Dr. Lawrence L. Boger, the former provost and vice president of academic affairs at Michigan State University, became OSU’s 14th president on June 15, 1977.

During his tenure, Boger was instrumental in completing a merger between OSU and the Oklahoma College of Osteopathic Medicine in Tulsa that is thriving today as the OSU College of Osteopathic Medicine.

Boger, a highly-decorated World War II veteran is credited with preparing OSU for the information age, with an integrated communications system, the use of computers and the installation of digital fiber optic telephone systems.

With Boger’s support, OSU’s Educational Television Services moved into a state-of-the-art facility and OSU became the first university in the nation to have uplink satellite capability.

Under his guidance, OSU was a major participant in the consortium to initiate and staff the University Center in Tulsa, which led to the birth of OSU-Tulsa several years later.

Boger retired in 1988 but continued to work for agribusiness development at the local, state and international levels.