The award is the largest single gift in the institution’s history and will support health education, research and workforce.
Of the $150 million commitment, $50 million will help advance research at the Harold Hamm Diabetes Center. The remaining $100 million will advance the broader academic and research enterprise at the university’s health campus, which will now be called the Harold Hamm Health Campus at the University of Oklahoma.
“This gift is about far more than its historic size. It is Harold’s belief in what is now possible and an invitation to all of us to seize this moment and improve lives for generations to come,” said OU President Joseph Harroz Jr. in a press release.
The award makes Hamm the largest individual donor in OU history, with his lifetime donations approaching $250 million. In 2007, Hamm’s lead gift helped establish OU’s diabetes center. Hamm, who was diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes in his 50s, contributed additional dollars toward recruiting scientists and building technology and infrastructure to pursue research.
Hamm said he hopes his historic gift will make Oklahoma a place where the next great medical breakthrough happens.
“I’ve spent my life believing that when you see an opportunity to change the future, you don’t stand on the sidelines — you act. Oklahoma has given me more than I could ever repay, and I can think of no greater investment than in the health and lives of its people,” Hamm said.
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