1918-
Televangelist;
Founder of Oral Roberts University

Public Notice.

In the early 1970s Oral Roberts attained a newfound acceptance and celebrity, symbolized in part by his induction into the Oklahoma Hall of Fame in 1972. His television program, Oral Roberts and You, took on the trappings of regular television entertainment to widen its appeal and consistently attracted the largest audiences for regular religious programming for most of the decade of the 1970s. Roberts became a frequent guest on talk shows and other commercial television programs. As the nation's most famous charismatic preacher, he had become a part of the celebrity culture, having dinner with Billy Graham and President Jimmy Carter in the White House.

Oral Roberts University.

Part of Roberts's acceptance came from the success of Oral Roberts University in Tulsa. Roberts continued to serve as president of the University, but about half the expenses of the...