Oklahoma politician and lawyer David Boren died Thursday at 83 after an extended illness.
Throughout Boren’s political career, the lifelong Democrat served as a state legislator, a U.S. senator, the governor of Oklahoma and the president of the University of Oklahoma. Boren was the most prominent member of one of Oklahoma’s most influential political families.
“He saw public service as a noble calling and dedicated his life to it,” Boren’s son Dan Boren said in a statement. “My father loved the people of Oklahoma.”
Boren was born on April 21, 1941, in Washington, D.C., where his father was part of Oklahoma’s Congressional delegation. Elected to the U.S. House of Representatives at the age of 26, Lyle Boren remains one of the youngest people ever to serve in Congress. David Boren and his younger sister Susan grew up in Seminole after their father’s time in Congress ended.
After attaining his bachelor’s degree from Yale, where he was a member of the Army ROTC and the secretive Skull and Bones society, Boren attended Oxford as a Rhodes Scholar, where he rowed crew and studied politics, philosophy and economics. Boren returned home to attend the University of Oklahoma College of Law and set up a legal practice in Seminole.
At 26, Boren began to follow in his father’s precocious political footsteps. His first role in government was representing Seminole in the Oklahoma House from 1967 through 1974. At the same time, Boren served in the Oklahoma Army National Guard, practiced law and chaired Oklahoma Baptist University’s government department.
Oklahoma elected Boren to the governor’s office in 1974 after a campaign where he promised to “sweep out the Old Guard.” As governor, he advocated for the deregulation of natural gas prices at a federal level, lowering income taxes and reforming the Oklahoma prison system.
Instead of seeking a second gubernatorial term, Boren ran for the U.S. Senate and won. A centrist Democrat, Boren was instrumental in policies and discussions that led to the release of Nelson Mandela from prison in South Africa. He led the opposition to an early anti-pollution tax proposed by Bill Clinton.
Boren sponsored the 1991 legislation that created the National Security Education Program, which sought to increase language and cultural expertise among U.S. federal workers. He also created the Boren awards: scholarships and fellowships to help American undergraduates learn those subjects or study abroad in “world regions critical to U.S. interest.”
Boren resigned in the middle of his third Senate term to become the president of University of Oklahoma in 1994. During his nearly 24 years as president, Boren founded OU’s Honors College and developed incentives that attract more National Merit Scholars to OU than to any other university in the country. He officially recognized OU’s first Indigenous People’s Day in 2015 after meeting with Indigenous student leaders.
“He led in so many positive, effective, and bi partisan ways,” former OSU President Burns Hargis said in a statement. “We worked closely together to make Higher Education a great experience for students.”
Boren was still involved in national politics during his time at OU. Ross Perot unsuccessfully tried to lure Boren into becoming his running mate for the 1996 presidential election. Boren served as President Barack Obama’s Intelligence Advisory Board chair from 2009 through 2013.
Boren was accused of sexual misconduct during his time as OU president, including unwanted sexual touching and advances. After Boren retired in 2018, the university hired a law firm to investigate the allegations. The investigators found at least one account to be “generally credible.” Through his lawyers, Boren issued a blanket denial of any wrongdoing.
Boren was married twice, first to Janna Lou Little in 1968. The couple had two children, Dan and Carrie, before divorcing in 1976. Boren married Pontotoc County Special District Judge Molly Shi a year later at the Governor’s Mansion. David called Molly his full partner and top adviser in his political roles, and the two remained married until his death.
He is survived by his wife, two children and grandchildren. In lieu of flowers, the family asked contributions be made to the David L. Boren scholarship fund at the East Central University Foundation.
This article originally misstated that Boren finished his Senate term before becoming the president of OU. It's been updated to reflect that he resigned from the Senate to accept that position.
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