Master Clinician Award Named for Dr. Richard P. Lofgren to Honor Excellence in Medicine at OU Health

OU Health, the University of Oklahoma’s academic health system, announced the creation of the Dr. Richard P. Lofgren Master Clinician Award, a new honor recognizing physicians who exemplify exceptional clinical excellence, compassion and commitment to patient care.

The award was unveiled June 25, 2026, during a retirement dinner honoring Dr. Richard P. Lofgren, M.D., MPH, OU Health’s inaugural president and chief executive officer. It completes the academic health system’s longstanding commitment to recognizing excellence across the three pillars of academic medicine, education, research and clinical care.

For more than four decades, the University of Oklahoma has celebrated excellence in education through the Stanton L. Young Master Teacher Award, established in 1983. In 2025, the institution added the Stanton L. Young Excellence in Research Award to recognize outstanding scientific achievement. Until now, clinical excellence had no comparable institutional recognition. It will be awarded annually at the Stanton L. Young Foundation awards dinner alongside these other prestigious awards.

The Dr. Richard P. Lofgren Master Clinician Award fills that gap, honoring physicians whose dedication to patients, clinical judgement, professionalism and leadership reflect the highest standards of medicine.

“Academic medicine rests on three pillars: education, research and patient care,” said Ian F. Dunn, M.D., FACS, FAANS, executive dean of the University of Oklahoma College of Medicine and Chief Physician Executive of OU Health. “For decades, our institution has recognized excellence in teaching, and more recently, excellence in research. Yet clinical excellence — the work that occupies the majority of our physicians’ time and directly impacts patients every day — did not have a comparable honor. The Dr. Richard P. Lofgren Master Clinician Award completes that framework by recognizing physicians whose skill, judgment, professionalism and compassion make them the colleagues other physicians trust most and would choose to care for their own family members.”

The decision to name the award in honor of Dr. Lofgren reflects his enduring impact not just on Oklahoma’s academic health system, but also his longstanding commitment to advancing excellence across patient care, education and research. Dr. Lofgren, who describes himself first and foremost as a physician and teacher, brings a patient-centered approach to every aspect of his work.

Since becoming OU Health’s inaugural president and chief executive officer in 2018, Dr. Lofgren has helped guide the transformation of Oklahoma’s academic health system, strengthening integration between the University of Oklahoma College of Medicine and OU Health while expanding access to advanced specialized care for patients across the state. His leadership helped establish a unified vision for patient care, education and discovery while positioning OU Health for continued growth and innovation.

“Dr. Lofgren has always understood that outstanding patient care is fundamental to our mission,” said G. Rainey Williams Jr., chair of the OU Health Board of Directors. “Throughout his leadership, he championed clinical excellence while helping strengthen the connection between patient care, education and research across our academic health system. Naming this award in his honor recognizes a leader who believed exceptional clinicians should be celebrated in the same way we recognize excellence in teaching and scholarship. It is a fitting tribute to his legacy and to the values he helped advance at OU Health.”

The annual award will recognize physicians who demonstrate exceptional achievement in patient care while serving as role models for colleagues, trainees and future generations of healthcare professionals.

“One of the greatest privileges of my career has been working alongside physicians who dedicate their lives to caring for others,” Dr. Lofgren said. “Clinical excellence is about far more than medical knowledge. It requires compassion, humility, integrity and an unwavering commitment to patients and families. I am deeply honored that this award will recognize physicians who embody those values and inspire others to do the same.”

Through the Dr. Richard P. Lofgren Master Clinician Award, OU Health will recognize future generations of physicians whose dedication to patients advances the mission of Oklahoma’s academic health system and reflects the enduring values of clinical excellence, service and compassion.

To support the creation of the Dr. Richard P. Lofgren Master Clinician Award and help establish a permanent legacy recognizing excellence in patient care, visit OUHealth.com/Giving.