NEWS
NORMAN, Okla. – The University of Oklahoma will award honorary degrees to three outstanding individuals in recognition of their extraordinary achievements and generous service to others.
The following individuals will receive an honorary degree:
The university will confer honorary degrees for all three recipients during its 2026 Commencement ceremony scheduled for 7 p.m., Friday, May 15, at the Lloyd Noble Center.
“We are thrilled to have the opportunity to confer the university’s highest honor upon these three remarkable individuals,” said OU President Joseph Harroz Jr. “Their contributions to the world around us and dedication to excellence are profound and will continue to impact lives for generations to come.”
Sherri Coale
After growing up in Healdton, Oklahoma, Sherri Coale attended Oklahoma Christian College where she graduated with a degree in education. Shortly after, she became an assistant basketball coach and senior English teacher at Edmond Memorial High School. Two years later, she left for Norman High School, where she became the head coach of the girls’ basketball team, leading the program to two state championships over seven years.
At 31, Coale was named head coach of OU Women’s Basketball in 1996. Over the next 25 years, she won four Big 12 Tournament championships, six Big 12 regular season championships, qualified for 19 consecutive NCAA tournaments and led the program to three Final Four appearances. Throughout her OU career, her teams included four All-Americans and 14 WNBA draft picks. She had a 512-293 overall record at OU and was named the Big 12 Coach of the Year four times. Coale also served as an assistant coach for USA Basketball in 2001 and was the head coach at the 2013 World University Games, where her team won a gold medal.
Coale is a member of the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame, the Oklahoma Sports Hall of Fame, the Oklahoma Women’s Hall of Fame, the Oklahoma Christian University Hall of Fame, the Norman High School Hall of Fame, and the FCA Hall of Champions. She is a former president of the Kay Yow Cancer Fund and the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association and currently serves on the Board of Trustees at Oklahoma Christian University.
Coale retired from OU in 2021 to pursue her passion for writing. Today, she focuses her time on her writing, public speaking, consulting and spending time with her husband, two children and two grandchildren.
Ron Howard
Howard began his career as an actor, appearing in The Journey and The Music Man. He later starred in the long-running television series The Andy Griffith Show and the popular series Happy Days, as well as American Graffiti, directed by George Lucas, and in John Wayne’s last film, The Shootist.
He transitioned to directing and producing, making his directorial debut in 1977 with the comedy Grand Theft Auto. Howard’s critically acclaimed film A Beautiful Mind earned him Academy Awards for Best Director, Best Picture, Best Screenplay and Best Supporting Actress. His most recent film, Eden, premiered in theaters in 2025. His upcoming titles include Avedon, a documentary on renowned photographer Richard Avedon, and Alone At Dawn for Amazon MGM, starring Adam Driver and Anne Hathaway.
Howard founded Imagine Entertainment in the early 1980s with Brian Grazer, and they continue to run the company as executive chairmen. He has also been honored by numerous organizations, and in March 2013, he was inducted into the Television Hall of Fame. In 2015, Howard was honored with a second star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, making him one of the select few to have been recognized with two stars. In 2023, Apollo 13 was chosen for the Library of Congress National Film Registry, a prestigious collection of films selected for cultural, historical or aesthetic importance.
In 2020, a gift from Howard helped establish a scholarship in the Weitzenhoffer Family College of Fine Arts to support students in the Helmerich School of Drama who are from rural communities across the United States. The scholarship is named in memory of Howard’s parents, Rance and Jean Howard, both of whom were born in Oklahoma, studied drama and met at OU before enjoying successful acting careers.
Bill G. Lance, Jr.
Early in his career, Lance served as Administrator of the Chickasaw Nation Health System, where he oversaw the development and construction of the 370,000-square-foot Chickasaw Nation Medical Center in Ada, Oklahoma, one of the largest tribally operated health care facilities in the United States. Lance also previously served three terms on the Board of Trustees of the University of Oklahoma Foundation, concluding his service in 2021.
Prior to his current role as Secretary of State for the Chickasaw Nation, Lance served as the tribe’s longest-serving Secretary of Commerce for 13 years, where he directed all commercial enterprises. He also serves as Chairman of Chickasaw Nation Industries, Inc., a diversified holding company operating in twelve states with subsidiaries focused on government contracting, advanced industrial services, research and development and technical solutions.
Lance serves on the Board of Directors of BancFirst and was recently appointed to the University Hospitals Authority and Trust. He also serves on the OU Health Board of Directors. In addition, he is part of the Executive Committee of the Oklahoma City Chamber.
He holds a Master of Public Health from the University of Oklahoma and a Bachelor of Science from East Central University. He is a Fellow of the American College of Healthcare Executives (FACHE), a graduate of Leadership Oklahoma Class XXV, and was inducted into the Oklahoma Hall of Fame in recognition of his leadership and service to the state.
For more information on OU’s May Commencement ceremonies, visit ou.edu/commencement or email commencement@ou.edu.
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.
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