May 29, 2008 | Read Time: 1 minute
The billionaire oilman T. Boone Pickens has announced his foundation will award $100-million to Oklahoma State University, his alma mater, to endow professorships at the institution.
The gift comes after a controversial $165-million donation that Mr. Pickens made in 2006 for athletics.
Mr.Pickens was sharply criticized when he made that gift, in part by faculty members and others who worried that the flow of money would emphasize athletics over academic priorities.
“My goal has always been to make OSU more competitive in all areas,” Mr. Pickens said in discussing his latest pledge. “I believe my donations to athletics and now this gift to academics will do just that.”
With the new gift, Mr. Pickens, a 1951 graduate, has given approximately $400-million to Oklahoma State.
The most recent contribution, which can be matched with state money, is expected to endow more than 150 positions.
Mr. Pickens has become a major philanthropist in recent years. He has been included four times since 2003 on The Chronicle’s annual list of the most-generous Americans.
Last year, Mr. Pickens donated $50-million apiece to two Texas medical institutions, with an unusual restriction: The money must be invested so that it multiplies at least tenfold, and the groups cannot spend any of it until it does.
