University Of Oklahoma Announces More Than $10-million In Gifts

NORMAN, Okla. (AP) _ The University of Oklahoma announced more than $10 million in gifts, including a $9 million donation that is the largest estate gift in university history. <br/><br/>Ardmore accountant

Friday, May 12th 2006, 11:07 am

By: News On 6

NORMAN, Okla. (AP) _ The University of Oklahoma announced more than $10 million in gifts, including a $9 million donation that is the largest estate gift in university history.

Ardmore accountant and longtime OU supporter David C. Steed was lauded by OU regents during its meeting Thursday. The regents also approved naming the School of Accounting in honor of Steed's father, John T. Steed, one of Oklahoma's first certified public accountants.

The gift provides $3.5 million for scholarships and five new faculty positions in the accounting school.

David Steed, who died in 2003, also made a number of donations to OU before his death but insisted on anonymity, OU President David Boren said.

The regents also accepted nearly $1.3 million in gifts to OU-Tulsa. The donations include $1.02 from the George Kaiser Family Foundation for expansion of community medical services and $250,000 for medical research from the Mary K. Chapman Foundation.

The regents named Gerald Clancy as interim president of OU-Tulsa. Clancy, the dean of OU-Tulsa's College of Medicine, succeeds Ken Levit, who resigned to become executive director of the George Kaiser Family Foundation in Tulsa.

Also on Thursday, the regents approved a collaboration between OU-Tulsa and Tulsa Community College aimed at producing more graduates with bachelor's degrees in nursing.

TCC nursing students can take junior year classes at TCC and pay TCC tuition and fees, which are lower than those at OU. They can then transfer to OU-Tulsa for their final 30 credit hours.

Regents also voted to hire an engineering firm to oversee $12 million in improvements to Max Westheimer Airport.

Work starting this fall will take about five years and include a new taxiway, reconstruction of an apron, runway overlays, a new hangar, control tower and security fencing. Most funding comes from the Federal Aviation Administration and Oklahoma Aeronautics and Space Commission.