Jane Harlow’s helping hands

A young Jane Harlow with her father in his OU office.

Jane Harlow stands by a photo of her late husband, Jim.

Author Sidney Sheldon once said, “Libraries change lives for the better.” Jane Bienfang Harlow couldn’t agree more. For her, it’s simply “the heart of the campus.”

So, naturally, when Jane began planning her estate gifts more than 20 years ago in collaboration with the University of Oklahoma Foundation, OU Libraries were at the top of her list. Funds from Jane’s estate will be utilized where the need is greatest, including purchasing new books or hiring personnel.

A 1957 OU BS in elementary education, Jane has longstanding ties to OU. She and her late husband, James G. “Jim” Harlow Jr., ’57 BS in engineering, have supported the university with gifts to the OU Foundation benefitting programs ranging from fine arts to the College of Medicine and establishing the James G. Harlow Jr. Chair in Business Ethics and Community Service after Jim’s death in 1996.

Their remarkable OU family legacy began with Jane’s parents. Her father, David Bienfang, was an OU David Ross Boyd Professor of Pharmacy, serving 40 years in the college. Her father-in-law, James Harlow Sr., was an OU professor of education and dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, and her mother-in-law, Bobbie, also graduated from OU.

“I was an only child of the Great Depression,” she said. “I had a very strong and close relationship with my father and mother and the whole university community. Faculty knew each other well. I never realized how small the community was until I was older. The people of this campus made a great impression on me.”

Jane says she often chose to study and research at Bizzell Memorial Library despite the fact she was in a sorority and the house had a study hall. “My father was a very learned man, and he deeply loved the library. He instilled that in me. It’s a place to learn, but it’s also a place to gather. The library brings about such wonderful memories for me.”

These days, Jane says she’s trying to become accustomed to being “a super senior.” As a volunteer, she is a charter member and past president of the Bizzell Library Society, a group formed to support the dean and staff. She has served on the advisory board and as president of the OU Breast Institute and has served on the OU Foundation Board of Trustees, the Honors College Board and the advisory board for the College of Pharmacy. An OU Regents’ Alumni Award recipient, she also is a lifetime director for the Oklahoma City Philharmonic.

“While fundraising isn’t something everyone likes to do, I enjoy it,” she said. “I truly believe that you raise money through relationships. I feel good about knowing my estate gift will provide the library with the ability to grow as technology does, long after I am gone.”