F.M. “Pete” and Helen L. “Pat” Bartlett gave 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.
