The University of Oklahoma recognized the achievements and contributions of nine remarkable alumni at the Sept. 20, 2024 Regents’ Alumni Award ceremony on the OU Norman campus. Regents’ Alumni Awards celebrate OU graduates who have shown extraordinary dedication and service to the university.

Presented by the OU Board of Regents and OU Alumni Association, the award highlights the profound ways in which OU alumni and supporters are helping shape the university’s vibrant future. An Alumni Association committee reviews nominations submitted by alumni, friends, and OU faculty and staff to select each year’s awardees. The recipients are awarded a commemorative plaque in recognition of their exceptional contributions, and their names are permanently inscribed on a plaque displayed in the historic Oklahoma Memorial Union.

NEVA HUDIBURGH COCHRAN 

Neva Hudiburgh Cochran has been a registered dietitian nutritionist in Dallas for 49 years. After earning her Bachelor of Science in Nutrition and dietetics from OU, she completed a dietetic internship at Texas Health Resources Presbyterian Hospital Dallas and received a Master of Science in Nutrition from Texas Woman’s University. 

Before starting her consulting business in 1989, Cochran worked as a clinical dietitian in two hospitals, an instructor in the Department of Nutrition & Food Sciences at Texas Woman’s University, and a program coordinator for the Associated Milk Producers Consumer Services Division. For the last 20 years, she has focused on nutrition communications, partnering with food, nutrition, and agricultural organizations to promote science-based food and nutrition information. 

An active member of the Academy of Nutrition & Dietetics, Cochran has served in leadership roles for numerous industry board and interest groups, works with several Dallas area nonprofits, and is the recipient of a number of awards, including the Academy’s Medallion Award and the Texas Academy’s Distinguished Dietitian award. 

Cochran pledged Kappa Delta Sorority at OU and has been an active alumna on the local and national level, including as a member of the national Kappa Delta Foundation Board. For the last 10 years, she has also been actively engaged with OU’s Nutritional Sciences Department, serving as a preceptor for dietetic interns, presenting the 2014 nutrition lecture for Allied Health Week, and, in 2018, creating an endowed scholarship for nutrition students. 

Cochran has also created an endowment with the Parkland Health Foundation to honor her late husband Don and fund communication training for healthcare providers in hospice and palliative medicine.

About the University of Oklahoma

Founded in 1890, the University of Oklahoma is a public research university located in Norman, Oklahoma. As the state’s flagship university, OU serves the educational, cultural, economic and health care needs of the state, region and nation. OU was named the state’s highest-ranking university in U.S. News & World Report’s most recent Best Colleges list. For more information about the university, visit ou.edu.

About the OU Foundation

The University of Oklahoma Foundation is an independent charitable organization that facilitates and manages philanthropic gifts to support the University of Oklahoma. With a culture of integrity, skill and persistence, we align the passions of donors and our alumni with the indelible mission of the University of Oklahoma.