The University of Oklahoma

Factbook 2002 Table of Contents

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CHRONOLOGICAL HISTORY

Norman Campus and Health Sciences Center -- 1890 to Present

1890	On December 19, Territorial Governor Steele approved bills for the location of three
	territorial schools: the university at Norman, the agricultural and mechanical school
	at Stillwater, and a normal school at Edmond.
1891	First Board of Regents for OU appointed by Governor Steele.
1892	David Ross Boyd, Superintendent of the Arkansas City, Kansas school system, became
	first President of OU.
	On September 15, OU enrolled first students. Of the fifty-seven students who presented
	themselves for admission, not one qualified for freshman standing. Therefore, the
	university began its career as a preparatory school and continued as such for several
	years.
1893	First college freshman enrolled.
	School of Pharmacy founded in response to demands for pharmacists in the territory.
	First annual catalog published; four departments were advertised: preparatory,
	collegiate, pharmaceutical, and musical.
1894	Oklahoma Historical Society organized.
1896	First degree--that of Pharmaceutical Chemist--conferred.
1898	First Bachelor of Arts degree conferred.
	University created four new divisions: graduate work, premedical work, School of
	Music, and the summer school.
	First graduate students enrolled.
1899	Alumni Association organized.
	Territorial legislature authorized creation of a department of Geology and Natural
	History, which later became the Geological Survey.
	First honorary degree conferred.
1900	First Master of Arts degree conferred.
	First medical instruction offered.
1901	Major elective system, with prescribed work in English, French, or German, biology or
	chemistry, and history was adopted by College of Arts and Sciences.
1902	School of Fine Arts established from School of Music.
1903	First Bachelor of Science degree conferred.
	Funds donated by Andrew Carnegie for the construction of a university library.
1904	School of Applied Science with curricula in mechanical, electrical, and civil
	engineering established.
	First Rhodes Scholar from OU chosen.
1905	First social fraternity (Kappa Alpha) chartered.
1906	First Master of Science degree conferred.
1907	President Theodore Roosevelt issued proclamation admitting Oklahoma as the forty-sixth
	state of the Union. OU automatically became the state university.
1908	President Boyd dismissed. A. Grant Evans became second President of OU.
1909	University reorganized into the Graduate School, College of Arts and Sciences, School
	of Fine Arts, School of Pharmacy, College of Engineering, and School of Medicine.
	School of Law organized.
	Faculty Senate organized.
	First sororities (Kappa Alpha Theta and Delta Delta Delta) chartered.
1910	School of Teaching organized in the College of Arts and Sciences.
	Preparatory School discontinued.
	School of Medicine merged with Epworth College of Medicine, with the first two years of
	School of Medicine continued on the Norman campus and the third and fourth years to be
	carried on at Oklahoma City.
1911	School of Nursing established.
	First Doctor of Medicine degrees conferred.
	President Evans resigned; Dean Julien Monnet of the Law School became Acting President.
	The State Board of Education became governing board of the university.
1912	First law degrees conferred.
	State University Hospital opened in Oklahoma City and operated a Training School for
	Nurses.
	Stratton D. Brooks became President of OU.
1913	School of Journalism and School of Commerce and Industry organized in College of Arts
	and Sciences.
	University Extension Departments organized.
1916	The Oklahoma Daily, first daily student newspaper, began operations.
1917	Student Loan Aid Association incorporated.
1919	School of Home Economics established in College of Arts and Sciences.
	The Seventh Legislature repealed provision that made State Board of Education the Board
	of Regents and set up a new and separate Board of Regents for OU.
1920	Phi Beta Kappa chapter established at OU.
	School of Education became independent school.
1922	Campus radio station (WNAD) went on the air.
1923	President Brooks resigned. Dean Buchanan of College of Arts and Sciences became Acting
	President; became President the following year.
	School of Business (formerly School of Commerce and Industry) organized as an
	independent school.
	Oklahoma Geological Survey abolished.
