Visionary OSU couple impact Oklahoma rural communities through $1.8 million commitment
Thursday, July 10, 2008
Dresser Trust to provide four endowed faculty positions at OSU
View Full List of Endowed Faculty Chair Announcements
Georgia Ina Dresser received her bachelor’s degree in home economics from OSU in 1925,
and passed away in 1989. A civil engineer, Laurence L. Dresser was the founder and
past owner and president of the Tulsa-based Dresser Engineering Co. He passed away
in 1980.
“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 the Dresser family’s continued commitment
to this university.”
In order to take full advantage of the state’s dollar-for-dollar match, and make the
most significant impact on OSU academics, the Dresser Trust gift was made 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 a chair in rural medicine and a chair in rural health policy
within OSU’s Center for Health Sciences. Additionally it will create a professorship
in rural sociology for the College of Arts & Sciences and a professorship in rural
education located in the College of Education. The earnings from each endowment will
support a variety of needs from faculty salary support and research expenditures to
curriculum development and conference participation.
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 professorships 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.