STILLWATER – The Oklahoma State University/A&M Board of Regents has started a nationwide search for a new president after OSU President Burns Hargis announced his retirement as of July 1, 2021.

“President Hargis has led OSU and the system through a time of historic growth and change for nearly 13 years,” said OSU/A&M Board of Regents Chair Rick Davis. “He seized many opportunities to transform our campuses, academic programs, and research endeavors while confronting many challenges, the latest being the COVID-19 situation. His continued leadership over the next several months will ensure we can conduct a purposeful, wide-ranging process to find the right person who can build on the current momentum and lead OSU for years to come.”

Buffkin/Baker, a national search firm with university presidential search experience, will be assisting the regents and search committee in the process.

The search process will include outreach to faculty, students, staff, alumni and other supporters.

“We will bring together many individuals from across our university community to form a search committee, which will play an essential role in assisting the regents in identifying and selecting the best-qualified person,” Davis said. “The committee will be diverse and include representatives from faculty, staff, students, alumni and the regents.

“We will provide details in the next few weeks on the search committee, search process and ways people can convey their thoughts and ideas on the qualifications for the next president. As we begin this important endeavor, the regents welcome the advice, inputs and insights from people across the OSU community.”

The regents expect to appoint the next president of OSU before Hargis’ retirement officially takes effect.

Hargis announced his retirement plans during a regular meeting of the OSU/A&M Board of Regents held in the Performance Hall at The McKnight Center for the Performing Arts on the Stillwater campus, one of several new facilities built during his nearly 13-year presidency.

Hargis became OSU’s 18th president on March 10, 2008. He is the second OSU graduate to serve as president of the University.

Under Hargis, OSU had the university’s first-ever billion-dollar fundraising campaign called “Branding Success,” which raised over $1.3 billion. In all, OSU has raised $2.2 billion during the Hargis years. The university has developed more than 2.5 million square feet of new or enhanced facilities on its Stillwater and Tulsa campuses. Enrollment growth includes five of the largest freshman classes in OSU’s history.

Twenty four percent of all graduates over OSU’s 130-year history have occurred during his tenure. OSU has increased Alumni Association membership by nearly 30% and added nearly 82,000 new donors.

The OSU Center for Health Sciences in Tulsa has seen growth in enrollment, research, fundraising for capital projects, student scholarships and medical research.

“Ann and I have been blessed and honored to serve Oklahoma State University the past 12-and-a-half years,” said Hargis. “The opportunity to be president of my alma mater exceeded all my expectations. OSU is a special place. It is where I found friends who became family for a young man who lived in many different places growing up.”

Hargis modernized the Stillwater campus with academic and athletic facilities, including the Henry Bellmon Research Building, the ENDEAVOR Engineering Lab, a new home for the Spears School of Business, the McKnight Center for the Performing Arts, a North Wing expansion for the Human Sciences Building, the OSU Museum of Art, and residential halls.

A new facility to house the Michael and Anne Greenwood School of Music is under construction with completion next year. A new teaching and research facility for the Ferguson College of Agriculture is also under way.

“Burns has worked from the beginning to make sure an OSU education was accessible and affordable regardless of a student’s financial circumstances,” said Davis. “Burns has worked tirelessly to raise money for scholarships and financial aid for students.”

Scholarships and student financial aid have risen each year under Hargis’ leadership, from more than $204 million in 2008 to more than $379 million in 2020.

Hargis was vice chairman of Bank of Oklahoma, N.A. Before joining the Bank of Oklahoma in 1997, Hargis practiced law in Oklahoma City for 28 years. He is a former president of the Oklahoma County Bar Association, former president of the Oklahoma Bar Foundation, and is a fellow of the American Bar Foundation. Hargis was inducted into the Oklahoma Hall of Fame in 2009.