NORMAN – The University of Oklahoma today dedicated the Tom Love Innovation Hub at a ribbon-cutting ceremony held on the Research Campus in Norman. The facility serves as a resource for students and houses a business accelerator, tools for rapid product prototyping using 3-D printing technology, resources for startups and interactive learning and business-building capabilities.

“We are grateful to the Love family for continuing to promote opportunities for our students so that they can build a better future for our state,” said OU President David L. Boren.

The Tom and Judy Love Foundation recently made a leadership gift to the university in support of the Michael F. Price College of Business to name the Division of Entrepreneurship and Economic Development, the Innovation Hub, the Center for Entrepreneurship and the Entrepreneurs-in-Residence Program in his honor.

Love said he is passionate about helping future generations achieve success and is thankful to have a business with sustained growth for more than 50 years.

“Our company would not be where it is today without our entrepreneurial spirit and commitment to making a difference,” said Love. “I hope the investment from my family helps inspire Oklahoma’s next generation of bold innovators.”

Love, who attended OU in the 1960s, is founder and executive chairman of Love’s Travel Stops & Country Stores, which he and his wife Judy started in 1964 with one small location in western Oklahoma. Today, Love’s has more than 450 locations in 41 states and employs more than 20,000 people. Love’s is recognized each year by Forbes as one of America’s largest privately-owned companies. Love, along with three of his four children, leads the day-to-day business of Love’s Travel Stops & Country Stores and the Love’s Family of Companies.

Tom and Judy Love, the Tom and Judy Love Foundation and Love’s Travel Stops & Country Stores are longstanding supporters of a variety of programs and activities at OU, including Price College, the Sam Noble Museum, President’s Associates and the Heart Rhythm Institute among others.

Established in 1928, the Michael F. Price College of Business ensures the enduring global competitiveness of Oklahoma and the nation. As OU’s second-largest college, the Price College of Business educates over 4,000 students through undergraduate, master’s, executive and doctoral programs across six academic divisions in Accounting, Entrepreneurship and Economic Development, Finance, Management and International Business, Management Information Systems, and Marketing and Supply Chain Management.

For more information about the Tom Love Innovation Hub, visit ou.edu/innovationhub.