Hall of Fame Member Biographies

Roscoe Rouse, Jr.

There are those individuals who labor intensely at a multitude of chores to benefit Oklahoma higher education but who in a modest, quiet way stay out of the limelight for much of their careers. But those people who have seen the benefits of such labor and who understand the expertise of these individuals who accomplish so much constantly seek wisdom and advice from them. Such an individual is C. Henry Gold, who has served Southeastern Oklahoma State University at Durant. During his years there, it was not uncommon for State Regents, chancellors and other university presidents to call him weekly on statewide higher education issues; students noted that to his office came a parade of political leaders.

Dr. C. Henry Gold was born in Hobart, OK (7-25-33). In 1939 his family moved to Lawton where he attended Lawton public schools until entering the University of Oklahoma where he earned a BBA, an MEd, and an EdD degree in 1967. He was hired in 1956 to teach in the business school of Oklahoma City University. There he went from one position to another in administration: Director of Community Relations, Director of Admissions, Registrar and Director of Financial Aid, and in 1967 Director of Placement. His dedication and acumen in administration was noticed by officials at Southeastern Oklahoma State who hired him as Professor of Business Administration and Director of the Southern Oklahoma Program. He stayed at the institution, became Dean of the School of Business and Industry, Dean of Academic Affairs, and Graduate Dean and Assistant Vice President of Academic Affairs. He seemingly retired in 1995 but continued to work for the school until his true retirement in 2014.

Dr. Gold creatively extended the reach of higher education to other Oklahoma cities. As Director of the Southern Oklahoma Program, he established classes in Ardmore and produced the first higher education center in Oklahoma, which is now known as the University Center of Southern Oklahoma. He then became, one year later, the Director of a Technology Use Studies Center, sponsored by NASA, where he pioneered computerized retrieval and dissemination of information for small business. As the first Dean of the School of Business and Industry (1973) at Southeastern, he obtained grants from the federal government for developing and strengthening institutions of higher learning. Southeastern Oklahoma State University still benefits from these grants. In 1990 he wrote a proposal that produced a partnership between Southeastern and the Noble Foundation to create twenty-five state of the art industrial businesses by 2000. Because of this effort, the state placed the Oklahoma Small Business Development Center on the Southeastern campus. After 1995, his efforts on behalf of Southeastern were as Development Officer. Over the years he obtained $8.2 million in grants for Southeastern.

Dr. Gold’s focus was on small business, as his dissertation subject was a curriculum guide for a course program in small industrial business. His writings have been directed to this subject. He wrote 375 small business institute cases between 1978 and 1989, and 46 reports and technical bulletins for the Technology Use Studies Center. That his interest in business development should lead to connections with the business community should come as no surprise. In 1964-1965 he was Director of Marketing for the Harlow Publishing Company (Oklahoma City). He has been a member of the Board of Trustees of the Medical Center of Southeastern Oklahoma and a member of the Board of Directors of the First United Bank and Trust (Durant). He has been a member of the Durant Chamber of Commerce since 1968 and a member of the Kiwanis Club since 1963. For higher education, he served from 1972 to 1979 as Executive Secretary of the Oklahoma Commission on Education at the state capitol. From 2009 to 2013, he served on the Board of Trustees of Oklahoma Baptist University. Of course, awards have followed. He was chosen by the Kiwanis Club of Durant as Citizen of the Year in 1973, became a Kiwanis Fellow by the Kiwanis International Foundation, was named the Outstanding Educator of America in 1973, given a Governor’s Commendation in 1991, and in 1998 the Oklahoma Department of Commerce Award for his support of Oklahoma Economic Development. By his outstanding service to the citizens of Oklahoma, to Oklahoma higher education, and to aiding economic development in the state, the OHEHS honors the achievements of C. Henry Gold by inducting him into the Oklahoma Higher Education Hall of Fame.

 Colleges and universities exist to transmit the knowledge of the past and to create new knowledge for the next generation. To achieve this mission, the library is indispensable. Fortunate indeed are those institutions of higher education that acquire individuals who build strong libraries and find innovative ways for students and researchers not only to access the information of the past but to be kept abreast of the attempts to extend current understandings of the world and its people. Roscoe Rouse, Jr., was one such individual, and the beneficiary of his foresight was Oklahoma State University (OSU).

Roscoe Rouse, Jr., was born in Valdosta, Georgia in 1919, and grew up during the Great Depression. During that time he determined that a more secure future laid with those possessing a college education, and he was working to that end when World War II began. He became a navigator for the U.S. Army Air Corps, flew thirty-three missions over Germany, was shot down twice, and was honored with the Air Medal and four Oak Leaf Clusters. At the conclusion of the war, he married Charlie Lou Miller in Ada, Oklahoma, and began his career in library science. From the University of Oklahoma he obtained a B.A. in Library Science in 1948 and an M.A. in English Literature in 1952. He furthered his education with an M.A. in Information Services at the University of Michigan in 1958 and a Ph.D. from that school in 1962. During the years he was obtaining his degrees, he was also commencing his career as a librarian. He began as an assistant librarian at Northeastern State College (Tahlequah); advancing to becoming the school’s acting librarian and an instructor in library science. He moved then in 1952 to Baylor University as an instructor and acting librarian, rose to become the Chairman of the Department of Library Science, a professor, and university librarian. He became the Director of Libraries at the State University of New York at Stony Brook for four years and then accepted in 1967 the positions of Chair of the Department of Library Education and Dean of the Library at OSU. He remained Dean until his retirement in 1987.

His record of achievement as a librarian was remarkable. He aided in the design of the library at Baylor University and earned a reputation for planning new library spaces. When he became the first director of libraries at the State University of New York at Stony Brook (Long Island), he built the library from scratch. When he became Dean of the Library at OSU, he oversaw the addition of a new wing to the library and doubled its collection. He collaborated with IBM to pioneer the computerization of libraries and ways to catalogue books and periodicals. He was a leader in automating the inter-library loan system by enabling participating universities to access each others’ collections. As a scholar he produced scores of articles on library science and contributed chapters to three volumes of The Best in Library Literature. He wrote two books: A History of Baylor University Library and A History of the Oklahoma State University Library. As a testament to his knowledge, he served as a consultant to other libraries, including the OU Medical School Library and to the library at Oklahoma Baptist University.

He was active in the associations that promoted library science and those associations welcomed his participation; he served on innumerable committees. He was a member of the International Federation of Library Associations and went to meetings in Manila, Copenhagen, Stockholm, Munich, and Moscow. He was elected to the Council of the American Library Association and served on its committee that oversaw its constitution and bylaws. He served on the executive board of the Association of College and Research Libraries, was president of the University of Michigan School of Library Science Alumni Society and received a recognition award from them. He was president of the Oklahoma Library Association and an early editor of the Oklahoma Librarian. From the Oklahoma Library Association he was given the Distinguished Service Award in 1978, a Special Merit Award in 1987, and in 2007 was named a “Library Legend.” By his energetic participation in all these organizations, Roscoe Rouse, Jr., earned a national and international reputation for his acumen in the field. He was aided in these activities by his wife, Charlie Lou Rouse; who was as well an accomplished librarian.

Roscoe Rouse, Jr., passed away in June 2014, one year after his wife; they had been married sixty-eight years. For his sterling accomplishments on behalf of higher education in the state and the nation, the OHEHS is proud to induct Roscoe Rouse, Jr., into the Oklahoma Higher Education Hall of Fame.