Early Life and Education
editEugene Laurrel Swearingen was born in Grant, Nebraska on August 20, 1920. He graduated from high school in Perry, Oklahoma, then went to Oklahoma Agricultural & Mechanical School (a.k.a. Oklahoma A & M. [a] where he earned a bachelor's degree in 1941. He enlisted in the U.S. Navy in 1943 and served until 1946, after the end of World War II.[b] He returned to OSU to obtain a master's degree in 1948. Then he went to Stanford University, where he received a Ph.D. in economics in 1955. He continued his education with post-graduate studies at Harvard Graduate School of Business and at Dartmouth.[2]
Swearingen had begun a career in academia while at OSU, where he became an instructor in 1948 and was appointed Dean of the OSUBusiness School in 1957. He was elevated to Vice President of Development in 1964 and Vice President of Business and Finance in 1966. [3]
Tulsa University
editOn September 9, 1966, a committee representing the Tulsa University (TU) Board of Trustee selected Swearingen (then Vice- President for University Development for OSU) to serve as president of TU, effective February 1, 1967, the day that his predecessor, Ben Henneke was scheduled to leave.[4] [c]
Retirement from Academia
editHe served as TU's president between 1967 and 1968. On May 15, 1968, he resigned to accept an offer to join the National Bank of Tulsa (NBT).[d] as its president. Logsdon reported that the only student demonstration on the TU campus in 1968 was the day after Swearingen announced his resignation in order to accept the bank job. The students believed that it showed that society valued banks more than education; and they felt betrayed. They held an impromptu march on Swearingen's office, but failed to change his mind. His final day on campus was June 15, after only 16 months at TU.[6]
NBT had hired him to serve as presidentIn 1969, he became the Chief Executive Officer. He retired from BOK in 1980. Then joined the board of directors of several companies, including:Parker Drilling Co., First Bank of Trust of Perry, Charles Machine Works of Perry, and Local America Bank of Tulsa.Cite error: A <ref> tag is missing the closing </ref> (see the help page).
Family
editSwearingen was married twice. His first wife was named Aasalee. No other information is available about her. His second wife, who was was named Jane, survived him. Other survivors were three daughters: Linda Miller of Skiatook; Sandra Grant of Stillwater and Sherry Peet of Tulsa; two stepsons, Jason Nunley and Philip Nunley; and a brother, Wayne Swearingen of Tulsa.<ref name="PerryOK-Obit/">
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- *Category: People from Grant, Nebraska
- *Category: People from Perry, Oklahoma
- *Category:People from Tulsa, Oklahoma
- *Category: People from Stillwater, Oklahoma
- *Category: Alumni of Oklahoma State University
- *Category: Alumni of Stanford University
- *Category: Faculty of Oklahoma State University
- *Category: Faculty of University of Tulsa
- *Category: Faculty of University of Oral Roberts University
- *Category: Economists in Oklahoma
- *[[:Category:
Notes
edit- ^ Later renamed Oklahoma State University (OSU),
- ^ He was assigned to a destroyer that was sunk by a torpedo in the North Atlantic Ocean.[1]]
- ^ Logsdon wrote that "...Swearingen brought the finest credentials for a president that The University of Tulsa had seen."[5]
- ^ NBT was later renamed as the Bank of Oklahoma. In 1969, NBT was renamed as BOK Corporation, and in 2019 became BOK Financial, now, essentially a holding company and the largest bank in Oklahoma.