Friday, October 19, 2012
OKLAHOMA CITY – Governor Mary Fallin today commended the Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education, which officially approved the transfer of appropriated funds to reduce the backlog in the state’s matching funds program for endowed chairs at their meeting Thursday.
The Regents’ Endowment Fund Program, created in 1988, is a one-to-one matching program for state and private donations to fund academic positions and other related projects, mostly in the areas of science, technology and math, at Oklahoma’s public colleges and universities.
Due to the popularity of the program and the amount of private contributions raised, the state had recently fallen behind in matching contributions, resulting in a backlog of $282.3 million. During the 2012 legislative session, Governor Fallin signed into law Senate Bill 1969, which authorized the transfer of $141.9 million to reduce the backlog in the endowed chairs program.
“The endowed chairs program is essential to increasing research and economic development in the state,” Fallin said. “Reducing the backlog of the endowed chairs program allows the state to live up to its commitment and help Oklahoma’s colleges and universities attract the best and brightest faculty members in important fields like math, science and technology research.”