U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sover ...

Oklahoma Oklahoma (; Choctaw language, Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the nor ...

President pro tempore of the Oklahoma Senate The President ''pro tempore'' of the Oklahoma Senate is the second-highest-ranking official of the Oklahoma Senate and the highest-ranking state senator. The Oklahoma Constitution designates the Lieutenant Governor of Oklahoma as the highest-r ...

Oklahoma Senate The Oklahoma Senate is the upper house of the two houses of the Legislature of Oklahoma, the other being the Oklahoma House of Representatives. The total number of senators is set at 48 by the Oklahoma Constitution.Rodger RandleOklahoma State University International Studies
Accessed June 21, 2013 He also served in the

Oklahoma House of Representatives The Oklahoma House of Representatives is the lower house of the legislature of the U.S. state of Oklahoma. Its members introduce and vote on bills and resolutions, provide legislative oversight for state agencies, and help to craft the state's b ...

from 1970-1972 and as mayor of

Tulsa, Oklahoma Tulsa () is the second-largest city in the state of Oklahoma and 47th-most populous city in the United States. The population was 413,066 as of the 2020 census. It is the principal municipality of the Tulsa Metropolitan Area, a region with ...

from 1988-1992. After concluding his term as mayor of Tulsa, Randle went to work in academia, when he was offered the presidency of the University Center at Tulsa, in 1992. This was the forerunner of Rogers State University, initially headquartered in Tulsa. He resigned this position in 1998, when Rogers reorganized and moved its headquarters to Claremore. He then joined the Graduate College of the University of Oklahoma at Tulsa, where he holds the rank of Professor. He is also currently Professor and Director of the Center for Studies in Democracy and Culture.

Early life

Randle was born in

Tulsa Tulsa () is the second-largest city in the U.S. state, state of Oklahoma and List of United States cities by population, 47th-most populous city in the United States. The population was 413,066 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. ...

and graduated from Tulsa Public Schools, He was a member of the Class of 1962 at

Will Rogers High School Will Rogers Middle and High School, located at 3909 E. 5th Place in Tulsa, Oklahoma, was built by Tulsa Public Schools in 1939 using WPA workers and designed by Joseph R. Koberling, Jr. and Leon B. Senter. It was named for the humorist Will Rog ...

.Director BioCenter for Studies in Democracy and Culture
(accessed June 21, 2013) He received his undergraduate degree from the

University of Oklahoma The University of Oklahoma (OU) is a Public university, public research university in Norman, Oklahoma. Founded in 1890, it had existed in Oklahoma Territory near Indian Territory for 17 years before the two Territories became the state of Oklahom ...

and earned a law degree from the

University of Tulsa The University of Tulsa (TU) is a private research university in Tulsa, Oklahoma. It has a historic affiliation with the Presbyterian Church and the campus architectural style is predominantly Collegiate Gothic. The school traces its origin to ...

. In the mid 1960s, Randle served in the

Peace Corps The Peace Corps is an independent agency and program of the United States government that trains and deploys volunteers to provide international development assistance. It was established in March 1961 by an executive order of President John F. ...

in

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

.

Political career

Randle was elected to the

Oklahoma House of Representatives The Oklahoma House of Representatives is the lower house of the legislature of the U.S. state of Oklahoma. Its members introduce and vote on bills and resolutions, provide legislative oversight for state agencies, and help to craft the state's b ...

in 1970 and to the

Oklahoma Senate The Oklahoma Senate is the upper house of the two houses of the Legislature of Oklahoma, the other being the Oklahoma House of Representatives. The total number of senators is set at 48 by the Oklahoma Constitution."Rodger A. Randle, J. D." Will Rogers High School Community Foundation. 2018.
Accessed July 3, 2018. He was elected by his peers to serve as

President pro tempore of the Oklahoma Senate The President ''pro tempore'' of the Oklahoma Senate is the second-highest-ranking official of the Oklahoma Senate and the highest-ranking state senator. The Oklahoma Constitution designates the Lieutenant Governor of Oklahoma as the highest-r ...

twice. Following his departure from the state legislature in 1988, he was elected as Tulsa's mayor. As mayor, Randle led the effort in 1989 to change Tulsa's charter to create a mayor-council form of government.Gallery of MayorsCity of Tulsa
Accessed June 21, 2013. The campaign was successful, where four previous attempts in 35 years to make this change had failed.

Post politics

In 1992, he left the political life and accepted an appointment as president of the University Center at Tulsa, which was later renamed Rogers University. Rogers University reorganized in 1998 and decided to move its headquarters to Claremore. Desiring to remain in his hometown, Randle resigned the presidency, and accepted a position as Professor in the Graduate College of the University of Oklahoma. He teaches and offices in Tulsa, and he also holds the title of Professor and Director of the Center for Studies in Democracy and Culture (CSDC)."Prof. Roger A. Randle." Center for Studies in Democracy and Culture: The University of Oklahoma - Tulsa
Accessed January 2, 2017.

Personal

Roger Randle is married to the former Judith Otterstrom. They have one son. She was formerly the Book Editor for the ''

Tulsa World The ''Tulsa World'' is the daily newspaper for the city of Tulsa, Oklahoma, and primary newspaper for the northeastern and eastern portions of Oklahoma. Tulsa World Media Company is part of Lee Enterprises. The new owners announced in January 202 ...

'', but now serves as Chairman of the

Tulsa City-County Library The Tulsa City-County Library (TCCL) is the major public library system in Tulsa County, Oklahoma. Overview The library system serves those who live, work, go to school in, own land in, or pay property taxes on land in Tulsa County. There are 24 b ...

Board. Randle is a past president of various organizations, including: Tulsa Global Alliance, Tulsa Committee on Foreign Relations, the Tulsa Philharmonic and the United Nations Association of Northeastern Oklahoma. He also serves as the Honorary British Consul for Oklahoma, a position to which he was appointed in 2005.

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Randle, Rodger Living people University of Tulsa alumni University of Oklahoma alumni University of Oklahoma faculty Mayors of Tulsa, Oklahoma Democratic Party members of the Oklahoma House of Representatives Democratic Party Oklahoma state senators Peace Corps volunteers 1943 births University of Tulsa College of Law alumni Tulsa Public Schools alumni