Joseph Woody Cochran was a highly decorated World War II veteran known for heroic action, but at The University of Tulsa, he is equally remembered as a talented artist and dedicated member of the faculty.

A Cherokee Indian from Tahlequah, Oklahoma, Lt. Cochran joined the Air Force and served in the Pacific Theater. As a Boeing B-17E Flying Fortress bomber pilot with the 43rd Bomb Group, 5th Air Force, Cochran earned the Silver Star, Purple Heart, Distinguished Flying Cross, three Presidential Unit Citations and an Air Medal.

In March 1943, during the New Guinea campaign, Cochran’s plane sustained serious damage, and all crewmen but one were wounded. The unwounded enlisted man and Cochran wrestled the damaged plane back to base. Cochran had been shot in the neck and waited three days before surgeons were able to attempt the delicate surgical repair. After recuperating in Sydney, Australia, he returned to combat and was promoted. Capt. Cochran carried a scar for the rest of his life.

Cochran the artist studied at the Art Institute of Chicago and was a member of the TU faculty from July 1955 until April 1973. His “semi-abstract” paintings were exhibited locally, regionally and nationally.

To honor Woody Cochran’s exceptional valor and devotion to the School of Art and its students, Cochran’s family, friends and colleagues established an endowed art scholarship shortly before his death in 1975.