COMM U N I T Y
BY: LINDSAY CUOMO
OU’s 15th President Board of Regents names Joseph Harroz Jr. OU’s next President
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The University of Oklahoma Board of Regents unanimously voted to name Joseph Harroz Jr. the university’s 15th president, effective immediately.
“Joe Harroz is an exceptional leader,” said Gary Pierson, chair of the OU Board of Regents. “His deep devotion to OU and compelling vision for its future are precisely what the university needs. There’s no one better suited to lead OU.”
Harroz, formerly the dean of the OU College of Law, has served as interim president since May 2019, following former President Jim Gallogly’s resignation. “This is more than a promotion or a dream job to me,” Harroz said. “My role is not to carry a title, but to serve. At the end of the day, I am but one of many temporary stewards of this life-changing institution. “It’s a chance to pay back the debt I owe our university. OU changes lives every day. I know firsthand because it changed mine. I wouldn’t be who I am if not for the education my father – the son of Lebanese immigrants – received at OU, and the education that I also received from this extraordinary institution. My family’s story is just one of countless others that prove the power and possibilities of an OU education.”
A native Oklahoman, Harroz earned a bachelor of arts in economics from OU in 1989, graduating Phi Beta Kappa, and a juris doctorate from Georgetown University in 1992. Harroz rejoined the University of Oklahoma in 1994, the beginning of nearly 25 years of service to the university. He served first as vice president for executive affairs and then for 12 years as general counsel, the chief legal counsel to the president, the OU Board of Regents, Rogers State University and Cameron University.
In 2008, Harroz became president of a publicly traded health care company, growing its market capitalization to more than $80 million, before returning to OU in 2010 as the dean and director of the OU Law Center and Fenelon Boesche Chair of Law. Harroz has taught law for more than two decades, focusing on employment, sports and health care law. 42 | June 2020
Photos Photos by: by: Mark Mark Doescher Doescher
“Students feel visible after meeting President Harroz,” said Justin Norris, president of the OU Student Government Association. “Over the past two semesters, he has immersed himself within multiple perspectives of student life by attending campus events, conversing with students, and most importantly, listening to them. He is an advocate, ally and role model, and he possesses what I believe to be some of the most important leadership attributes: compassion, connectivity and drive – all of which I believe are reflected in his work this past year.”
