Kayleen and Larry Ferguson of Hot Springs announced Wednesday a $50 million gift from the Ferguson Family Foundation to Oklahoma State University's College of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources.
The gift is one of the largest donations in the university's history, according to a release by the university. It will create a $25 million endowment for the college's operations and designate $25 million to kick-start a fundraising campaign for a research and teaching building. The university seeks to raise $50 million in private support for the planned $100 million facility, with construction set to begin in the spring of 2021.
In recognition of the gift, the College of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources will be renamed the Ferguson College of Agriculture, pending approval next week from the Oklahoma A&M board of regents, according to the release.
"The monetary value is extremely important, and without that we wouldn't be able to pursue this building in any reasonable way," said Tom Coon, dean of the OSU College of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources.
Coon said the Fergusons told university officials they feel their mission is to help feed the world and they see their investment in the college as a step toward completing that mission. The foundation also made a gift to the university's dairy program in 2016.
Larry Ferguson is the retired president and CEO of Schreiber Foods, the world's largest employee-owned dairy company. Kayleen Ferguson, a Hot Springs native, is a retired educator who primarily taught English.
The Fergusons said their faith and belief in education and a love for the university inspired their gift.
"We have a responsibility to the betterment of future generations," Kayleen Ferguson said in a news release. "You have to work hard, but you have to pass it on as well. It's not yours to keep. It's not yours to hold onto. It's yours to pass on."
The release said the Fergusons credit the Stillwater, Okla., university as an impetus for much of their success.
"I would never have become CEO without coming to Oklahoma State and going through the program here," Larry Ferguson said in the release. "Kay and I believe education is the way to solve the economic problems of our country. This gift is about more than just education. This is a way of helping feed the world."
Coon said the new building will give the college the kind of facility it needs to adopt new teaching methods.
"A lot of our classrooms are set up where the professor stands at the front and lectures, so they take notes sitting in rows, and it's really just a sterile learning environment," he said. "Really what a lot of our faculty are doing today are trying to get students more engaged in learning so they're not just memorizing what the professor says."
OSU was founded under the name Oklahoma Agricultural and Mechanical College, and agriculture remains a key part of the university and the state. Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt attended the Wednesday announcement and noted that more than 300,000 Oklahomans are employed within the agriculture industry.
"The success and rich history of agriculture in our state is due in large part to this institution and what it means to our state," Stitt said. "I commend the university for the innovation, for the teaching, the research and the extension efforts that have been critical to the growth of our state."
Metro on 01/17/2020