agriculture meet one of the important challenges it will
face in the 21st century: a healthy and sustainable water supply.
Jean Van Delinder, chair of the OSU Faculty Council, said, "OSU is poised for growth
and further prominence but to realize its full potential we must continue to attract
and retain top scholars and researchers. These chairs highlight the important role
that scholarship and teaching play at Oklahoma State University, and they are made
possible through the generous support of donors who value excellence in scholarship
and want to help OSU continue to nurture a strong faculty."
Endowed professorship and chairs are academic designations which provide support for
faculty salary, graduate assistantships, equipment and research needs, as well as
other support. These endowed faculty positions allow a university to attract and
retain the best and the brightest academic minds in the world.