Gary Clark named to OSU leadership position
Friday, March 7, 2008
As vice president, he will report directly to new OSU President Burns Hargis. In this position, he will serve as the senior adviser to the president for university relations and be directly involved with the full spectrum of activities and responsibilities of the president.
Clark also will act as liaison with the OSU Foundation, Alumni Association, and other external associations, with direct interaction with other system officials, the OSU Board of Regents, State Regents and other OSU constituents.
“Gary Clark will make a wonderful addition to my leadership team,” said Hargis. “We are thrilled to have someone in this position who not only is an alumnus, but has served on the Board of Regents and at the OSU Foundation. He knows OSU, he knows the OSU family, and he has a real passion to help OSU move forward in all areas.”
Clark served on the Board of Regents for OSU/A&M Colleges, including serving as chair from 1997-98.
In his position, he will serve as a member of the System Executive Team and Stillwater Cabinet, with a particular focus on interactions with and among all the campuses and agencies of the university to identify and build upon inter-related policies, procedures, programs and activities. He will be responsible for assisting in the implementation of integrated strategies to maximize university relations and achieve the goals of OSU and the OSU System.
Clark received his B.S. degree in 1969 and his master’s degree in 1972, both from OSU, and his juris doctorate with honors from the University of Texas in 1975.
In 2004, he joined the OSU Foundation as vice president and general counsel with responsibility for planned giving. In the most recent fiscal year, planned gift commitments and realized gifts totaled almost $56 million, more than three times the previous high. In addition to those duties, Clark also successfully handled the negotiations to purchase property as part of the OSU athletic expansion. Prior to joining the OSU Foundation, he practiced law in Tulsa for almost 30 years.
He is a member of the Payne County Bar Association; the Tulsa County Bar Association,
where he served as president and as a member of the board of directors; Oklahoma Bar
Association, where he served as president in 2002, held two three-year terms on the
Board of Governors, and has been a member of the House of Delegates since 1980; and
the American Bar Association.
He was selected as the Outstanding Senior Lawyer of the Tulsa County Bar Association
in 1996. Among other honors, he has received the Maurice Merrill Award for the outstanding
article in the Oklahoma Bar Association Journal, the Golden Gavel Award as chair of
the outstanding committee or task force of the OBA, and the John Shipp Award for Ethics.
Clark is a Fellow of the American College of Trust and Estate Counsel. While in private
practice in Tulsa, he was listed in The Best Lawyers in America (trusts and estates
and bankruptcy law). He is a member of the board of directors of White Woods Retirement
Campus, Inc., and was recently elected to the board of directors of the Cimarron Council
of the Boy Scouts of America.
His wife, Jane, is a teacher at Will Rogers Elementary in Stillwater, and they are the parents of two adult children, Ross and Lauren.