One good deed deserves another

Don Key as a starting guard for the OU Sooners in 1981.

Former Sooners Head Coach Barry Switzer (left) established the Don Key Award in 1982 to honor Key’s commitment to performance on the field and in the classroom.

Don Key believes that using influence to create something beneficial to others is one of the most worthwhile things in life—like scholarships and awards created in his honor and mineral rights that have been gifted to the University of Oklahoma Foundation.

Key, OU BS 1983 in petroleum land management (now energy management), came to the University of Oklahoma Foundation in 2022 as director of minerals after spending his career as a landman for three oil companies in Oklahoma, Arkansas and Texas.

“Donating mineral rights is not something everyone considers,” said Key. “But all mineral tracts held by the Foundation could conceivably produce something. Currently, some produce zero, some very little, and others a tremendous amount. In time, all of them could spring to life and generate revenue. Receiving these gifts gives us possibility.”

Key said approximately 120 donors have given their minerals to the Foundation, ranging from one tract to more than 100. Currently, the Foundation manages around 3,100 tracts of land and 2,781 wells in Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico, Kansas, Colorado and Arkansas, with additional minerals in Louisiana, Michigan, Montana, North Dakota, Utah and West Virginia.

During FY ’21, about $4.2 million in revenue was generated from mineral ownership and $7.1 million during FY ’22. FY ’23 netted $7.8 million. Even though prices started dropping during FY ’23, Key said drilling was up. “Prices go up, prices go down. We don’t know where it’s going to take us, but we do know it’s going to fluctuate. The advancement in drilling technology has been a great addition to the industry and well count, and therefore, the mineral owner.”

The largest endowments held at the OU Foundation come from royalties. The Russel and Margaret Frakes Memorial Scholarship Fund received $2.1 million in royalty income last year, benefiting students in the Michael F. Price College of Business. The Henry D. & Ida Mosier Pharmacy Fund earned $1.4 million in royalties for pharmacy scholarships.

Key was a starting guard for the Sooners from 1979 to 1981, but a ruptured kidney his junior season—later leading to a cancer diagnosis—cut short his football career. In his honor, Barry Switzer established the Don Key Award in 1982, a plaque given to a football senior who exemplifies the superior qualities Key demonstrated both on the field and in the classroom.

In 1982, the Don Key Scholarship was established through the OU Foundation by John Clark of Midland, Texas, to benefit OU athletes pursuing higher education. In 2007, his longtime employer, Bill Hanna of Hanna Oil & Gas Co., established the Don Key Leadership Award through the Regents Fund of the OU Foundation. The award supports students in the energy management program within OU’s Price College of Business.

“I mention these scholarships because the message is indirectly tied to mineral rights and the work I am doing for the Foundation,” said Key. “Whatever influence I had when I played for the Sooners caused someone to want to give to the university. Whatever influence I had when I was working at Hanna caused the owner to establish a scholarship at OU.

“It is no different than the funds that have been set up by numerous donors in cash, real estate or minerals. We use our influence to benefit the university for years to come.”