Chancellor Oral Roberts, founder of Oral Roberts University, is recognized as one of the outstanding personalities of his generation. Educator, evangelist, businessman, author, and television personality are among the many titles for which Roberts has gained acclaim.
He received his formal education at Oklahoma Baptist and Phillips University. In 1947 he resigned his pastorate to enter an evangelistic ministry to pray for the healing of the whole man. Since then he has conducted more than 300 evangelistic and healing crusades on six continents and has appeared as a guest speaker for hundreds of national and international meetings and conventions.
Oral Roberts has written more than 120 books, including his autobiography, Expect a Miracle, and Miracle of Seed-Faith, with nearly eight million copies in circulation. His latest books include Seed-Faith 2000 and Still Doing the Impossible. He is the founder and publisher of MIRACLES NOW, the official voice of Oral Roberts Ministries—a bimonthly magazine— and DAILY BLESSING, a devotional publication.
As part of his work as an author, Roberts published several written commentaries on the Bible, as well as a complete commentary on cassette tape: Oral Roberts Reading the New Testament with His Life's Teachings. The 48-tape set includes the reading of the Scriptures, a personal comment on each passage of the New Testament, and prayers. This is also available in book form.
The University that bears Oral Roberts' name was chartered in 1963 and accepted its first students in 1965. The campus now has 22 major buildings valued at more than $250 million. Over 5,300 students are enrolled in 66 undergraduate concentrations and 16 graduate level programs in business, education, and theology. His son Richard has served as President of Oral Roberts University since January 27, 1993. Roberts now serves as Chancellor.
Roberts is the founder of Oral Roberts Evangelistic Association and Chairman Emeritus of the Board of Trustees. Among its many outreaches, OREA sponsors a nightly healing program, Something Good Tonight—THE HOUR OF HEALING, with Richard and Lindsay Roberts; and a daily program, Make Your Day Count, hosted by Lindsay Roberts.
Roberts also founded University Village, a retirement complex for 450 residents.
The Prayer Tower, located at the center of the University's campus, houses the Abundant Life Prayer Group, which operates twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, as an extension of OREA. They receive thousands of calls each day from around the world.
In 1981 Roberts founded the City of Faith Medical and Research Center, the largest health facility of its kind in the world, in order to merge together the healing streams of prayer and medicine as God had revealed it to him. The City of Faith was in operation for eight years and closed in late 1989, having revolutionized the medical world's concept of primary patient care and the importance of treating the whole person—spirit, mind, and body.
Granville Oral Roberts was born January 24, 1918, in Pontotoc County, Oklahoma, the fifth and youngest child of Rev. and Mrs. Ellis M. Roberts. He is proud of his Oklahoma and Indian heritage, and in 1963 he was honored as "Indian of the Year" by the American Indian Exposition. In 1973 he was inducted into the Oklahoma Hall of Fame. In 1974 he was named "Oklahoman of the Year" by the American Broadcasters Association. He received an honorary doctor of laws degree from Centenary College in 1975 and an honorary doctorate of divinity from the International Church of the Foursquare Gospel in 1988. He has been listed in Who's Who in America, Who's Who in the South and Southwest, Who's Who in Society, Who's Who in Religion, Current Biography, Contemporary Authors, Webster's American Biographies, New York Times Biography Edition, Biography Index, Celebrity Register, and the World Almanac Book of Who.
Married on December 25, 1938, Oral and Evelyn Roberts are the parents of four children: the late Mrs. Rebecca Nash, the late Ronald Roberts, Richard Roberts, and Mrs. Roberta Potts. They have 13 grandchildren, one of whom is in heaven, and several great-grandchildren.
Roberts has been active in Tulsa community life. He has served on the boards of the Bank of Oklahoma and Oklahoma Natural Gas and is a lifetime member and a Harris Fellow of Rotary International. |
