Oklahoma City University
President's Office

Dr. Tom J. McDaniel
President of Oklahoma City University

Tom J. McDaniel is president of Oklahoma City University and has led a transformation of the 104 year-old institution in his seven-year tenure including the construction and dedication of the new Meinders School of Business, the Wanda L. Bass Music Center, the Ann Lacy Visitors and Admissions Center, and the Norick Art Center. These capital improvements were part of a successful $100 million centennial development campaign which doubled the university’s endowment and allowed the creation of new academic programs in nursing, dance, and film and new athletic programs in rowing, wrestling and volleyball.

Projects dedicated last fall that continue the growth and revitalization of the Oklahoma City urban campus included a new residence hall, a women’s softball field, a new home for the Ann Lacy School of American Dance and Arts Management named the Edith Kinney Gaylord Center, and an expanded student and faculty facility which the OCU Board of Trustees has named the Tom and Brenda McDaniel University Center.

Prior to coming to Oklahoma City University in June of 2001, McDaniel served as president of Northwestern Oklahoma State University in Alva, Oklahoma, becoming the first graduate of that school to serve as its President.

McDaniel received a bachelor’s degree in business from Northwestern Oklahoma State University in 1960 and his Juris Doctor from the University of Oklahoma College of Law in 1963, after which he was in private law practice. In 1981, the Supreme Court of Oklahoma appointed him as administrative director of state courts. He joined Kerr-McGee in 1984, ultimately becoming vice chairman of the company and a member of its board of directors. A member of the Oklahoma and American Bar associations, McDaniel is a former state chairman of the Oklahoma Fellows of the American Bar Foundation.

McDaniel and his wife Brenda were married in 1959. They have three grown sons, Lance, Randy and Mark and four grandchildren. Randy is married to Julie Wells McDaniel and they are parents of Grace Elizabeth. Mark and his wife Stacy Cole McDaniel are the parents of three children, Cole, Joshua, and Meghan.

His community service includes past or present positions on the Oklahoma Centennial Commission, State Fair of Oklahoma, the Oklahoma City Chamber of Commerce, the Oklahoma State Chamber, the UMB Oklahoma Bank, St. Anthony’s Hospital, and the Downtown Rotary Club. He is a former president of the Petroleum Club and of the Oklahoma City Golf and Country Club. He and Brenda have chaired the Oklahoma City Art Museum’s annual Renaissance Ball and were the 2006 Co-Chairs for the Reflections of Hope dinner for the Oklahoma City Bombing Memorial Foundation. He has also served as chairman of the board of trustees of Columbus Elementary Enterprise School, Oklahoma’s first charter public school.

In 1995 McDaniel was the recipient of the Eugene Kuntz Award presented by the OU College of Law for his contributions to Natural Resources Law and Policy. He was named Friday newspaper’s 2004 OKCITYAN of the Year and in 2005 was honored with the Oklahoma City Plaza District inaugural “Urban Pioneer Award” for his work in the central city. In 2006 he has been recognized for civic activities by the Jewish Foundation and Oklahoma Asian Society. On November 16, 2006 he was inducted into the Oklahoma Hall of Fame.

The Office of the President is located in Room 205 of the Clara E. Jones Administration Building. You may reach the office by calling (405) 208-5032 or faxing (405) 208-5264.