Bill Burgess, a member of the OU Board of Regents, died Feb. 8 according to a report from the Lawton Constitution.
The Constitution reported that no details had been released about the circumstances surrounding the death. Burgess had been the owner and publisher of the Lawton newspaper after purchasing it in 2012, according to his Board of Regents biography page. The Constitution reports Burgess sold the paper last year.
A graduate of OU's College of Law, Burgess had served as chairman of a software engineering company known as Techrizon.
Burgess's death opens the second vacancy on OU's Board of Regents since the announcement that chair of the board Clay Bennett would retire as a result of an ongoing battle with cancer.
The two vacancies will be filled by Oklahoma's newly inaugurated Governor Kevin Stitt, a Republican who recently said he'd like to see more diversity on the board.
U.S Congressman Tom Cole, representing Norman and Oklahoma's fourth congressional district, expressed his grief over the news of Burgess's passing in a statement reported by The Oklahoman.
“I was shocked and saddened to learn of the sudden and untimely death of my dear friend Bill Burgess of Lawton,” Cole said. “Without question, Bill lived an incredible life in service to his community, state and nation."
