Few people leave an indelible mark on a community, but few are as extraordinary as William K. Warren Sr. and his family. Now one of Tulsa’s historic figures, the late William K. Warren Sr. rose from his early job as a railroad worker and accountant to lead the Warren Petroleum Company, which he founded on March 15, 1922. He had $300 in the bank, and the company had two employees: Warren and his wife, Natalie. When Gulf Oil Corporation purchased Warren Petroleum Company on November 10, 1953, for more than $420 million, it was the largest cash transaction in the nation’s energy industry up to that time.
In 1945, the Warrens had established The William K. Warren Foundation, which was fortified by the historic sale of the Warren Petroleum Company. From its early days, the Foundation’s role in advancing the Tulsa community has been singular and unmistakable; among its many projects, it established Saint Francis Hospital in 1960 and Laureate Psychiatric Clinic and Hospital in 1989.
Among his many honors, Mr. Warren received an Honorary Doctor of Science degree from The University of Tulsa. Mrs. Warren, who earned a bachelor’s degree from Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee, was awarded an honorary law degree from Duquesne University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
William K. Warren Sr. was 92 when he died in Tulsa on June 12, 1990. Natalie Warren served as vice chairwoman of the Warren Foundation until her death in 1996 at age 97.
William K. “Bill” Warren Jr. served as Chairman of the Warren Foundation for many years after his father’s retirement and now serves as Chairman Emeritus and Vice President. He continues to lead Warren Charité, another charitable foundation created by the family in 1969.
A graduate of the University of Notre Dame, Bill Warren is one of Tulsa’s most active civic leaders, serving on numerous corporate and charitable boards. He and his wife, Suzanne, also have served as honorary chairs of some of the city’s most successful benefits. In 1996, he received an honorary Doctor of Laws degree from The University of Tulsa, and he was inducted into the TU Business Hall of Fame in 2001, receiving the Outstanding Business Leader Award.
Suzanne is the consummate community volunteer and fundraiser, who has lent her time and expertise to many of the city’s charitable causes, most notably the Painted Pony Ball, a record-setting gala benefiting the Children’s Hospital of Saint Francis. She currently gives of her time and talent by serving on The University of Tulsa Board of Trustees. Along with serving on many charitable boards through the years, she and her husband are both inductees of the Tulsa Hall of Fame.
John-Kelly C. Warren, grandson of the founders and son of William K. Warren Jr., currently serves as Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Saint Francis Health System and as CEO of the William K. Warren Foundation, continuing the mission established by his grandfather and father.
Today, through the generosity and vision of Bill Warren and John-Kelly Warren, the William K. Warren Foundation and Warren Charité continue to provide financial assistance to worthy charitable, scientific, Catholic, and health programs dedicated to improving the quality of life in and around Tulsa, Oklahoma.
That generosity extends to The University of Tulsa. In fact, the Warrens have given generously to a number of TU programs, including the TU Nursing Program, the W. K. Warren Chair in Catholic Studies, the W. K. Warren Center for Catholic Studies, the Warren Foundation Chair in Bioinformatics, the Warren Clinic Endowed Chair in Sport Management, and most recently, the William K. Warren Foundation Neuroscience Studies Endowment Fund.
In 1983, William K. Warren Sr. and the William K. Warren Foundation – believing that TU students should be offered “the highest levels of excellence in education” – established the W. K. Warren Chair in Catholic Studies in the Department of Philosophy and Religion. That unique contribution added an important dimension to the academic programs of The University of Tulsa. Two years later, Mr. Warren added to this generous gift by establishing the W. K. Warren Center for Catholic Studies.
The Warren family’s support of TU actually began much earlier. Bill Warren recalls his father being a tremendous TU football fan. “He had regular seats on the top row, close to where the press box was, and we went to every game,” Bill once told an interviewer. “When I was nine years old, my dad used to take me downtown to his offices,” he recalled. There the boy would entertain himself until his father finished some business; then the two would go to then-Skelly Stadium to the games. This was in the mid-1940s, when TU’s winning seasons earned trips to the Orange Bowl and Sugar Bowl, which Bill Warren fondly remembers attending.
Years later, Suzanne Warren took the couple’s children, Andrew and Dana, to summer tennis classes on TU’s campus. “My association started when our son wanted to play competitive tennis, and the best camps in the city were Nike-sponsored, and the head coach was [TU Men’s Coach] Vince Westbook,” she recalls. Eventually, both Westbrook and Dean Orford, now women’s head coach, taught the children. “We were very close to Vince and Dean and are even godparents to Vince’s second son,” Suzanne said. Although Andrew and Dana graduated from other universities, both took courses at TU. Dana attended TU for one year to prepare for medical school.
The Warrens’ interest in athletics and devotion to Tulsa’s health care needs has found a natural fit with TU. Their generosity to the university has included gifts in both areas. These include the Warren Foundation Chair in Bioinformatics, established in 2007 to provide salary support for a faculty member who also directs the research activities of TU’s Institute of Bioinformatics and Computational Biology. The Institute’s cutting-edge research applies statistics and computer science to the field of molecular biology, primarily in genomics and genetics, and particularly in large-scale DNA sequencing projects. Research is conducted in collaboration with scientists and clinicians at the Laureate Institute for Brain Research (LIBR), a component of the Saint Francis Health System.
Warren Charité established the Warren Clinic Endowed Chair in Sport Management in 2010 to provide salary and professional support for a faculty member in this growing field. This chair led to the creation of a new minor in sport management and a certificate program in sport administration at TU.
The William K. Warren Foundation Neuroscience Funds were established in 2020, extending the foundation’s legacy of leadership in Tulsa’s healthcare sector. In addition to providing funds to establish a neuroscience program at TU, the endowments provide perpetual scholarship funding for TU students involved in neuroscience studies.
The Warren family also has supported a number of other vital programs at The University of Tulsa, including an international academic scholarship fund, the Case Athletic Complex, H.A. Chapman Stadium, TU Athletics, and outstanding support for the University’s Annual Fund. Bill and Suzanne remain fans of TU basketball, football and tennis and have given generously to these programs, including the Michael D. Case Tennis Center and the Donald W. Reynolds Center, the home of TU basketball.
The University of Tulsa genuinely treasures the longstanding friendship, enthusiasm, and generosity of the Warren family and looks forward to the benefits and innovations that its visionary investments will produce for many years to come.
