2018 - Michael D. “Mike” Case

At age 19, Mike Case (Hon.D.B. ’05) was newly married with a baby on the way. Though he aspired to attend college, he set aside that dream and instead took a job overseeing apartment complexes around The University of Tulsa for real estate developer Roger Hardesty. “As I was around the campus every day and saw students coming and going,” he says, “I always thought it was one of those things I wish I could have done, but it didn’t work out for me.”

Fast forward 20 years and Case has a successful real estate business of his own — Case and Associates Properties, Inc. He hired Tulsa attorney Ben Abney (BS ’66, JD ’68), a 2018 Distinguished Alumnus, to serve as counsel for his company. Knowing that Case enjoyed tennis, Abney made a fortuitous introduction to TU tennis coach Vince Westbrook.

Case and Westbrook bonded over a love for the game and developed a fast friendship that flourished during the next couple of years. Westbrook shared his dream to build a world-class tennis facility on TU’s campus.

Case pledged to support that vision and enlisted additional donors to build the $13 million state-of-the-art Michael D. Case Tennis Center. “This was my first endeavor at TU, and it’s turned out to be something the university is known for worldwide,” says Case.

Later gifts helped fund the Case Athletic Complex at TU’s H.A. Chapman Stadium and the Pat Case Dining Center, a gift to his wife for her 60th birthday. Case considers Pat the love of his life and a pivotal partner in business, and the couple celebrates 50 years of marriage.

Sports have always played a big part in Case’s life. He played through high school and continued playing recreationally well into his career to unwind following a hard day’s work. He says supporting TU athletics was always important to him, especially since it’s a smaller university. However, as time went on, he says he took notice of deserving local students who might not have the means to attend TU.

This year, the Cases created the Mike and Pat Case Tulsa Talent Initiative Scholarship Fund to attract talented local students to TU, especially those who are likely to stay in the region and help Tulsa prosper.

The scholarship funding benefited 93 freshmen this fall and continues for the next four years. “When students leave Tulsa to go to other schools, many times they don’t come back. We wanted to focus on attracting a larger number of local kids to keep our talent here,” he said. The award will be used as supplemental funding to help close the gap between an awarded financial aid package and the remaining need. The Cases’ scholarship joins those of other donors who made similar gifts to fund need- and merit-based financial aid.

Case hopes to build on those awards and make it possible for even more students to attend the university he loves. “The education you get here is second to very few,” he says. “We believe in TU and in this city and believe the city is made better by TU being here.”

He and Pat support numerous nonprofit organizations across the city and have funded the Case Community Park and Community Center in his hometown of Sand Springs and the indoor tennis facility at Tulsa’s LaFortune Park.

When he’s not working, he and Pat enjoy spending time in Colorado and Arizona. And he still makes time for sports, though not necessarily games he used to play, like basketball. “As I’ve gotten older, golf and tennis are more my thing. My friends and I also play pool and have card matches. I’ve traded in my cleats for a good hand of cards,” he jokes.

As for being named the 2018 J. Paschal Twyman Award recipient in recognition of his outstanding contributions to the university, Case says it was a complete shock. “It was very special. Being a person who’s helped this university do great things — that makes me happy.”