George Lynn Cross

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A statue of Cross in front of Evans Hall, the main administrative building on the Oklahoma campus.
A statue of Cross in front of Evans Hall, the main administrative building on the Oklahoma campus.

George Lynn Cross (May 12, 1905 – December 31, 1998) was the seventh and longest serving President of the University of Oklahoma from 1943 to 1968. He served in the United States Navy from 1923-1929 and was an outspoken proponent of World War II who felt democracy should be defended at all costs. Cross's academic specialty was botany, and George Lynn Cross Hall, which houses OU's department of botany and microbiology, the department's administrative offices, labs, and the university greenhouses, was named in his honor and in tribute to the fact that he was a botanist.

He is perhaps best remembered by the general public for his tongue-in-cheek quotation, "We want to build a university our football team can be proud of."

David L. Boren, the university's current president, proclaimed that he wanted his time as president of the university to parallel that of Cross's.

Preceded by
Joseph A. Brandt		 President of the University of Oklahoma
1943-1968		 Succeeded by
John Herbert Hollomon, Jr.
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Persondata
NAME Cross, George Lynn
ALTERNATIVE NAMES
SHORT DESCRIPTION University president; Botanist
DATE OF BIRTH
PLACE OF BIRTH
DATE OF DEATH
PLACE OF DEATH