Harold Hamm Gives $150 Million to University of Oklahoma for Diabetes Research

Billionaire oil tycoon Harold Hamm has donated $150 million to the University of Oklahoma to fight diabetes, the disease he was diagnosed with in his 50s. The gift is the largest in OU's history and makes Hamm, 80, the university's biggest individual donor, with his lifetime giving now approaching $250 million.

"I've spent my life believing that when you see an opportunity to change the future, you don't stand on the sidelines—you act," Hamm said in a statement.

OU will rename its Oklahoma City health campus the Harold Hamm Health Campus in his honor. Of the new money, $100 million will fund the campus's broader operations, including training health care workers and recruiting researchers. The remaining $50 million goes to the Harold Hamm Diabetes Center: $30 million for the priorities of its new director, John Kirwan, and $20 million for capital improvements and research infrastructure.

A Track Record That Predates the Gift

Hamm's involvement in diabetes research is not new. His 2007 lead gift established the Harold Hamm Diabetes Center, and he has contributed more than $50 million to it since. Over that period, NIH research funding tied to the center has grown from $5 million to $33 million, according to OU. Hamm also created the Harold Hamm International Prize for Biomedical Research in Diabetes, which recognizes lasting achievements in the field.

Hamm founded Continental Resources in 1967 at age 21 and built the Oklahoma City-based company into one of the largest oil producers in North Dakota's Bakken shale, a key front in the U.S. fracking boom. He still chairs the company, which carries a $27 billion market cap. Bloomberg estimates his net worth at nearly $18 billion.

His influence extends to Washington. This summer he merged the Domestic Energy Producers Alliance, the oil advocacy group he founded in 2008, with the much larger Independent Petroleum Association of America. An IPAA spokesperson told Politico he has "expressed an interest" in becoming its chair. President Donald Trump has referred to Hamm as his "original oil guy," according to Politico. Hamm also backed the Affordable Insulin Now Act, a bill that sought to cap patients' out-of-pocket insulin costs at $35 a month.

Oklahoma's Health Care Gap

The gift targets a state in acute need. Oklahoma ranks No. 49 in the nation for health care, burdened by severe gaps in access, a high rate of uninsured adults, and poor health outcomes. The Oklahoma Hospital Association reports critical shortages of health care workers across the state.

"If you look at hospitals in the state of Oklahoma, we have more than 90 hospitals that lose money on providing care to patients," Rich Rasmussen, president and CEO of the Oklahoma Hospital Association, told local station FOX 25. "The only way they make up for that loss are in the supplemental Medicaid payments. These supplemental payments are the payments that Congress has cut."

The state has made some progress. The campus earned its first-ever ranking among the top 100 institutions for National Institutes of Health funding, placing it in the top 4% of NIH-funded institutions nationwide, according to OU. The Harold Hamm Health Campus brings together six health professions colleges and the university's graduate college—more than 4,100 students—to build a pipeline aimed at the state's shortages.

More than 40 million Americans live with diabetes, according to the American Diabetes Association. Hamm hopes his money will do more than fill gaps in one state's health system.

"My hope is that this gift will help make Oklahoma a place where the next great medical breakthrough happens—where diseases are prevented, lives are saved, and, one day, diseases like diabetes are cured," he said in the statement.