Some generous supporters of The University of Tulsa chose to wholeheartedly embrace TU despite growing up in other states and attending other schools. This was the case for Arnold W. Lauer and Bertha Beauchamp Lauer, two unstinting donors born in Iowa in the late 1880s who earned their undergraduate degrees in 1904 and 1906, respectively, from the University of Iowa. After moving to Tulsa later in their lives, the Lauers lavished their generous support on TU, enabling students to attend TU to this day.

Arnold and Bertha Lauer found their way to Tulsa in a circuitous fashion, originally following Mr. Lauer’s parents to Norman, Oklahoma, from their home in Iowa in the first decade of the 1900s. The senior Lauers had moved to Norman in 1905 in order to purchase the Norman State Bank. Arnold and Bertha joined Arnold’s parents in their new town, and Arnold began working for the bank alongside his father.

In 1916, records show that Arnold and Bertha had moved to New Haven, Connecticut, where Mr. Lauer pursued a PhD at Yale University. Eventually, Arnold and Bertha moved their family to Tulsa, where Mr. Lauer at one point worked as a geologist, and Mrs. Lauer was a homemaker.

Arnold and Bertha ultimately contributed liberally from their substantial savings to benefit students attending TU, with Bertha establishing a significant estate gift prior to her passing in 1969 to honor Arnold, who had passed away in 1956.

The TU community is grateful for this philanthropic couple’s generous support of The University of Tulsa and the students we serve.