NORMAN — Five educators affiliated with the University of Oklahoma were inducted this week into the Oklahoma Higher Education Hall of Fame.
The 2011 inductees include Charles W. Bert III, David Morgan, David Swank and Daniel Wren from OU’s Norman campus and Joseph Ferretti of the OU Health Sciences Center.
The Oklahoma Higher Education Heritage Society sponsors the hall of fame that welcomed its first class in 1994.
Bert spent 41 years teaching in the College of Engineering and, on two occasions, directed its School of Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering for a combined 11 years. He retired from OU in 2004.
Morgan has been a professor emeritus of political science since his retirement in 2000. He held the Henry Bellmon Chair of Public Service at OU and he remains active in the local political scene.
Swank was a longtime law professor who arrived at OU in 1963 as its legal counsel and assistant professor. He went on to serve as professor, associate dean and dean of the College of Law, as OU interim president and was a longtime faculty representative to the NCAA.
Wren arrived at OU’s College of Business in 1973 and went on to hold several positions within the college. He became a David Ross Boyd professor emeritus in 2000 and served as interim dean in 2005-06.
Ferretti retired this year as senior vice president and provost of OU’s Health Sciences Center to return as a George Lynn Cross research professor in microbiology.
The campus’ budget nearly quadrupled to $800 million under Ferretti’s 16 years of leadership.
This year’s other hall of fame inductees are Donna Branson, Robert Miller, Karl Reid and Ronald Tyrl of Oklahoma State University; Stanley Hoig of the University of Central Oklahoma; John Kontogianes of Tulsa Community College; and Donnie Nero of Connors State College.
Through the Oklahoma Higher Education Hall of Fame, the Oklahoma Higher Education Heritage Society recognizes men and women, both living and deceased, who have excelled in higher education and who have encouraged others to contribute to the economic development and quality of life in Oklahoma.
The Oklahoma Higher Education Hall of Fame also presents awards of merit to corporations, philanthropists and other distinguished supporters of Oklahoma higher education.
More than 150 leaders have been inducted into the Oklahoma Higher Education Hall of Fame since 1994.
