Woman of Influence: Dr. Kayse Shrum

Dr. Kayse Shrum became the first female president of Oklahoma State University on July 1, 2021. She is, frankly, fascinating: She’s a compassionate leader, an impressive fundraiser, a tireless champion and role model for young people and someone whose small-town Oklahoma roots run deep. Growing up in Coweta, near Tulsa, Shrum and her sister heard from their parents that if they worked hard enough, they could do anything. That’s the message she and husband Darren share with their six children, and it’s what she wants every Cowgirl and Cowboy now under her charge to take to heart.

In an interview with State Magazine, Shrum’s father Dennis Donnelly shared a story of his daughter’s tenacity and work ethic. As an eighth-grader, Shrum played catcher on her softball team. At a tournament, she saw a pitcher receive an individual trophy, and asked her dad why the pitcher got her own award. “I said, ‘Well, because that’s a skill position,’” Donnelly said. “And when I came home, she was throwing a ball against the wall. For two or three days, she kept throwing the ball against the wall. So I thought, well, you know, I’ll get her some lessons. And then she started throwing the ball in the garage, and she was throwing the ball through the garage, into the den and then through the windows.” She pitched a perfect game in high school, and earned herself interest from Big 12 Conference schools, but Shrum, a small-town girl at heart, opted for Connors State College instead.

Shrum’s sister, Patti Plunk, shared a similar story of early foreshadowing with “State.” As a young girl, Plunk would walk into Shrum’s room to find her sister holding meetings with her stuffed animals. They’d each have a sheet of paper and a crayon in front of them. “I would open her door and she would say, ‘Get out, we’re in a meeting,’” Plunk said. “That’s one of my best memories … Now she’s in meetings all the time.”

So perhaps it comes as no surprise that Dr. Shrum is now also President Shrum. Says she of her achievement, “I don’t miss the significance of how historic it is and what it means to people. I’ve heard from countless students and future Cowgirls this year who have shared their excitement and well-wishes. And honestly, it’s important for young people to see women in these kinds of roles. I hope my story encourages young women to pursue their dreams and a life without limits. If they want to do it, they can. I’ll be cheering them on.”

Naturally, this is not the only barrier Shrum has shattered. She’d served as president of OSU's Center for Health Sciences (OSU-CHS) since 2013, and her selection at the time made her the youngest and first female president and dean of a medical school in the state of Oklahoma. Shrum trained and served rural Oklahoma as a pediatrician before beginning her academic work at OSU-CHS when Burns Hargis — who preceded her as OSU President — appointed her to lead the medical school.

Under Dr. Shrum's leadership, OSU Center for Health Sciences experienced unprecedented growth. Student enrollment doubled, and the center established new academic programs designed to meet the health care workforce needs of Oklahoma. She led the construction of the A.R. and Marylouise Tandy Medical Academic Building, a state-of-the-art learning facility housing Oklahoma's largest and most technologically advanced hospital simulation center.

Her fundraising accomplishments included securing a significant investment from Purdue Pharma for $197.5 million in 2019, to create the National Center for Wellness and Recovery for addiction treatment and research to address the national opioid addiction epidemic. Shrum, a strong supporter of collaborative partnerships, worked with former Cherokee Nation Principal Chief Bill John Baker and his administration to establish the nation's first tribally affiliated medical school, the OSU College of Osteopathic Medicine at the Cherokee Nation, which opened in 2020.

In 2019, Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt appointed Shrum to his cabinet as Oklahoma's first Secretary of Science and Innovation. She played a critical part in the state’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic: Her innovative leadership approach and medical expertise helped secure much-needed PPE supplies and led to the formation of Oklahoma's largest COVID diagnostics lab on OSU's Stillwater campus.

After a little more than a year in her newest role, Shrum is excited. “In November 2021, I announced the launch of a strategy process. That’s nearly complete and will go to the Board of Regents soon. It’s been an intense time of listening and charting a course to become the premier land-grant university in the United States. We’ve also just celebrated record freshman enrollment. It’s a clear and rewarding sign of the strength of Oklahoma State University, its research, its world-class faculty and the culture built on the tenets of the Cowboy Code.”

When asked what her best advice would be for incoming students, President Shrum focused on the importance of a person’s outlook. “When I became interim dean of the OSU College of Osteopathic Medicine, I went in full of ideas of how to make things better,” she says. “But with any organization going through changes, there was resistance, setbacks and obstacles. I would come home every night and my husband Darren would ask me about my day, and I would tell him about all the problems I encountered. I decided one day that my mindset wasn’t helpful. But I knew Darren would ask, [so] I decided instead to tell him about all the opportunities. That is one thing I would like all incoming college students to know: There will be obstacles. There will be times when things don’t go the way they want, but in every obstacle and setback there is opportunity. That little bit of reframing makes all the difference.”

Her unflagging driving mission, just like her work ethic, is rooted in her Coweta days. “The first time I ever visited Oklahoma State was for a softball camp when I was 13. It was quite the experience for a girl from Coweta. Never in my wildest dreams would I have imagined that I would someday be president of the OSU system. But what I’ve discovered is that in many ways, that’s exactly what Oklahoma State University was created to do. Everyone has opportunity and possibility — even those from the smallest towns — if they’re willing to work hard.”