1924	School of Fine Arts reorganized as College of Fine Arts with subordinate schools in
	painting and design, dramatic art, and music.
	School of Petroleum Engineering established as part of College of Engineering.
	Oklahoma Geological Survey re-established.
1925	William Bizzell became President of OU.
	School of Physical Education established.
1926	Lew Wentz loan fund established.
1927	Books Abroad, international literary journal, published its first issue.
	Oklahoma Biological Survey established.
	Phillips Collection on Western History donated to the University Libraries.
	School of Citizenship and Public Affairs and School of Geology organized in College of
	Arts and Sciences.
1928	First two years of School of Medicine transferred to Oklahoma City and the four-year
	curriculum was given on one campus.
	Crippled Children's Hospital completed.
1929	First Doctor of Philosophy--in Zoology--conferred.
	University of Oklahoma Press established.
	School of Library Science established in College of Arts and Sciences.
	Schools of Education and Business elevated to college status.
	New University Library completed.
1931	First Doctor of Education degree conferred.
	First visiting professor came to OU.
	Appropriations for Geological Survey discontinued.
1932	School of General Engineering and School of Natural Gas Engineering organized in
	College of Engineering.
1935	AMA withdrew accreditation from Medical School, primarily because of political
	interference by governor admitting chiropractors to practice at University Hospital.
	Oklahoma Geological Survey reopened.
1936	Museum of Art established.
1937	School of Applied Biology and School of Letters organized in College of Arts and
	Sciences.
1941	Max Westheimer Flying Field acquired.
	President Bizzell resigned; Joseph Brandt became President of OU.
	Constitutional amendment established Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education.
1942	University College organized for freshmen.
	Colleges of Arts and Sciences, Business Administration, Education, Engineering, Fine
	Arts, and School of Pharmacy reorganized to include only upper division work.
	Research Institute created.
1943	Graduate School elevated to college status.
	President Brandt resigned; George Lynn Cross became President of OU.
	First research and distinguished faculty named.
1944	University of Oklahoma Foundation established.
1946	OU acquired North Base.
1947	Regents adopted AAUP policy on academic freedom and tenure.
1948	Medical School re-accredited by AMA.
1949	DeGolyer Collection in the History of Science donated to the University Libraries.
1950	OU desegregated graduate and law schools after Supreme Court decisions in the Sipuel
	and McLaurin cases.
1955	Bass Collection in Business History donated to the University Libraries.
	Undergraduate colleges desegregated.
1960	College of Liberal Studies organized offering a Bachelor of Liberal Studies degree.
1964	Honors Program began.
1967	College of Public Health organized on Oklahoma City campus.
1968	President Cross resigned; J. Herbert Holloman became President of OU.
1969	Neustadt/World Literature Today Prize for International Literature announced.
	College of Dentistry organized on Oklahoma City campus.
	Work began on Chaucer Variorum.
1970	College of Environmental Design organized.
	Provost system installed on each campus.
	President Holloman resigned; Provost Peter Kyle McCarter became Interim President of OU.
	College of Allied Health organized on Oklahoma City campus.
1971	Paul Sharp became ninth President of OU.
1973	First endowed chairs at OU selected.
1974	Medical college branch at Tulsa began training third and fourth year medical students.
1976	College of Pharmacy moved to Oklahoma City campus.
1977	President Sharp resigned as President, remained as Regents Professor of Education.
1978	William S. Banowsky became 10th President of OU.
1981	College of Geosciences established from Department of Geography, Schools of Geology
	and Geophysics, and Meteorology.
1982	Neustadt wing of the University Library opened.
	Fund raising began for an energy center and new music building.
	President Banowsky resigned; Provost J. R. Morris became Acting President.
	President Banowsky reassumed position.
1984	Library received two millionth volume.
1985	President Banowsky resigned; Martin C. Jischke became Interim President.
	Construction began on a building on the north campus to house the National Weather
	Service Forecast Office and the Next Generation Radar Operational Support Facility.
