FB 09 MG 10.Pdf

201 PPRESIDENTRESIDENT Hargis has distinguished himself as one of Oklahoma’s most dynamic leaders, earning BBURNSURNS the respect of people from across the country. Throughout his career in both business and public service, he has demonstrated an ability to approach important matters strategically HHARGISARGIS and creatively. University President Before being named OSU President, Hargis had a long and distinguished legal and business career, with active civic and philanthropic leadership across many fronts. He also is familiar to many Oklahomans through the political perspective and wit he provided on the award-winning television program “Flashpoint”. Burns Hargis was named the 18th President of Oklahoma State University and the OSU Prior to coming to OSU, he was Vice Chairman of Bank of Oklahoma, N.A. Before joining System in December 2007. He took offi ce March 10, 2008. Bank of Oklahoma in 1997, Hargis practiced law in Oklahoma City for 28 years, most recently with the fi rm of McAfee & Taft. He is a former president of the Oklahoma County Hargis oversees one of the nation’s most comprehensive land-grant university systems Bar Association, former president of the Oklahoma Bar Foundation, and is a Fellow of the with more than 32,100 students, 7,400 employees, and campuses located in Stillwater, American Bar Foundation. Tulsa, Oklahoma City and Okmulgee. Hargis served as vice-chairman of the Oklahoma State Election Board, the Oklahoma Hargis, who holds degrees in accounting from Oklahoma State University and in law Constitutional Revision Commission, and served as Chairman of the Oklahoma from the University of Oklahoma, is the second OSU graduate to lead the university as Commission for Human Services. He is a former member of the Commission of the North president. Oliver S. Willham, who served as president from 1952 to 1966, graduated from Central Association of Colleges and Schools. Hargis was a candidate for the Republican then Oklahoma A&M in 1923. nomination for Governor of Oklahoma in 1990. At OSU, in the summer of 2008 Hargis led a record initiative that raised $168 million for A fi rm believer in the power of imagination and collaboration, Hargis was the fi rst chair of endowed faculty positions, an amount eligible for a dollar-for-dollar match by the state. the Oklahoma Creativity Project. He has served and chaired many boards, including the Under his leadership, OSU has a bold vision of creating a modern land-grant university Board of Regents for the Oklahoma Agricultural and Mechanical Colleges of Oklahoma that cuts across disciplines to form a truly new structure; one that better prepares students State University. for a new world and expands outreach across Oklahoma and around the globe. Hargis and his wife, Ann, have two married children and three grandchildren. 202 DDIRECTORIRECTOR OOFF AATHLETICSTHLETICS Things are on the upswing at the turnstiles as well. Oklahoma State set a new school MMIKEIKE record in 2008 with 39,976 season tickets purchased by Cowboy football fans. Oklahoma State set a new single-game record with 52,463 fans on hand for OSU’s win over Troy last HHOLDEROLDER season. Holder smoothly administered his fi rst high-profi le job search last spring when Oklahoma Vice President For Athletic Programs/ State went looking for a men’s basketball coach. The pressure was on to fi ll a position Athletic Director that had been occupied by two of the winningest coaches in college basketball history in Henry Iba and Eddie Sutton. Holder tabbed Travis Ford for the job and the fi rst-year coach immediately validated the decision by taking OSU to its fi rst NCAA Tournament Mike Holder hit the ground running when he was named Vice President for Athletic appearance since 2005 as the Cowboys advanced to the second round with a thin roster Programs and Director of Intercollegiate Athletics at Oklahoma State University on Sept. that battled to the very end. 16, 2005. During his tenure as the men’s golf coach, In 32 years of leading his alma mater’s golf program, Holder’s name became synonymous Holder’s successes included not only his with success not only on the golf course, but in fundraising, facility development and team’s results on the course, but his players’ the academic performance of his student-athletes. In fact, a strong case could be made performances in the classroom and beyond. that Holder took Oklahoma State’s already strong golf tradition and transformed it into His vision and fundraising abilities resulted in America’s top collegiate program. the creation of Karsten Creek, a magnifi cent Those same leadership skills have served him well in his short time guiding OSU’s athletic golf course in Stillwater, selected as the