The Oklahoma State University A&M board of regents has selected Kayse Shrum as the nineteenth president of Oklahoma State University. When she takes office on July 1. Dr. Shrum will be the first woman president of the university.
Oklahoma State University’s main campus in Stillwater enrolls more than 20,000 undergraduate students and slightly more than 4,000 graduate students, according to the last data available from the U.S. Department of Education. Women make up 50 percent of the undergraduate student body.
Dr. Shrum has served as president of the Oklahoma State University Center for Health Sciences in Tulsa since 2013. A the time of her appointment, she was the youngest and first woman president and dean of a medical school in the state of Oklahoma. Dr. Shrum trained and served rural Oklahoma as a pediatrician before beginning her academic work.
“I am humbled and honored by this announcement,” said Dr. Shrum. “I am also thrilled because outside of my dear family, OSU has a special place in my heart. Leading the OSU Center for Health Sciences and helping students, faculty, and staff come together to create something truly impactful to our state has been immensely rewarding for me. To lead our vibrant university and the system, which is so vital to our state on many levels, will be the greatest challenge and honor of my professional career. I am looking forward to this opportunity with high anticipation.”
A native of Coweta, Oklahoma, Dr. Shrum is a graduate of Conners State College in Warner, Oklahoma. She earned her doctor of osteopathic medicine degree from the College of Osteopathic Medicine at Oklahoma State University.