	Frank E. Horton became 11th President of OU.
1986	Catlett Music Center became operational upon completion of Phase IA.
	Office of Business and Industrial Cooperation established to help develop and diversify
	the state's economy by providing state businesses a means of tapping university resources.
	Office of International Programs established to foster international exchange among
	students and faculty.
1987	Weather Center building on the north campus completed and occupied by the Oklahoma
	City National Weather Service Forecast Office and the Next Generation Radar Operational
	Support Facility.
1988	President Horton resigned; David Swank became Interim President.
	The first strategic planning document for the Norman campus, Strategy for Excellence,
	unanimously endorsed by the OU Board of Regents in December.
1989	Richard L. Van Horn became 12th President of OU.
	OU Center for Aerospace Programs created.
	OU Center for the Analysis and Prediction of Storms selected as one of 11 sites nationwide
	to receive funding from the National Science Foundation as a national Science and
	Technology Center.
1990	Oklahoma MesoNet established in conjunction with OSU as a statewide network of
	agricultural, meteorological and hydrological sensors.
	Energy Center dedicated November 16.
	Forty-eight new endowed chairs and professorships created.
	Year-long Centennial Campaign concluded December 19 with total contributions of more
	than $150 million.
	University selected as site of new research effort and home of facility to evaluate fracturing
	materials. Primary funding for project provided by the Gas Research Institute.
	University-wide general education requirements implemented.
1991	Sarkeys Energy Center served as host for the Continental Conference on Natural Gas
	Vehicles and the first Natural Gas Vehicle Challenge, drawing engineering teams from
	universities throughout the United States and Canada.
	Eight new endowed professorships and chairs created.
	OU meteorologist selected by U.S. Department of Energy to be site scientist for the
	Atmospheric Radiation Measurement Program site in north central Oklahoma, one of
	five regions of the earth selected for long-term study of global climate change.
1992	Private giving to the university during FY 1992, with gifts of cash and property, reached
	$32 million.
1993	Fourteen endowed chairs and professorships were established during FY 1993 with a
	combination of private gifts and state matching funds. The university has a total of 99
	endowed positions: 58 chairs and 41 professorships.
1994	President Van Horn resigned; J. R. Morris became Interim President.
	David L. Boren became 13th President of OU.
	Seven endowed chairs and professorships were established during FY 1994 with a
	combination of private gifts and state matching funds. The university has a total of 106
	endowed positions.
1995	Enrollment of 179 National Merit Scholars ranked the university third among the nation's
	public institutions and first in the Big Eight.
	Ten endowed chairs and professorships were established, bringing the total to 116.
	The university launched the Reach for Excellence campaign, a private funding effort to
	raise $200 million by the year 2000.
	OU was selected as the site for the new Storm Prediction Center by the National Weather
	Service to provide short-term hazardous weather guidance for the continental U.S.
1996	Honors College established.
	OU Health Sciences Center's Oklahoma Telemedicine Network, a major medical
	communications system, was dedicated.
	International Programs Center established. Edward J. Perkins, former U.S. ambassador to
	Australia, became the center's first director.
	Construction began on the Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History.
	The OU Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art acquired the Fleishchaker Art Collection, which
	includes than 400 major works by notable artists.
	OU initiated the Faculty-in-Residence Program, in which faculty members live in student
	residence halls to create a sense of family and community on campus.
	The Presidential Professors program was established to reward both senior and junior
	faculty who excel in teaching and research.
	A new program, "OU Cousins," was established to help form friendships between volunteer
	American students and international students.
1997	An $18 million endowment to OU's College of Business by alumnus Michael F. Price was the
	largest gift to a public university and the third largest gift to higher education in the U.S. that year.
	In honor of his contributions, the college was named after Price.
	The International Programs Center served as host for the first Foreign Policy Conference.
	Expenditures of external programs reached $120 million, the largest in state history. It was
	the third year in a row that expenditures have topped $100 million.
