By Nanette Light
The Norman Transcript
NORMAN — Standing in his khakis pants, work shirt and boots — with his favorite dog, Rebel, at his side — is one of the University of Oklahoma’s largest donors encapsulated forever in bronze.
The sculpture of Curtis Mewbourne, a 1958 OU petroleum engineering graduate and founding donor of OU’s Mewbourne College of Earth and Energy, was unveiled Wednesday at the Brian and Sandra O’Brien Plaza of Sarkey’s Energy Center, despite brief rain showers that rushed the dedication inside.
“He started out with a vision of what this college could be,” said OU President David Boren of Mewbourne. “To see that it wouldn’t just be the top five in the country, but that it would be the very best.”
The sculpture of Mewbourne was casted by Shidoni Foundry in Santa Fe, N.M., and designed by OU sculptor-in-residence Paul Moore. At Mewbourne’s request, Moore did not sculpt him in a suit.
Mewbourne, founder of Mewbourne Oil Co., endowed a professorship in petroleum engineering in 1982, ranking it the first endowed professorship for the school and the College of Engineering, according to a news release.
He has since founded four chairs in petroleum engineering, along with funds to benefit undergraduate students and faculty.
In 2000, the OU Board of Regents named the School of Petroleum and Geological Engineering in his honor. And in 2007, the regents voted to name the College of Earth and Energy, founded Jan. 1, 2006, after Mewbourne.
One of his deepest footprints left leading toward the college, however, was in 2006 when he publicly issued a challenge to match gifts made to OU to endowed scholarships and graduate fellowships to the College of Earth and Energy.
“I was there the night this college was officially announced and Curtis got up and talked about the need for scholarships and announced the match program,” Boren said. “You’re seeing, sitting here, the most generous person to this college.”
When the match period ended on March 31, 2008, he had matched about 1,360 gifts of more than $5.1 million, raising the college’s scholarships and fellowships to more than $14.5 million, the news release stated.
“I helped in all of this in some small way, so it’s an honor to be recognized,” said Mewbourne, glancing around the lobby of Sarkey’s as he spoke of $10 million in renovations to the building currently underway. “We’re getting this place moving again.”
Nanette Light 366-3541 nlight@normantranscript.com