Best department. His plan and vision for the betterment of Cowboy and Cowgirl athletics have New Public Course in 1994 by Golf Digest already begun to take shape, most notably with the completion of Boone Pickens Stadium. magazine. In 2000, Holder’s team claimed the national championship, marking the eighth The stadium features suites and club seats on both the north and south sides with more time his squad carried home the NCAA trophy. suites coming on line with the mammoth west end zone project scheduled to be completed And while high national fi nishes are the norm prior to the beginning of the 2009 season. Seating opened in the west end zone in 2008, at Oklahoma State, the accomplishments of increasing the capacity of Boone Pickens Stadium to 60,000. his teams never stopped at the 18th hole. Under Holder’s direction, the Oklahoma State University Department of Athletics has Holder took over his OSU coaching post continued to move forward while maintaining its traditional strengths. A total of 10 OSU on July 1, 1973, and during his tenure, his sports teams were ranked in the top 10 during the 2006-2007 academic year, while the teams set student-athlete standards that were football team posted consecutive bowl wins for the fi rst time since the 1987 and 1988 unequaled. While he coached more than 110 seasons. OSU has won two more national team championships under Holder’s watch, All-America selections, including 38 fi rst-team choices, and has numerous former players raising the school’s championship count to 48 – the fourth best total in the country and tops competing on the PGA Tour, overseas and on mini-tours, Holder saw to it that his players in the Big 12 Conference. OSU won fi ve Big 12 championships during the past academic also excelled in the classroom. During his tenure, OSU produced three Ben Hogan Award year. winners, which is based on academic and athletic excellence nationwide. Kevin Wentworth earned the honor in 1990, Trip Kuehne claimed the prestigious award in 1995 and Hunter Holder’s tenure has also featured landmark fundraising by the athletic department, Mahan was named the 2003 recipient. Kuehne was OSU’s outstanding male graduate in including the $165 million gift from T. Boone Pickens that pushed OSU’s facility drive into 1995 as well. high gear. The legendary OSU alum also helped complete the west end zone project with another $63 million gift in 2008. At Holder’s urging, OSU Athletics place a new emphasis Only 14 times since 1984 has a golfer been named fi rst-team athletic All-America and on scholarship endowments. That endowment drive has seen Oklahoma State climb from academic All-America in the same season, and nine of those student-athletes were from dead last in the Big 12 to third with gifts and commitments nearing $30 million. Just three Oklahoma State. Holder had 21 academic All-America selections from the inception of that years ago, OSU’s endowment stood at $2.1 million. honor in 1984 until he vacated the head coaching position for the AD’s chair, as well as countless academic all-Big Eight and all-Big 12 selections. Perhaps Holder’s adept fundraising stems from his “fund-giving”. He and his wife, Robbie, illustrated their commitment to Oklahoma State when they donated $500,000 for the fi rst Holder is one of fi ve coaches in NCAA history, regardless of sport, to win a national fully endowed scholarship for Cowboy football. The scholarship is named for former OSU championship in four different decades. Three times Holder coached the Cowboys to the player, the late Vernon Grant. national team title the same year an OSU individual also claimed medalist honors (1978, 1987 and 2000). Along the way, he claimed 25 conference championships. His 21 Big In July of 2008, the Holders donated $1 million for an entrepreneurship super chair at OSU Eight championships were the second most by a head coach in any sport, trailing only in the Spears School of Business. Kansas basketball coach Phog Allen. “Robbie and I made the gift to the college of business because of Malone and Amy As a student-athlete, Holder was the 1970 Big Eight medalist and led OSU to the Mitchell,” Holder said at the announcement. “Having two degrees in business was the icing conference team title. He was a third-team All-American as a junior and a senior and an on the cake. I would like to see this new program become nationally recognized and make honorable mention All-American as a sophomore. a difference in the lives of young people.” Holder, a graduate of Ardmore High School, earned his degree in marketing from Malone and Amy Mitchell had made a $57.2 million gift to OSU, split evenly between Oklahoma State in 1970 and completed work on his MBA at OSU in 1973.

Load more