The university will have its first female president. Trustee Martha Burger will take office July 1 as OCU president.
She will be replacing President Robert Henry, who will step down June 30.
Ron Norick, chair of the board of trustees, sent a March 25 email to the campus community announcing Burger as the president.
“Martha Burger is the right person to guide OCU forward. I am delighted that she has accepted the position and I am very excited about the university’s future,” Norick wrote.
Burger has served on the board of trustees since 2008. Norick said this decision was a long process and included feedback from the board of trustees, faculty, and administration.
“I look forward to serving the students, faculty and staff of Oklahoma City University,” Burger was quoted in the email. “I love this community we live in and am honored to have a role developing students as they become active, engaged and productive citizens with a heart for service.”
Students had the opportunity to meet with Burger on March 19 at a student session while she was meeting with various campus constituents. At that event, Burger said her top priorities as president are to grow and nurture university programs.
“What I want to do is to work on growing the university, and I don’t just mean in enrollment, but I mean by being able to invest and nurture programs that we have that are already excellent but need continued maintenance or additions to make them even better,” she said at the session.
She also said she will use her business background to benefit the university economically.
“I come from a finance background, so I talk about things in those kinds of terms, but they translate to the heart of things, not just the numbers around things,” she said. “The university has worked really hard to mind their expenses. We’ve gone through some tough processes and decisions, we are to a great stable place where we live within our means.”
Beatrize Martinez, second-year law student, said she thinks Burger is qualified because of her involvement on campus and her participation on the board of trustees.
Martinez is a former Student Government Association president, and she served on the board of trustees, which is how she knows Burger.
“I think she’s an excellent role model in terms of the fact that she’s a university trustee, a woman in business and just someone who’s been a part of the university for so long,” Martinez said.
Norick said the search committee appreciates all the student feedback from the student sessions. The other two nominees were Dr. Myron Pope and Thom Chesney.
“I am pleased to be handing the reins to Martha Burger,” President Henry was quoted in the email. “She has been an active trustee and a strong advocate for OCU for many years. I look forward to a smooth transition and a bright future for the university.”
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