1998	A $5 million gift by alumnus and Broadway producer A. Max Weitzenhoffer and his family benefitted
	the Musical Theatre Program, which OU Regents named in his honor.
	The Great Reading Room in Bizzell Memorial Library was named in honor of Peggy V. Helmerich.
	The Oklahoma Canyon Garden, located at Bizzell Memorial Library, and the Engineering
	Courtyard were completed.
	The Morris R. Pitman family made a $700,000 gift to endow the gardens of OU's south oval.
	The 105,000-square-foot, four-story Stanton L. Young Biomedical Research Center opened at the
	OU Health Sciences Center.
	The first University Vice President for Technology Development named and the Office of
	Technology Transfer created.
	The concert hall addition to Catlett Music Center was completed.
	Department of Dance becomes the School of Dance.
1999	OU/OSU Research and Graduate Education Center in Tulsa was officially opened.
	The Charles M. Russell Center for the Study of Art of the American West was dedicated.
	The Prentice Gautt Academic Center, located at the north end of Oklahoma Memorial Stadium,
	was dedicated.
	The Clarke-Anderson Room addition to Oklahoma Memorial Union was dedicated.
	The Health Sciences Center and Norman campus of OU teamed up with the Oklahoma
	Medical Research Foundation to form a new Bioengineering Center.
	The Donald W. Reynolds Foundation made an $11.2 million gift for geriatric research
	and education at the OU Health Sciences Center.
	The Schusterman Family Foundation of Tulsa made a grant to establish a new campus
	for the OU Health Sciences Center-Tulsa, which was named the Schusterman Health
	Sciences Center at OU-Tulsa.
2000	The Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History opened to the public. The 195,000-
	square-foot museum, featuring thousands of artifacts selected from millions in its collections,
	is the largest natural history museum in the world associated with a university.
	The School of Journalism and Mass Communication was elevated to college status. The
	college was named in honor of the Edward L. Gaylord publishing family of Oklahoma City,
	who made a $22 million gift to the college.
	The School of Petroleum and Geological Engineering was renamed in honor of Curtis W.
	Mewbourne. The school received a gift from the 1958 petroleum engineering graduate and his
	family.
	Through a bequest by the late Clara Weitzenhoffer, OU received the most important gift of
	French Impressionist art ever made to a public university and the largest gift to a public
	university in Oklahoma history. The Clara and Aaron Weitzenhoffer Collection comprises 33
	works of art by such artists as Degas, Gauguin, Monet, Pissarro, Renoir, Toulouse-Latrec,
	Van Gogh and Vuillard.
	OU's five-year Reach for Excellence Campaign concluded after raising $514 million in private
	gifts, more than double the original goal of $200 million and ranking OU's as the fourth most
	successful campaign among those completed by U.S. public universities. During the campaign,
	OU's endowment grew to $550 million, which ranked as 14th nationally in U.S. public university
	endowments per capita.
2001	The School of International and Area Studies was created.
	The A. Max Weitzenhoffer Department of Musical Theatre was awarded department status.
	The Health Sciences Center established a general clinical research center to provide treatment
	in an environment that assures maximum patient safety and enhancement of Oklahoma's bio-
	medical research infrastructure to enable scientists from across the state to use the human
	genome data as well as new imaging technologies to study human diseases.
	A state-of-the-art practice facility for OU Physicians, the OU Physicians Building, was completed
	at the Health Sciences Center. It is the largest multi-specialty group in the state.
	Post-tenure review process was approved.
	The Schusterman Center, headquarters for OU-Tulsa area programs, was formally dedicated.
Sources:	1) Gittinger, Roy. (1942). The University of Oklahoma, A History of Fifty Years, 1892-1942. The University
	of Oklahoma Press.
	2) Long, Charles F. and Carolyn G. Hart. (1980). The Sooner Story, Ninety Years at the University of
	Oklahoma, 1890-1990. Norman, OK: University of Oklahoma Foundation.
	3) Public Affairs, University of Oklahoma.
	4) Office of Development, University of Oklahoma.

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