About Us

HISTORY OF THE THURMAN J. WHITE FORUM BUILDING

In 1957, Thurman J. White, Vice President of Continuing Education and Public Service at OU, secured one of 12 grants given by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation for creating university-based residential conference centers around the world. The grant, the largest the university had received to date, was used to build the Thurman J. White Forum Building and other structures that collectively formed the Oklahoma Center for Continuing Education (OCCE). OCCE was unveiled in 1962 as a self-contained community for adult learners. Today, as part of the OU College of Professional and Continuing Studies, the Forum continues to serve the needs of a wide variety of meeting and conference participants. Participants come from every state and many foreign countries to attend courses and conferences in a variety of formats. The Forum hosts some 400 events annually for more than 21,000 attendees.