The University of Oklahoma has announced gifts totaling $4.8 million from the Dallas-based Horizon Foundation in support of efforts to establish the university as a premier center for Native American research and teaching.

The gift will support the formal launch of the OU Native Peoples Initiative across the university's three campuses, including the creation of $1.5 million endowed chairs in the areas of Native American spirituality and the environment, Native American history and culture, and Native American preservation and revitalization. The remaining $300,000 will underwrite a building study focused on finding a home for the OU Native Nations Center (NNC), which recently was endowed by the Chickasaw Nation. NNC director Amanda Cobb-Greetham, former chair of the OU Department of Native American Studies, will lead the initiative.

"The Horizon Foundation's gift to launch the Native Peoples Initiative, in combination with the Chickasaw Nation's recent endowment of the Native Nations Center, demonstrates that Native American research and teaching are a key OU strength, an area for significant growth, and an opportunity to achieve excellence," said Cobb-Greetham. "This initiative highlights collaboration with Oklahoma's thirty-nine Native nations....We are committed to listening closely and responding to tribal needs."