Michael F. Price grew up on Long Island in New York as a Sooner football fan, which led him to Norman where he earned a Bachelor of Business Administration degree in 1973. Upon graduating, he worked for Max L. Heine as a research assistant at Heine Securities Corp. in New York. By 1982, Michael and Heine formally became business partners, and upon Heine’s death in 1988, Michael bought the company. Michael increased the value of the company’s mutual funds to more than $17 billion before selling Heine Securities to Franklin Securities in 1996. He stayed on to manage the funds for five years as a stipulation of the sale. In the first year alone, the funds reached $28 billion.
Michael’s business success earned international attention. He was frequently featured in global publications and appeared on the covers of Fortune and Mutual Funds Magazine. He was named one of TIME magazine’s “25 Most Influential People” in 1997. Amid these achievements, Michael decided to invest in a new commodity – the education of tomorrow’s business leaders.
In 1997, Michael returned to his alma mater to make history with the announcement of an $18 million gift to the College of Business Administration. At that time, Michael’s contribution was considered the single largest gift to a public university or any Oklahoma higher education institution. The OU Board of Regents officially designated the college as the Michael F. Price College of Business, making it the first college in OU history to be named for an individual.
In 2005, OU honored Michael at the dedication of Michael F. Price Hall, a 55,000-square-foot building dedicated entirely to student learning, for which he provided the lead gift. His earlier gift funded several faculty positions, a library endowment, scholarships and graduate assistantships, as well as an MBA student support center and many other initiatives. This gift also created the Price Scholars program, which provides an opportunity for OU MBA students to travel to New York to participate in internships on Wall Street and take courses and live at NYU.
In addition to his tremendous gift of resources, Michael also gave generously of his time to aid in the development of OU’s business students. When he visited campus, he took a hands-on approach with the Student Investment Fund class, offering his advice and critiquing the performance of their stock choices.
Michael’s generosity and willingness to give went far beyond the College of Business. In 1997, Michael created the Price Family Foundation to focus on causes related to education and health. Foundation grants provide opportunities for young people in New York communities with the highest concentration of poverty and support medical research at the Broad Institute of Harvard and MIT, New York Presbyterian Hospital, and the Albert Einstein College of Medicine. In addition to the College that proudly bears his name, Michael and his family foundation have supported a variety of initiatives at OU, including a gift to establish the Price Family Foundation Institute of Structural Biology at the Stephenson Life Science Research Center to advance biomedical research.
Michael also supported the program that first drew him to OU – the Athletics Department. Most recently, Michael made a gift to create the Michael F. Price Sooner Wellness System to provide comprehensive support and strengthen a holistic wellness system for student-athletes, including sports performance, sports nutrition, sports medicine and psychological resources programs. Michael was also a longtime supporter of scholarships for student-athletes who are members of the football team. OU legend Roy Williams was the founding recipient of the Michael F. Price Family Football Scholarship.
Michael served as a trustee for the University of Oklahoma Foundation Inc. from 2002 to 2009 and was awarded with an honorary degree – the university’s highest honor – in 1998. He served as commencement speaker that same year.
Michael passed away on March 14, 2022 and is survived by his wife, Jenny, his six children, and ten grandchildren. His legacy lives on in them and at the University of Oklahoma.
