Interim President Joseph Harroz, Jr. will speak on the increased number of students attending OU and how OU is excited about increasing Oklahoma’s future talent pool.
Harroz will discuss OU’s growth in students, research and legislative support.
How OU is the state’s flagship, public research university.
OU’s commitment to being an economic catalyst, particularly in engineering, energy, computer science, and aerospace and defense sectors.
Joseph Harroz, Jr., became interim president of the University of Oklahoma on May 17, 2019. For the past nine years he has served as dean and professor of Law at the OU College of Law.
Harroz graduated Phi Beta Kappa with distinction from the University of Oklahoma in 1989, where he majored in Economics and minored in Zoology. He received his Juris Doctor in 1992 from Georgetown University Law Center and began his legal career as a legislative director and legal counsel in the United States Senate and then practiced law with the firm of Crowe & Dunlevy in Oklahoma City.
Harroz began working at OU in 1994, serving as the vice president for Executive Affairs. In 1996, he began his service as general counsel to the OU Board of Regents and served in that role for 12 years, the longest term for anyone in that role. In 2008, he became the president of a publicly traded healthcare company, growing its market capitalization to more than $80 million, before returning to OU in 2010 as the dean and director of the OU Law Center and Fenelon Boesche Chair of Law. In addition, Harroz has taught for more than 22 years, including courses in employment, sports and healthcare law.
Under his leadership, the College of Law has received record national recognition, including the highest U.S. News & World Report ranking by any Oklahoma law school in history and the first law school in the nation to achieve Apple Distinguished School status (Apple, Inc.). In addition, his fundraising efforts have more than doubled the overall endowment of the College and more than tripled the scholarship endowment.
Mr. Mohammad Farzaneh serves as the Chief Executive Officer of IROK Holdings and President of Construction of Home Creations.
Mr. Farzaneh earned a Bachelor of Science in Environmental Design from the University of Oklahoma and a Masters in Architecture from the University of Oklahoma. Mr. Farzaneh is licensed in Architecture abroad.
Through Grassland Investment and MJM Energy, Mr. Farzaneh has invested in numerous oil and gas projects throughout the United States.
In 1981, Mr. Farzaneh and his brother, Mr. Jalal Farzaneh, formed Home Creations, which specializes in developing and constructing commercial buildings and residential homes in the United States and Canada. Mr. Farzaneh oversees the Construction department of Home Creations and is constantly looking for ways to improve the company’s building processes to continually develop a top-quality home. Under the leadership of the Farzaneh brothers, Home Creations is the largest homebuilder in Oklahoma and is one of the top 100 builders in the United States. Since 1981, Home Creations has developed over 5,000 lots and has built and sold more than 9,000 homes.
The Farzaneh brothers have endowed several positions and programs at numerous universities in central Oklahoma, including OU, OSU, OCU, and UCO. Mr. Farzaneh serves on the Oklahoma City Chamber Advisory Board, and the Board of Directors for numerous organizations, including XENIA, ISCC in California, and the University of Oklahoma College of International and College of Architecture Board of Visitors.