Dear Colleagues,
Our state is at a pivotal moment – and the University of Oklahoma is uniquely positioned to help shape what comes next.
Today, I’m proud to announce the launch of Project 200 – the most ambitious recruitment effort in our university’s history and a generational investment in research, talent, and Oklahoma’s future.
Through Project 200, we will recruit approximately 200 of the nation’s leading researchers to OU over the next five years. This effort focuses on four strategic areas where we are uniquely positioned to lead and deliver measurable impact: Health, Extreme Weather, National Security and Defense, and Secure and Resilient Energy. These priorities reflect OU’s longstanding strengths and a profound opportunity for us to emerge as a national pacesetter in innovation.
Importantly, Project 200 builds on the extraordinary work already happening across our university and the momentum of our existing faculty. What sets it apart is the scale and coordination of our approach: intentionally building the depth of talent needed to accelerate discovery and strengthen Oklahoma for decades to come.
As Oklahoma’s flagship public research university, our responsibility is larger than ourselves: to expand educational opportunity, to improve the health of our people, and to help drive the long-term economic vitality of our state. Our “Lead On, University” Strategic Plan charts that course, and Project 200 is a cornerstone of how we deliver on it.
OU’s research enterprise continues to grow, with rising national recognition and federal investment. At the same time, the competition for talent is intensifying. Project 200 positions us to move decisively – engaging exceptional researchers at scale and deepening our academic core while advancing leadership in areas critical to our state and nation. Moments like this are rare: when momentum, investment, and vision align to transform the trajectory of a state.
The impact of Project 200 will extend across our campuses, throughout Oklahoma, and far beyond. We are recruiting accomplished researchers with proven track records of collaborating across multidisciplinary teams. These researchers will arrive with established research programs and significant grant funding, creating new pathways for students, strengthening partnerships, and fueling discovery in the areas most critical to our state and nation.
Over time, this effort will help establish Oklahoma as a national destination for research, innovation, and opportunity – powered by one of the nation’s premier public research universities. Most importantly, it will translate into real outcomes for the people we serve: improving health, lifting communities, and broadening opportunity across Oklahoma.
This is what it means to lead as the state’s flagship research university.
To learn more about this bold initiative, visit the Project 200 webpage.
Thank you for the work you do each day to advance our mission and strengthen this university. The momentum behind Project 200 was built by you, our incredible OU Family – and together, we now have the opportunity to shape Oklahoma’s future in ways that will endure for generations.
Live On, University,
Joseph Harroz, Jr.
President
