OU-Tulsa Announces Change Of Leadership

On Friday, the University of Oklahoma announced the resignation of OU-Tulsa President John H. Schumann effective July 30. Alongside this, the university announced the appointment of James J. Sluss, Jr. as the acting president of OU-Tulsa effective August 2.

Shuman, who has accepted a clinical position at Oak Street Health, has served as OU-Tulsa President since January of 2015.

“Though we are sad to lose him, President Schumann’s return to the health care field further illustrates his commitment to OU’s fundamental purpose of changing lives,” said OU President Joseph Harroz, Jr. “We’ve benefited these past six years from his leadership at OU-Tulsa, and we’re incredibly thankful for the impact he has had.”

Sluss currently serves as the associate vice president for Academic Affairs and Dean of the OU-Tulsa Graduate College.

“Jim Sluss is the ideal person to lead OU-Tulsa throughout this important transition,” said Harroz. “His familiarity with the campus, its history, and his long-served tenure at the university will serve us well as we formalize a distinct strategic plan for OU-Tulsa.”

The Tulsa Regional Chamber thanked Schumann for his work at the university and in Tulsa.

“We at the Tulsa Regional Chamber thank Dr. Schumann for his years of dedicated service to OU and the wider educational community. As evidenced by his work on projects such as the Tulsa Higher Education Consortium and, most recently, on OU-Tulsa’s partnership with Rogers State University to increase the number of undergraduate degree holders in our region, Dr. Schumann cares deeply about the future of northeast Oklahoma, and we applaud his contributions to our collective success. We also thank him for his ongoing dedication to our OneVoice Regional Legislative Agenda development process, in which he was instrumental in ensuring health care needs were represented. We look forward to continuing our collaborative work with Dr. Sluss and the entire OU-Tulsa team, and to working with Dr. Schumann in his new role at Oak Street Health as that organization comes to Tulsa.”