V. Burns Hargis

Vaden Burns Hargis (born October 29, 1945) is an American attorney who served as the 18th president of Oklahoma State University. He took office March 10, 2008, and retired July 1, 2021. He succeeded David Schmidly, who had resigned from OSU to become president of the University of New Mexico. Hargis holds degrees in accounting from Oklahoma State University and in law from University of Oklahoma.

Career in law and banking Before he came to OSU, he was the Vice Chairman of Bank of Oklahoma, N.A. Before 1997, when he joined Bank of Oklahoma, Hargis practiced law in Oklahoma City for 28 years, where he had worked with the firm of McAfee & Taft.

Other activities have included his service as vice-chairman of the Oklahoma State Election Board, member of the Oklahoma Constitutional Revision Commission and as Chairman of the Oklahoma Commission for Human Services. He is a former member of the Commission of the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools.

In 2009, Hargis was inducted into the Oklahoma Hall of Fame.

Awards In March 2020, The Journal Records announced that Hargis has been selected as this year's recipient of the Legacy Award. The award will be presented on April 27 at The Journal Records 11th annual Oklahoma's Most Admired CEO & Financial Stewardship Awards event.