SMU remembers former OU president William Banowsky
“He was one of the most dynamic individuals that I have ever known,” said R. Gerald Turner, president of Southern Methodist University in Dallas. Turner considered Banowsky a close colleague. The two worked together at Pepperdine University and OU.
Excerpt from the Forth Worth Star Telegram
William Slater Banowsky is described as person who left an impression everywhere he went — from Fort Worth to California to Oklahoma.
Banowsky, a former president of the University of Oklahoma and a graduate of Fort Worth Carter-Riverside High School, could inspire young men to want to be preachers, fill classrooms that delved into the psychology of religion and convince a skeptical citizenry to invest in public higher education.
Banowsky died Sunday. He was 83.
“He was one of the most dynamic individuals that I have ever known,” said R. Gerald Turner, president of Southern Methodist University in Dallas. Turner considered Banowsky a close colleague. The two worked together at Pepperdine University and OU.
“I’ve lost a dear, dear friend,” said Turner, who is giving Banowsky’s eulogy at a funeral service Sunday in Dallas.