Governor Fallin appoints former Gov. Keating to OU Board of Regents

OKLAHOMA CITY (KOKH) — Governor Mary Fallin is promoting a former Oklahoma head of state to a prominent position.

Fallin appointed former Governor Frank Keating to the University of Oklahoma Board of Regents on Tuesday.

“Frank Keating has a long and distinguished service with the state and federal governments,” said Fallin. “I’m so pleased he has agreed to again serve the state of Oklahoma in this important capacity. Governor Keating is known as an effective governor, and a strong and compassionate leader."

Keating will replaceMax Weitzenhoffer on the board and will serve a seven–year term, pending confirmation from the Oklahoma Senate.

Keatingserved two terms as governor, from 1995 until 2003. After that, he served seven years as the president and chief executive officer of the American Council of Life Insurers and then five years as president and CEO of the American Bankers Association.

“Frank Keating has a long and distinguished service with the state and federal governments,” said Fallin. “I’m so pleased he has agreed to again serve the state of Oklahoma in this important capacity. Governor Keating is known as an effective governor, and a strong and compassionate leader."

As governor, Keating won national acclaim in 1995 for his compassionate and professional handling of the bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah building in Oklahoma City. In the aftermath of the attack, Keating raised more than $6 million to fund scholarships for the nearly 200 children left with only one or no parents.

His accomplishments as governor include winning a successful public vote on right-to-work, tort reform, tax cuts, and major road building and education reform.