Rodger Randle

Rodger Randle began a distinguished career after Will-on-the-Hill, graduating from the University of Oklahoma, and earning a law degree from the University of Tulsa.

He began public service with the Peace Corps in Brazil. In 1970, at the age of 27, he was elected to the Oklahoma House of Representatives, followed by election to the Oklahoma Senate in 1972, with re-election in 1976, 1980 and 1984. Rodger was twice elected president pro tempore of the Oklahoma Senate, the Senate’s top leadership position.

In 1988 he became mayor of the City of Tulsa and led the successful campaign to change the city’s form of government to mayor/city council. The vote came after four unsuccessful charter change attempts during the previous 35 years. Re-elected in 1990 by the largest margin in Tulsa’s history, he became Tulsa’s first mayor under the new form of government, marking the most significant change in the City of Tulsa in the previous 50 years. Rodger became professor in the Graduate College of the University of Oklahoma in 1998. He also holds the title of professor and director of the Center for Studies in Democracy and Culture.

His many civic activities include president and chairman of the national Board of Directors of Sister Cities International, the world’s largest volunteer citizen diplomacy program; locally, he is a past president of various organizations, including Tulsa Global Alliance, Tulsa Committee on Foreign Relations, the Tulsa Philharmonic, and the United Nations Association of Northeastern Oklahoma. He currently is the honorary British consul for Oklahoma. In addition, he serves as co-chair of the Bond Oversight Committee of the Tulsa Public Schools.