NATIVE TULSAN. A native Tulsan whose maternal family came to Oklahoma in the Land Run of 1889, Rodger Randle is a graduate of Tulsa Public Schools and the University of Oklahoma and he holds a doctor of laws degree from the University of Tulsa.

FROM PEACE CORPS TO THE STATE CAPITOL. Prof. Randle began his career in public service with the Peace Corps in Brazil in the mid 1960's. In 1970, at the age of 27, he was elected to the Oklahoma House of Representatives. He was elected to the Oklahoma Senate in 1972, then reelected in 1976, 1980 and 1984. Mr. Randle was twice elected President Pro Tempore of the State Senate (which is the Senate's top leadership position).

MAYOR OF TULSA. In 1988, he became Mayor of the City of Tulsa and led the successful campaign to change the city's form of government. The resounding "yes" vote came after four unsuccessful charter change attempts during the previous 35 years. He was reelected in 1990 by the largest margin in Tulsa’s history, becoming Tulsa's first mayor under the new MayorCity Council form of government. The adoption of the new form of government marked the most significant change in the City of Tulsa in the last 50 years.

HIGHER EDUCATION. In 1992 he left the office of Mayor to accept an appointment as president of the University Center at Tulsa, which later became Rogers University. When Rogers University was reorganized in 1998 and its headquarters was moved to the Claremore, Randle opted to remain in his hometown and accepted a position as Professor in the Graduate College of the University of Oklahoma. He teaches and offices in Tulsa, and he also holds the title of Professor and Director of the Center for Studies in Democracy and Culture.

CIVIC ACTIVITIES AT THE CITY, STATE, NATIONAL, AND INTERNATIONAL LEVELS. Rodger Randle has participated in a large variety of civic activities, focused primarily on international activities. On the national level, he is the past President and Chairman of the national Board of Directors of Sister Cities International, which is the world's largest volunteer citizen diplomacy program. He continues to serve in different roles supporting Sister Cities International. At the state level, he also serves as a member of several boards of directors, including the Governor’s International Economic Development Team. In Tulsa he is a past President of the Tulsa Global Alliance (the organization that operates Tulsa's Sister City program and the iInternational Visitors Programs, among other activities), and he is a past chairman of the Tulsa Committee on Foreign Relations and is a past president of the United Nations Association of Northeastern Oklahoma. He has received numerous awards for his international activities, including a decoration from a former president of Venezuela. He is a member of the City University Club in London, England. He currently serves as the Honorary British Consul for Oklahoma, a position to which he was appointed in 2005.

At the local level he has served as Chair of the Tulsa Performing Arts Center Trust, among many other community activities in which he is involved. He is a past President of the Oklahoma Municipal League (the Oklahoma association of cities and towns), and he is a past President of the Tulsa Philharmonic. He is also past chairman of the Oklahoma Academy for State Goals, a statewide nonpartisan and nonprofit organization that conducts studies and issues recommendations concerning public policy in Oklahoma (the Oklahoma Academy is one of the strongest and most successful organizations of its kind in the United States).

In addition to lecturing in the United States, Randle has lectured abroad in the United Kingdom, Japan, Indonesia, Mexico, China, Vietnam, Brazil, Spain, Germany, India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Mozambique, and the Philippines.

Randle speaks Portuguese and Spanish.

FAMILY. He is married to the former Judith Otterstrom, former Book Editor for the Tulsa World. Mrs. Randle served on the Tulsa CityCounty Library Board for over twenty-five years before retiring from the Board in 2020.

For more information, please contact Prof. Randle:
by email at randle@ou.edu or by phone at 1-918-779-5713.


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