Waldo E. Stephens
Waldo E. Stephens
“Stephens was a man who leaned into adversity, sheltering the weak and frightened in the strength of his stance…he’ll remain with us in a thousand ways.”
Biography
Dr. Waldo E. Stephens was born in Pennsylvania and graduated from Ohio Wesleyan University before earning his Ph.D. in international law and relations from Columbia University. After serving in the 37th Infantry Division of Ohio in France in World War I, he studied in London and Berlin in 1920. Stephens completed graduate work in Geneva in 1928 and witnessed the creation of the United Nations. He was “an official and unofficial” observer and participant in many multi-national seminars, councils, and gatherings, from the Soviet Union of the pre-Lenin days to Vietnam and, for many years, lectured about the complex issues of international affairs for to student groups.
Fun fact
Waldo Stephens was the very definition of a busy man. In 1972 alone, while serving on assignments for the State Department, the U.S. Embassy in Bangkok, and the Southeast Asia Ministers of Education Organization, he visited eight different nations to confer with government officials, agency leaders, and U.S. Ambassadors.
Oklahoma connections
Stephens came to Oklahoma City in 1942 to join his four brothers in the oil business.