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The University of Tulsa company history timeline

1894

With William A. Caldwell as president the new college held its first classes in September 1894.

In 1894, the young school expanded to become Henry Kendall College, named in honor of Reverend Henry Kendall, secretary of the Presbyterian Board of Home Missions.

1896

We'll be transcribing the papers of Mary Church Terrell, co-founder of the National Association of Colored Women in 1896. https://fb.me/e/3ztJArtvr

The first president was William A. Caldwell, who served a brief two-year term, which ended in 1896.

1906

The school struggled through its first decade until 1906 when school officials asked the Synod of Indian Territory to assume control as trustees and to seek a new location for the college.

In most years, class sizes remained small and although the academy, the attached elementary, middle, and high school was more successful; by the end of the 1906–07 year Kendall College had had only 27 collegiate graduates.

1907

The college opened to thirty-five students in September 1907, two months before Oklahoma became a state.

Successfully courted by the business and professional community of Tulsa, which was booming after the discovery of oil at Glenpool, Henry Kendall College moved to Tulsa in 1907, the year of Oklahoma’s statehood.

Financial problems caused officials of the Presbyterian Synod of Indian Territory to move the school to Tulsa in 1907.

1908

Kendall Hall, the first building of the new school, was completed in 1908 and was quickly followed by two other buildings.

1918

In 1918, the Methodist Church proposed building a college in Tulsa, using money donated by Tulsa oilman Robert M. McFarlin.

1919

In 1919 the Southern Methodist Church was preparing to establish a new college in Tulsa.

1920

9, 1920, by the Kendall College trustees.

The college evolved into the University of Tulsa in 1920, when the college merged with McFarlin College.

Financial problems caused officials of the Presbyterian Synod of Indian Territory to move the school to Tulsa in 1907. It was reorganized as the University of Tulsa in 1920.

1921

In 1921 the University of Tulsa was formed.

1926

Articles of incorporation were changed in 1926 to finalize the merger and sever the authority of the Synod from the school, thus creating a self-perpetuating board of trustees.

1928

By 1928, the articles of incorporation had been amended to create the modern structure as an independent school corporation governed by a self-perpetuating board of trustees.

The University of Tulsa opened its School of Petroleum Engineering in 1928.

1958

In 1958, Ben Graf Henneke, a scholar of theater and communications, became the first alumnus to hold the Presidency of the University of Tulsa.

1959

In 1959 Ben Graf Henneke, a TU alumnus and professor, became the university's president.

The school sold the mansion and its furnishings to private owners in 1959.

1965

Hundreds of oil companies now have plants and offices in the city, which was the site of the International Petroleum Exposition (held 1965–80). The main economic activity is based on petroleum—exploration, drilling, production, refining, and research.

1972

All three buildings have since been demolished, with Kendall the last to be razed in 1972.

1988

In recognition of TU's academic strength, a Phi Beta Kappa chapter was established in 1988.

1996

Beginning in 1996 Robert Lawless pushed the university into a period of economic growth and construction.

2004

In 2004, anthropologist Steadman Upham joined the University of Tulsa as president, having served in faculty and leadership positions at the University of Oregon and Arizona State University.

2012

On July 5, 2012, the university announced that it would repurchase the house as a residence for its president.

2016

The university also partnered with the George Kaiser Family Foundation to permanently house The Bob Dylan Archive at TU in 2016.

In 2016 President Upham retired and was succeeded by Doctor Gerard Clancy who previously served as a psychiatry professor and held leadership positions at the University of Iowa and the University of Oklahoma.

2019

About two-and-a-half years into his presidency, in the spring of 2019, President Clancy and Provost Levit announced a restructuring of academic programs at the university that would eliminate several academic programs.

2020

In January 2020, President Clancy informed the Board that he needed to cut back his activities because of unspecified medical issues.

2021

Former Congressman Brad Carson became President of Tulsa University, effective July 1, 2021.

2022

George Justice joined The University of Tulsa on July 1, 2022.

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Founded
1894
Company founded
Headquarters
Tulsa, OK
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Founders
Dax Craig (BSBA ’91)
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