Monica Basu, senior program officer at the George Kaiser Family Foundation and long-time champion of OU-Tulsa initiatives, was recognized as one of the 2023 Regents’ Alumni Award recipients during a ceremony on Sept. 29 on the OU Norman campus. Regents’ Alumni Award honorees are chosen for their extraordinary dedication and service to the university.
Presented by the OU Board of Regents and OU Alumni Association, the award celebrates the profound way OU alumni and supporters shape the university’s vibrant future.
Basu was involved in the inception of the OU-TU School of Community Medicine. She is a former member of the OU-Tulsa Advisory Board and the OU Health Harold Hamm Diabetes Center Board of Advisors.
At the George Kaiser Family Foundation, she is responsible for community health and higher education initiatives. She joined the foundation in 2007 after several years in the private sector, where she held various management positions in the financial services and telecommunications industries.
At the foundation she plays an important role in the state’s health initiatives, including the State Health Information Exchange and being one of the leaders of Medicaid expansion under the Affordable Care Act. She was a member of the Tulsa Race Massacre Centennial Commission and fundraising co-chair for the Greenwood Rising History Center.
Basu holds a Master of Business Administration from Duke University and a Master of Science in Health Care Delivery from Dartmouth College. She is a native of India, grew up in four countries and speaks seven languages.
A committee formed by the OU Alumni Association reviews nominations submitted by alumni, friends and OU faculty and staff to select each year’s awardees. The recipients receive a commemorative plaque in recognition of their exceptional contributions, and their names are permanently inscribed on a plaque displayed in the historic Oklahoma Memorial Union.
