OU should be able to fund more than 100 endowed faculty
positions thanks to a bill that passed the state House of
Representatives on Tuesday.

Gov. Brad Henry announced Tuesday that he plans to sign the bill
into law.

The bill grants higher education $50 million to match private
donations for endowed faculty positions.

OU would receive $42 million in state funds to help match a
backlog of more than $45 million in private donations it has
accumulated beyond its annual state appropriation for matching
funds.

The remaining balance should be covered by the state’s
annual appropriation, which is usually around $7 million, said Dave
Maloney, OU vice president for development.

State law requires matching funds to be allocated 50-50 for any
private donation given to a university for establishing an endowed
professorship or chairperson.

Maloney said the private donations, which would amount to more
than $90 million when matched by state contributions, could create
around 90 new endowed positions. A search committee will decide
whether to grant each position to an existing faculty member or to
recruit a new employee for the position, Maloney said.

“By funding our endowed-chair[person] program, Oklahoma
can reap great economic benefits,” Henry said. “For
every state dollar we invest, we can leverage an additional five
dollars in federal and private research funds for Oklahoma. I look
forward to signing this legislation and giving a boost to the
Oklahoma economy in the process.”

The bill passed the House of Representatives 85-11 Tuesday after
clearing the state Senate by 41-1 Thursday.

“Passage of the endowed-chairs bill is good news for
higher education and the future strength of Oklahoma’s
colleges and universities,” said OU President David L. Boren
in a press release. “It sends a strong, clear message to
private donors that their gifts are deeply appreciated and that
commitments made to them by the state will be kept.”

Boren said the additional funding will allow OU to fill several
faculty positions over the next year and will also help the
university to recruit new faculty members.

Henry had proposed the state match the outstanding donations in
his State of the State address as recommended by the Economic
Development Generating Excellence committee.
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