FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Sept. 14, 2016
TULSA – University of Oklahoma President David L. Boren announced today a gift to the university from the Stuart Family Foundation of Tulsa in support of a campus beautification project that will create a two-mile walking trail and two outdoor learning areas at the OU-Tulsa Schusterman Center.
“I am so grateful to Dee Dee Stuart and Jon Stuart and their family’s extraordinary commitment to OU,” Boren said. “Their outstanding support of campus beautification projects will benefit students, faculty, staff, and community neighbors for generations to come,” he said. “This gift will transform the OU-Tulsa landscape and enrich the atmosphere on this vibrant growing campus,” Boren said.
“OU-Tulsa offers many classes with long sessions and weekend courses. The new walking trails and Stuart Square will provide our faculty and students with a beautiful environment to learn, as well as a space to find rest and rejuvenation,” said OU-Tulsa President John H. Schumann, M.D.
The gift includes up to $700,000 through a matching challenge grant to create an approximately two-mile-long walking system intended to improve campus accessibility and provide recreation and wellness opportunities for the community. The Stuart Family Foundation will provide an additional $250,000 to develop Stuart Square in the central part of campus, which will feature an outdoor learning area. The gift also includes $100,000 to support maintenance and upkeep of the walking trail and Stuart Square.
The Stuarts are avid supporters of OU and have also provided funds for the Stuart Wing in the Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art; Stuart Landing, a focal point of Oklahoma Memorial Union; the Seed Sower statue, which stands at the gates of the South Oval; and numerous other gifts, including a challenge grant to replace OU trees lost in a significant ice storm in 2007.
Jon Stuart served as an OU Regent for 14 years, including two terms as Chairman of the Board. He is president and chief executive officer of First Stuart Corporation, a Tulsa-based family investment company, as well as managing partner of Jon R. Stuart Interests, L.L.C., principally in the energy business. He is the royal Norwegian Consul for Oklahoma, Kansas, Missouri and Arkansas, as appointed by His Royal Highness King Harald VI of Norway. He currently serves as chairman of the Gilcrease Museum National Advisory Council. Jon Stuart has served as a trustee of the Lew Wentz Foundation and has been on seven bank boards, as well as the New York and American stock exchanges.
Dee Dee Stuart, who has served on the Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art Board of Visitors since 2002, also served as a member of the Weitzenhoffer Family College of Fine Arts Board of Visitors from 2005 to 2010. She has been actively involved in numerous philanthropic endeavors and events in Tulsa and throughout Oklahoma for more than two decades.
Together Dee Dee and Jon Stuart are Honorary OU Associates, lifetime members of the OU Alumni Association and have served as committee members of OU’s Campaign for Scholarships, Reach for Excellence Campaign and the Commitment of Fifty Campaign. The Stuarts are also members of the OU Seed Sower Society, which honors donors who have contributed more than $1 million to the university.
OU-Tulsa is a nationally noted center for higher education offering a wide range of more than 30 undergraduate, Master’s and Doctorate level degrees as well as graduate certificates. Programs include architecture, engineering, education, nursing, public health, occupational and physical therapy, human relations, library and information studies, organizational dynamics, public administration, social work, as well as medicine through the OU-TU School of Community Medicine. Since 1957, OU-Tulsa has provided higher education to northeastern Oklahoma and moved to the 60-acre Schusterman Campus in 1999. For more information, visit ou.edu/tulsa.
