He is “Interim” no more...

Saturday, the regents unanimously voted to delete the word “interim” from Harroz’ title and move him to the permanent position of OU’s 15th president.

After nearly a year of watching Harroz lead as interim, the timing was right for the regents to make the permanent appointment, Chair Gary Pierson said Saturday.

“Everybody that’s on the [board] is an experienced business person with very, very deep experience, and your intuition tells you some things along the way,” Pierson said. “...It has been a year, so we thought we had a good body of work. We especially thought we had a good body of work under stress in the last two months, and collectively, every one of us thought now is the time, rather than dragging on further uncertainty and instability and questioning. At a certain point, you just have to make a business decision.”
https://www.normantranscript.com/news/education/ou-regents-name-harroz-15th-university-president/article_2d8b4d47-c95e-52ad-9c0c-f65669f406f3.html


On a historic day marking the appointment of Harroz as the 15th OU president, the crowd that listened to Harroz’s remarks and celebrated afterward was also historic — seated six feet apart from each other and wearing provided masks to avoid the spread of COVID-19.
http://www.oudaily.com/news/harroz-named-15th-ou-president-joseph-harroz-says-top-priority-is-developing-university-strategic-plan/article_db014792-9248-11ea-9537-6738db6439f6.html

Others...
https://www.koco.com/article/joseph-harroz-jr-named-university-of-oklahomas-15th-president/32424754

http://www.news9.com/story/5eb713f88b96b80b95db1335/ou-names-harroz-jr-as-15th-president-in-school-history- (http://www.news9.com/story/5eb713f88b96b80b95db1335/ou-names-harroz-jr-as-15th-president-in-school-history-)

https://kfor.com/news/local/joseph-harroz-jr-officially-named-university-of-oklahomas-15th-president/

Official Press Release From OU:
http://ou.edu/web/presidentannouncement

I haven’t been following him or OUs progress. Is this a good move?

I haven’t been following him or OUs progress. Is this a good move?

I’ve heard good things about him from friends of mine who attended OU Law under him when he was the dean. Many people assumed he would be the pick after Boren retired.

I'm not as in-the-know as many people here, but I've been impressed with him so far especially with these challenges we're facing right now.

He's universally respected and is relatively young for a university president at only 52.

He received some criticism for the way some recent racial issues were handled, but to be fair there is no pleasing everyone in those situations.

I think he's a great choice.

If he can be similar to Boren (fundraising and love for sports) without being so willing to take on or add to the massive debt OU already has, then he will do just fine!

I don't envy him trying to claw back operating funds and donations during COVID. Something tells me education will be the fist thing the legislature will want to cut.

If some of you recall, when the first search after Boren’s retirement announcement was conducted, Harroz was the favorite to be named his replacement. In fact, it seemed as close to a done deal as possible, but then Gallogly was chosen in a move that surprised most. That was, obviously, a mistake, and now they went back to the person they were initially going to choose anyway.

^

We still need to get to the bottom of that Gallogly hiring then quick exit.

The whole thing was really sleazy.

Honestly, l wouldn't waste much effort because that will just cost more money for more lawyers. I would be more concerned with keeping the school viable and solvent.

Glad to read this. Hopefully OU gets back on track. It seems it’s rep has really been damaged over the last few years.