T. Boone Pickens Foundation

MAY 03, 2011

STILLWATER, Oklahoma - The Cherokee Nation Foundation has become the first Native American Nation to endow a scholarship at Oklahoma State University.

The foundation and OSU announced Tuesday, a gift of $333,334 to Oklahoma State University to endow Cherokee Nation Foundation scholarships as part of Branding Success: The Campaign for Oklahoma State University.

With a match from entrepreneur T. Boone Pickens, under the Pickens Legacy Scholarship Match, the gift will total $1 million.
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FEBRUARY 19, 2011

Students tried out their nursing skills on robotic patients Friday as Texas Woman's University held its grand opening for its new health science institute, named for Texas oilman T. Boone Pickens.
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SPOTLIGHT

Branding Success. The Campaign for Oklahoma State University

David and Tracy Kyle are contributing a $2.5 endowment aimed at paying off a portion of student loans contingent on an OSU grad working in the state after graduation. The T. Boone Pickens Foundation focuses grants to organizations that operate in its core giving categories (see “About TBPF”). The current partner spotlight is the OSU Foundation, a private fundraising organization for Oklahoma State University, which exists to unite donor and university passions and priorities to achieve excellence.

On February 26, 2010, OSU alumnus Pickens announced a testamentary matching gift of up to $100 million to the university’s $1 billion Branding Success campaign. The commitment illustrates the enduring generosity of Pickens to his alma mater (his accumulated donations to the university total almost half a billion dollars, split about evenly between academic and athletic sources), as well as challenging and inspiring alumni and friends to create their own philanthropic legacies to benefit OSU. To date, more than $70 million has been secured in response to the Pickens challenge, whose matching deadline is February 26, 2011.

“"When you start talking about a billion-dollar campaign, that's real money, and it's huge for Oklahoma State,” Pickens says. “We're going through the most exciting period the University has ever seen. This is my school — I want to be a part of it. I hope that my matching pledge will encourage alums who feel as I do to contribute to help make OSU an elite university.”

More than 1,000 donors are making scholarship gifts that qualify for Pickens matches, a small sampling of those donations and their impact is listed below.

Alumni Ross and Billie McKnight are contributing $15 to a program focusing on recruiting and retaining student leaders from rural communities. “We are extremely grateful to the donors who have made a contribution qualifying for the Pickens match,” OSU president Burns Hargis says. “These gifts will provide life-changing support for our students. Certainly, Boone has long been our champion, but we are overwhelmed by the response of our loyal alumni and friends as we pursue our commitment to raise $500 million for scholarships and graduate fellowships during our Branding Success campaign.”

Alumni Ross and Billie McKnight committed a $15 million gift to the campaign to establish a student leadership and scholarship program. The endowment focuses on recruiting and retaining student leaders from rural communities. The McKnights, of Throckmorton, Texas, also serve as co-chairs for the Branding Success campaign. Their gift commitment qualifies for a dollar-for-dollar match by the Pickens Legacy Scholarship Match program. The match increases the value of the McKnights’ gift to $30 million, which will eventually produce $1.25 million annually for scholarships.

Donald and Cathey Humphreys of Dallas will provide $6 million to support the University's study abroad program within OSU’s School of International Studies. The gift funds several endowed faculty chairs and student scholarships in the OSU School of International Studies. The immediate impact stretches beyond $6 million to $14 million because of matches from the $100 million chair challenge and the Pickens match pledge.

Tulsa residents David and Tracy Kyle provided a $2.5 million endowment gift that will pay off a portion of student loans associated with tuition and fees if OSU graduates remain and work in Oklahoma after graduation. The Pickens Legacy Scholarship Match further leverages the gift, and once fully funded, the endowment will be $7.5 million and create an annual impact of $375,000

For more information visit http://www.osugiving.com/Contact.asp or call 800-622-4678 to speak with someone directly about the Pickens Legacy Scholarship Match opportunity.