OU announced Tuesday it will rename its Health Campus to the Harold Hamm Health Campus at the University of Oklahoma after the oil tycoon donated $150 million, the single largest gift in university history.
Of the $150 million, $100 million will be allocated to the Health Campus and $50 million will go toward research at the Harold Hamm Diabetes Center.
Hamm is now the largest individual donor in OU’s history, with his total donations to the university approaching $250 million.
“Today is one of those days where you remember where you were because you knew something extraordinary was taking place,” said OU President Joseph Harroz Jr. “We’ve created an academic health system that’s there for the entire state, … and we’re honored to have his name on our campus.”
During the announcement event Tuesday, Hamm reflected on his own experience with his diabetes diagnosis, which was his motivation for funding OU’s Harold Hamm Diabetes Center.
Harroz said Hamm was struck by the cost of insulin and while he does not personally take insulin, he wanted to help those who couldn’t afford it each month.
“We stood right here at the Byrd Library 19 years ago and committed to do something about diabetes in Oklahoma,” Hamm said. “We’ve done a lot of good things. Lowering the cost of insulin — we had to do that. People were out there that could not afford it and was having to limit the amount of insulin that they took each month.”
Following the event, Harroz said the $100 million allocated to the Health Campus will go toward Project 200, an initiative to recruit 200 of the nation’s leading researchers. Of those hires, 150 will be at the OU Health Campus, Harroz said.
The remaining $50 million, which is allocated to the Harold Hamm Diabetes Center, will go toward research initiatives at the center.
“It’s not just reducing the suffering from diabetes, but actually looking for a cure through the research for type 1 and type 2 diabetes,” Harroz said.
Harroz said he is looking forward to the years to come and hopes Hamm’s investment, and the hopeful investment of other donors, can directly impact healthcare quality and access in the state.
“We’ve achieved remarkable things in the past five years but what’s ahead of us, if we have continued investment by others … we can lift our state out of healthcare poverty in a way that will lift us for generations,” Harroz said.
This story was edited by Macey Thaxton.
