David Boren was a politician from Oklahoma, serving as the state’s governor, U.S. senator, and the longtime president of the University of Oklahoma.
- Died: February 20, 2025 (Who else died on February 20?)
- Details of death: Died in Norman, Oklahoma at the age of 83.
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David Boren’s legacy
Boren was among the last prominent Democrats in Oklahoma politics, a conservative Democrat who served his state in various capacities for decades.
In some ways, Boren inherited a political legacy, being the son of U.S. Rep. Lyle Boren. Raised in Oklahoma and educated at Yale University, Boren was a Rhodes scholar. He went on to earn a master’s degree in philosophy, politics, and economics from the University of Oxford, and he later received a law degree from the University of Oklahoma.
He began his political career in the Oklahoma House of Representatives in 1967, representing a region containing Seminole County. He earned a reputation for working with both parties, and this ethos carried him to victory in the 1974 gubernatorial race, running on a promise to “sweep out the Old Guard” of Oklahoma politics. At just 33 years old, he became one of the youngest governors in the country.
After a single term, Boren won election to the U.S. Senate in 1978, where he served from 1979 until 1994. He was widely respected for his ability to work across party lines. Boren was the longest-tenured chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee – tied with California Sen. Dianne Feinstein (1933–2023) – who championed tax cuts and co-sponsored the 1991 National Security Education Act. When he retired from the Senate in 1994, he became the last Democrat to represent Oklahoma in the Upper House.
He followed his time in Washington at the University of Oklahoma, where Boren served as president from 1994 to 2018. Years prior, in 1985, he had founded the Oklahoma Foundation for Excellence, dedicated to recognizing and supporting public school students and teachers. In 2019, shortly after Boren retired from the university presidency, he terminated his ongoing professional contract with the school following allegations that he made unwanted advances toward an OU student years earlier. The accusations did not result in charges or litigation.
Boren was inducted into the Oklahoma Hall of Fame in 1988. His book 20 years later, 2008’s “A Letter to America,” argued in favor of his philosophy of bipartisanship.
Tributes to David Boren
Full obituary: Oklahoma Voice
