OKLAHOMA HALL OF FAME MEMBER SPOTLIGHT T. BOONE PICKENS il and gas entrepreneur T. Boone Pickens was one of America’s most successful O businessmen and philanthropists of the twentieth and twenty-昀椀rst centuries. He created thousands of jobs and, over his lifetime, donated more than $1 billion to a wide range of charities, organizations, and institutions, including Oklahoma State University, the University of Texas’ M. D. Anderson Cancer Center, and the American Red Cross. Born just before the Great Depression, Pickens’ story began in a small Oklahoma town. Perhaps growing up during wide- spread tough economic times shaped his view of business and philanthropy. T. Boone Pickens BY MATTIE P. BARLOW & CHARLES WREN 30