1981 First $1 million gift announced

F.M. "Pete" and Helen L. "Pat" Bartlett give the first $1 million donation in the OSU Foundation's history.

From 1979-80, Pete, an engineer and businessman from Tulsa, served as the Foundation's first chairman of the board after that position title changed from president.

During the first phone-a-thon in 1979, when a $100 gift was big enough to draw cheers, he told caller Lana Oakley he was giving $5,000 and he expected a call annually.

Bartlett was honored with a Henry G. Bennett Distinguished Service Award in 1981 and named a distinguished alumnus in 1977.