Oklahoma Baptist University

In 1906, the State Baptist Convention, in session in Shawnee, appointed a commission to make plans for the founding of a Baptist university. In 1907, a board of trustees was elected; and on February 9, 1910, the incorporation certificate for the Baptist University of Oklahoma was issued and a new university was born.

Oklahoma Baptist University opened in September 1911, holding classes in the basement of the First Baptist Church and in the Convention Hall of Shawnee.

The City of Shawnee contributed the original 60-acre campus and the first building, Shawnee Hall, which opened in September 1915.

Today under the leadership of president Dr. Heath A. Thomas, the university thrives, offering 10 bachelor’s degrees with more than 80 fields of study and five master’s degree programs. The Christian liberal arts university has an overall enrollment of 1,763, with students from 35 states and 34 other countries. OBU has been rated as one of the top 10 regional colleges in the West by U.S. News and World Report for 29 consecutive years and Oklahoma’s highest rated regional college in the U.S. News rankings for 25 consecutive years.