Brock Establishes Chair in Educational Leadership

Friday, August 3, 2018

The Oklahoma State University College of Education, Health and Aviation is pleased to announce a $100,000 gift from the John and Donnie Brock Foundation to establish the Brock Chair in Innovative Educational Leadership. The chair position will facilitate creative and cutting-edge educational approaches and strengthen the educational leadership program’s national reputation.

Brock and his late wife, Donnie, are Oklahoma natives and well-known for their investment in education. In 2001, they established and endowed the Brock International Prize for Education and Brock Symposium. The initiative seeks to discover and award the best and most innovative ideas in education, under the premise that education is an instrument to change the world. The Brock’s have continued to place value on education, creating a professorship in educational policy and leadership at OSU in 2008 and launching the Brock Fellowship in Educational Leadership through OSU-Tulsa last year.

The College of Education, Health and Aviation will use the chair position to recruit and retain a new faculty member in the educational leadership program. In addition to supporting a faculty salary, the fund will aid students, research endeavors, curriculum development and the creation of a center for innovation.

“This generous gift allows us to attract and support the best entrepreneurial talent in the field of education,” said John Romans, dean of the College of Education, Health and Aviation. “Gifts such as these are increasingly impactful as the educational climate continues to change and evolve. The Brock Chair in Innovative Educational Leadership represents the Brock’s continuation of a long-standing global commitment to transformative education, and we are proud to help make their vision a reality.”