Published: March 27, 2007 12:29 am            

Hamm Foundation donates $7 million to Oklahoma Diabetes Center

NORMAN — Enid residents Harold and Sue Ann Hamm gave what they hope will be the gift of life Monday when their foundation presented $7 million to Oklahoma Diabetes Center.

“This is something affecting more Oklahomans and more Americans every day,” Harold Hamm said. “One out of nine people are affected by diabetes, and by 2025 it will be one out of three. It’s a very debilitating disease, and there is a lot of work and research needing to be done.”

University of Oklahoma President David L. Boren made the announcement at the Robert M. Bird Library Plaza, OU Health Sciences Center in Oklahoma City. The donation from the Harold and Sue Ann Hamm Foundation will enhance the facility’s abilities in the areas of diabetes research and care.

Boren said the gift would establish ODC among the nation’s diabetes leaders.

“I said we were going to build a world-class, state-of-the-art diabetes center,” Boren said to an audience of more than 200 people. “Today we take a giant step in making that dream a reality.”

More than $3 million of the Hamm Foun-dation’s investment will produce three endowed chairs — adult diabetes, clinical diabetes research and adult diabetes clinical care or research. OU will ask the State Regents for Higher Education for matching funds.

The new ODC facility under construction at the OU Health Science Center will receive $2 million. About $1.4 million will be used “as bridge funding to support research and clinical activities during the next four years as the endowments are established.”

Harold Hamm said he and his wife were pleased to help finance the efforts of the ODC. He said it was important for the foundation to find a suitable cause. He said they both have a passion for health, education and the welfare of people.

“This is a great day,” Hamm said. “It’s a great day for something I care about. ... we feel passionately about this cause and know this gift will help provided top-notch, gold-standard medical care to many deserving people from all walks of life.

“There are not many centers that can gear up to do the research, but I believe OU can,” Hamm said. “I believe in President Boren and the program they have at OU. I think the program will go on to bigger and better things.”

Boren is among the more than 200,000 Oklahomans diagnosed with the disorder. The state also has, per capita, the highest rate of residents suffering from diabetes.

“The onset of diabetes is the greatest looming health crisis in the United States,” he said.

Last year, Gov. Brad Henry approved a measure appropriating more than $10 million for OU to create a comprehensive diabetes center with locations in Tulsa and Oklahoma City.

At the time, Henry said it was a “vital investment” in the state.

“We are making great strides toward a healthier Oklahoma,” he said.

“This historic gift by Harold and Sue Ann Hamm will help make the dream of a world-class diabetes center in Oklahoma a reality,” Boren said. “Coupled with appropriations from the state Legislature and help from private donors, including the Chick-asaw, Choctaw and Cherokee Nations, the Hille Foundation and the Anne and Henry Zarrow Foundation, almost $30 million has now been committed to this effort.”

Providing medical care for people with diabetes is not the only goal Harold and Sue Hamm have. Harold Hamm thinks they can achieve more.

“We are going to find that cure,” he said. “We will get it done.”



Pennington writes for the Norman Transcript. News & Eagle Staff Writer Robert Barron contributed to this story.