STILLWATER – The Oklahoma State University A&M Board of Regents has selected Dr. Kayse Shrum as the 19th president of Oklahoma State University. The announcement follows an extensive national search by representatives from faculty, students, staff and alumni.
Shrum is the current president of the OSU Center for Health Sciences in Tulsa. Shrum will be recommended for approval as the next president of OSU at the regularly scheduled Board of Regents meeting in Stillwater on April 23.
Rick Davis, chair of the Regents, said, “Dr. Shrum is well known and respected by the Regents and our university community. Her leadership has transformed our medical school in Tulsa, and her efforts have taken us to new heights we could only imagine a few years ago. The establishment of the National Center for Wellness and Recovery is one of several milestone achievements. The center, which has brought national acclaim to OSU, has become the national focal point for breakthrough research to address the opioid crisis.
“What is most impressive to me for all the notable achievements is her commitment to students and their success. Students matter to her.”
Shrum served as president of OSU’s Center for Health Sciences (OSU-CHS) since 2013, and her selection at the time made her the youngest and first female president and dean of a medical school in the state of Oklahoma. Shrum trained and served rural Oklahoma as a pediatrician before beginning her academic work at OSU-CHS. Hargis appointed her to lead the medical school.
According to Regent and Selection Committee Chair Joe Hall, Dr. Shrum was chosen from a national pool of highly qualified candidates in large part because she brings a remarkable track record of professional success leading OSU’s medical school.
“I have watched Dr. Shrum transform our medical school in Tulsa, and I am convinced that success will translate to OSU and our system,” Hall said. She understands and appreciates our distinctive land-grant mission of service to the advancement and betterment of our state.”
Under Shrum, OSU Center for Health Sciences has experienced unprecedented growth. Student enrollment doubled as the center established new academic programs designed to meet the health care workforce needs of Oklahoma. She also led the construction of the A.R. and Marylouise Tandy Medical Academic Building. This state-of-the-art learning facility houses Oklahoma’s largest and most technologically advanced hospital simulation center.
“I am humbled and honored by this announcement,” said Dr. Shrum. “I am also thrilled because outside of my dear family, OSU has a special place in my heart. Leading the OSU Center for Health Sciences and helping students, faculty and staff come together to create something truly impactful to our state has been immensely rewarding for me. To lead our vibrant university and the system, which is so vital to our state on many levels, will be the greatest challenge and honor of my professional career. I am looking forward to this opportunity with high anticipation.”
Her fundraising accomplishments also include securing a landmark investment in 2019 from Purdue Pharma for $197.5 million to create the National Center for Wellness and Recovery for addiction treatment and research to address the national opioid addiction epidemic. A strong supporter of collaborative partnerships, Shrum worked with Cherokee Nation Principal Chief Bill John Baker and his administration to establish the nation’s first tribally affiliated medical school, the OSU College of Osteopathic Medicine at the Cherokee Nation, which opened fall 2020.
In March 2019, Governor Kevin Stitt appointed Shrum to his cabinet as Oklahoma’s first Secretary of Science and Innovation. In that role, she played a critical part in the state’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Her innovative leadership approach and medical expertise helped secure much-needed PPE supplies and led to the formation of Oklahoma’s largest COVID diagnostics lab on OSU’s Stillwater campus.
A native of Coweta, Shrum made the creation of a rural primary care physician pipeline a priority. She launched high school recruiting programs like Operation Orange and Blue Coat to White Coat, created the Rural Medical Track curriculum and expanded residency training programs in rural Oklahoma by securing support from the Oklahoma Legislature, Oklahoma Health Care Authority and Oklahoma Tobacco Settlement Endowment Trust.
Her long list of awards and accolades includes being named The Journal Record’s Woman of the Year in 2019.
Shrum and her husband Darren still actively farm near Coweta. They have six adult children. Shrum will officially take over the role of president at the beginning of OSU’s next fiscal year beginning July 1.