NEWS
NORMAN, OKLA. – On Friday, Nov 22, representatives from Tulsa-based energy company Williams, board members of the University of Oklahoma Mewbourne College of Earth and Energy and leadership and students from OU’s Sustainable Energy Systems program task force gathered to celebrate the ribbon cutting and open house tours of the new Williams Office Suite for Sustainable Energy.
This transformative addition to Sarkeys Energy Center on the OU campus will serve as a hub for collaborative research, innovation and learning, enriching the experience of all students and fostering future energy leaders.
“Energy powers everything. And the reality is if you have this certificate and you’re in any one of the 16 colleges here, you are now more marketable and, importantly for us and society, you can make the work you do have more impact,” said University of Oklahoma President Joseph Harroz, Jr. at the event.
The first-class space, named for Williams’ generous donation to the office suite, spans two floors in the Sarkeys Energy Center, providing approximately 2,000 square feet of communal gathering and office space for students, faculty and staff in the program.
“At Williams, we're doing a lot of great things outside of natural gas with our new energy ventures. We’re really excited to have this program here and for the University of Oklahoma to add to the graduates’ river of opportunity that they have coming out of this great university,” Micheal Dunn, Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of Williams, in remarks at the event.
John Antonio, Ph.D., dean of the Mewbourne College of Earth and Energy, said the first floor will provide space for 15 sustainable energy systems postdoctoral fellows, doctoral students and undergraduate research assistants to conduct research and advance the body of knowledge and practice in the field. The second floor will house administrative staff and the inaugural director of the program.
More information about the program can be found at ou.edu/mcee/ses.
About the University of Oklahoma
Founded in 1890, the University of Oklahoma is a public research university located in Norman, Oklahoma. As the state’s flagship university, OU serves the educational, cultural, economic and health care needs of the state, region and nation. For more information about the university, visit www.ou.edu.
Three University of Oklahoma graduate students have been named winners of the 2025 Three Minute Thesis competition, which challenges participants to explain their research in three minutes to a non-specialist audience.
Sarah Sharif, a researcher with the University of Oklahoma, has been awarded funding from the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) to create innovative light detectors that pick up mid-wave and long-wave infrared signals at higher temperatures than previously considered achievable.
A team from OU and WVU recently earned a five-year, $3.5 million grant from the National Institutes of Health to study how concept cigarillos influence the potential for addiction. The results will be used to inform the FDA’s impending flavor ban on cigar products and could have wider-reaching implications for other tobacco products that come in flavors, such as e-cigarettes and tobacco-free nicotine pouches.
