On December 4, 2007, the nine-member OSU/A&M Board of Regents voted unanimously to select Oklahoma civic and business leader V. Burns Hargis as the 18th President of Oklahoma State University (OSU) and the more than 32,000-student OSU system...

Hargis graduated from OSU with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Accounting in 1967 and earned his Juris Doctorate from the University of Oklahoma Law School in 1970. He was a candidate for the Republican nominee for Governor of Oklahoma in 1990. For the past 10 years, he has served as Vice Chairman of Bank of Oklahoma. He practiced law for 28 years and is recognized in the publications “Who’s Who in American Law” and “The Best Lawyers in America.” He also served as Chair of the Oklahoma Commission for Human Services. He is a former member of the OSU/A&M Board of Regents and a former member of the Commission of the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools.

The OSU/A&M Board of Regents is the governing board for OSU in Stillwater and the OSU System which includes the OSU Center for Veterinary Health Sciences in Stillwater, OSU Center for Health Sciences in Tulsa, OSU-Tulsa, OSU-Oklahoma City, OSU-Okmulgee, the Cooperative Extension Service, the Agricultural Experiment Station, as well as Langston University in Langston, Connors State College in Warner, Oklahoma Panhandle State University in Goodwell, and Northeastern Oklahoma A&M College in Miami.

Jenny Redden of the Daily O'Collegian, points out that Burns Hargis is OSU president without a Ph.D. in more than 80 years:

The OSU regents say they found Mr. Right in businessman Burns Hargis.

But his appointment as the next university president signals the end of a time when the Oklahoma A&M Board of Regents would have settled for nothing less than Dr. Right.

Hargis will be OSU’s 18th president and the first since the 1920s without a Ph.D. when he starts in July.

The change may be the product of a national trend that shows states are providing less financing for public universities, many have said. (more)

Burns Hargis is being honored in April by the Oklahoma chapter of the Arthritis Foundation for, "commitment to the community and support of the state chapter's mission to be a leader in the prevention, control and cure of arthritis," according to NewsOK.com.

Boone Pickens has touted him as OSU's David Boren, and is a prominent volunteer for the United Way.

As the chairman of the Oklahoma Creativity Project a world-wide effort, he has said:

The state of Oklahoma is on the forefront of a national movement to promote the development of creativity and innovation...By consciously working to celebrate and encourage innovation in commerce, education and culture, we will secure continued prosperity for all Oklahomans.

Labels: OK Creativity Project, OSU, V. Burns Hargis