When Len Cason received a call in 1988 inviting him to join OMRF’s associate board of directors, the Oklahoma City attorney had one question.
“I asked, ‘What does OMRF stand for?’” recalled Cason, laughing.
In the 33 years since, Cason has learned more about OMRF – the Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation – than he ever imagined. And this year, he’ll celebrate two decades of chairing the board of directors of the Oklahoma City nonprofit.
“The science is amazing,” said Cason. “That’s why I’ve stuck around.”
Since Cason took the helm of the foundation’s board, the National Institutes of Health has three times named OMRF an Autoimmunity Center of Excellence, one of only 10 in the country. A trio of life-changing drugs born at OMRF have received FDA approval, and foundation researchers have made crucial discoveries about illnesses ranging from Alzheimer’s and brain cancer to lupus and sickle cell disease.
“The last 20 years have been the most scientifically impactful we’ve ever had,” said OMRF President Stephen M. Prescott, M.D., whom Cason recruited to become OMRF’s president in 2006. “That’s due in no small part to Len’s steady hand and to his commitment to providing our researchers with the support and scientific freedom to innovate.”
Specializing in tax, estate planning and business law, Cason co-founded the Oklahoma City law firm now known as Hartzog Conger Cason in 1979. After joining OMRF’s associate board, he became a full board member in 1991 and, ten years later, its chair.
The unpaid, volunteer position ostensibly comes with a one-year term. But following his initial election in 2001, Cason has been unanimously reelected 19 consecutive times. In that span, OMRF has undergone tremendous growth.
Under Cason’s leadership, the foundation’s endowment has more than tripled. He was also instrumental in securing two major grants from the state to build OMRF’s Research Tower, which represented the largest campus expansion in the foundation’s 75-year history.
“OMRF has become an iconic institutional presence in our community and state,” said retired Oklahoma Supreme Court Justice Steven Taylor, who, like Cason, has devoted more than 30 years of service to OMRF. “A lot of that has to do with what I’d call Len’s inviting leadership style. He has created an atmosphere where people want to be involved with OMRF.”
Cason, however, downplays his own importance in these developments.
“What OMRF does is so incredible. I’m just honored to be a part of it,” Cason said. And he hopes to continue. “So long as I get reelected, I don’t plan on going anywhere.”
Of course, it never would have happened but for that out-of-the-blue phone call. But Cason is glad he picked up.
“It’s a coincidence I got here,” said Cason. “But it’s not a coincidence I’ve stayed.”
