OU Law Receives Gift to Establish Faculty Collaboration Center, Endowed Professorship

Foundation trustees Kirk Clausing and Max Vowel stand together at the Lou and Connie Miller Charitable Foundation Lobby of The Anne and Henry Zarrow Performance Studio.

Contact: Rachel Egli
Director of Events and
Continuing Legal Education
Office: (405) 325-2011
r.egli@ou.edu

NORMAN, OKLA. – A recent charitable gift to the University of Oklahoma College of Law will help transform the college’s faculty library into a faculty collaboration center, while also contributing to the establishment of an endowed professorship – both of which will be named in recognition of the Lou and Connie Miller Charitable Foundation’s $1 million gift to the college.

The collaboration center will replace the current third-floor faculty library, providing new furnishings, inviting workspaces and technology upgrades that allow for creative pedagogy, research and scholarship. The endowed professorship will act as a salary supplement to an OU Law faculty member with a national reputation for research excellence and superior teaching skills, with outstanding professional and academic stature.

“This generous gift will not only encourage OU Law faculty in the advancement of their individual scholarship and research, but will advance the College of Law, as well, as a premier institution for research and collaboration,” said OU Law Interim Dean Katheleen R. Guzman. “The OU Law community is grateful to the Lou and Connie Miller Charitable Foundation for its sustained support for our faculty and our facilities, and through both, our mission.”  

The Lou and Connie Miller Charitable Foundation was established in 2006 from the estate of the late Lou Miller, who was a successful Tulsa businessman and real estate entrepreneur. The foundation’s support has been instrumental in the University of Oklahoma’s success. The Foundation previously established a $500,000 endowed scholarship fund in 2018 for veterans and active-duty military students at OU. The Foundation also gives $25,000 annually to the OU College of Law, a portion of which is applied to transactional practicum program and the balance of which is for the discretionary use of the Office of the Dean.

“We are honored and incredibly fortunate to continue to benefit from the generosity of the late Lou and Connie Miller,” said OU President Joseph Harroz Jr. “The traditions that unite us and the values we hold dear would not be as strong without the support of our university’s alumni and friends. This inspiring gift will allow the OU College of Law to compete to recruit and retain the nation’s most talented faculty and students.”

The $1,000,000 gift was presented to the College of Law by W. Kirk Clausing, BBA ’66 and JD ’69, and Max Vowel, CPA, managing directors of the Foundation.

To celebrate the Lou and Connie Miller Faculty Collaboration Center, members from the Foundation and College of Law hope to present the new space during a ribbon-cutting ceremony in spring 2021. Further details will be announced at a later date.