OU to Establish a School of Biomedical Engineering

[whenhen]

From a recent email

OU President David L. Boren Announces $30 Million in Gifts to Benefit OU Students in Engineering and Related Fields

University of Oklahoma President David L. Boren today announced more than $30 million in new resources to benefit OU students in engineering and related fields on the Norman campus, including construction of a new academic building in the Engineering Quadrangle, creation of a School of Biomedical Engineering, establishment of 12 new endowed positions and formation of a $3.5 million endowment for graduate fellowships.

The resources are being made possible through major gifts from Jim Gallogly of Houston and Peggy and Charles Stephenson of Tulsa.

A New Academic Building

In addition to serving the full College of Engineering community, the new academic building to be constructed will house the new School of Biomedical Engineering, which will integrate engineering and medicine and will further develop three areas of existing strength in the College of Engineering: biomedical imaging, nanomedicine and neuroengineering.

A New School

The School of Biomedical Engineering is being created to respond to the increase in biomedical engineering jobs anticipated as the world population continues to grow and age. Two years ago, CNNMoney cited biomedical engineering as the top jobs field for the period 2010 to 2020 with median pay of $87,000 and 10-year growth of almost 62 percent in employment opportunities.

To help create the school, Peggy and Charles Stephenson have pledged a major gift from the Stephenson Family Foundation.

A New Name

In appreciation of the gifts, Boren said he will recommend to the OU Board of Regents that they recognize the donors by naming the College of Engineering and the new academic building in Gallogly’s honor and that the new school be named in the Stephenson’s honor.

It will be located in the same engineering quad that the other engineering buildings are currently housed in. I’m hoping that students will also be given the opportunity to minor or concentrate in the subject.

[sunnydayfun]

Then a few hours after Boren’s announcement, the budget presentation revealed funding cut to OU. As a result, there is going to be an up to 5% increase in tuition and fees for the 2015-2016 year! Lovely!

http://www.oudaily.com/news/boren-discusses-inevitable-tuition-increase-at-budget-presentation/article_e119aa70-ea05-11e4-a850-c715769b3774.html

[STEMFamily]

Just a note. The author of that article makes the same mistake that many parents/students make when looking at college costs. Those numbers quoted for tuition and fees in that article are for a semester, not an academic year as implied. You have to read the website very carefully because it isn’t always obvious.

[sunnydayfun]

^I noticed that too. The fees quoted in the article are also not correct. I believe fees for the year were $5147.

[STEMFamily]

@sunnydayfun Same here, the fees quoted to DS on his ozone account are close to the amount you list. I think the difference is that the article quotes the per semester “mandatory” fees, but there are substantial other fees as well.