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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Find out more
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of the organizations
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T. Boone Pickens
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SPOTLIGHT

The T. Boone Pickens Foundation focuses on grants to organizations that operate in its core giving categories (see “About TBPF”). The current partner spotlight is the Veterans’ National Education Program, a Pennsylvania-based organization whose primary goal is to help students become engaged, thoughtful citizens by expanding their knowledge base, developing vital critical thinking and decision-making skills, and enhancing their understanding of America's most cherished values.

VNEP national education director Andrea Hooper and chairman Bob McMahon at the National Constitution Center opening for the "Being We the People: Afghanistan, America and the Minority Imprint" exhibit in May , 2010. Formerly a part of the Pennsylvania Veterans Museum, VNEP, a 501(c)(3) non-profit entity, focuses entirely on educational outreach. Through documentaries and a virtual classroom, VNEP aspires to enlighten and inspire the youth and citizens of the United States by providing historically accurate, relevant educational resources, with a focus on events “as seen through the eyes of veterans.” The board is comprised of former military officers and educators who firmly believe that our greatest hopes for the future rests with an intelligent and informed citizenry, particularly as it relates to the education and preparation of our youngest citizens.

“I am a strong supporter of our men and women in uniform, and the sacrifices they make to ensure that the United States and its undying promise endures,” says Pickens, whose Foundation is an ongoing supporter of VNEP. “Veterans have a unique view on history, and their voices should be heard.”

As resources dwindle for the teaching of Social Studies and relevant, timely and historically factual materials are taking longer to produce. VNEP’s Military in Social Studies virtual classroom (MILSSonline) Afghanistan unit, its documentaries, associated media content, lesson plans, and college courses are empowering teachers, providing them the tools they need to engage students.

Bob McMahon with Col. George E. "Bud" Day, USAF (Ret.), Medal of Honor recipient. “With the support of the T. Boone Pickens Foundation and its partners, VNEP is providing a culmination of true stories by real veterans and international cultural awareness to classrooms throughout the country, providing the “big picture” of what is going on in our world as it is happening,” says VNEP chairman Bob McMahon, a Vietnam Veteran.

VNEP is currently partnering with national, state, local and legislative entities to develop and promote current and upcoming programs nationwide. The Veterans National Education Program is committed to the concept of eyewitness accounts, reliance on the history-makers, rather than those who interpret events through the prism of personal or political bias. Who better to teach succeeding generations of Americans than the men and women with “boots-on-the-ground” experience?

For more information or to visit the virtual classroom, visit www.VeteransNEP.org.