Frank Henry arrived at the University of Oklahoma’s Norman campus in the fall of 1980 as an 18-year-old intent on a career in either engineering or business. What he didn’t expect was that his part-time job in a campus cafeteria would morph into a four-decade career that has seen the transformation of how OU feeds and recruits its students.

Henry has served as director of OU Food Services for more than a decade and has been a manager since his student days. He reached his landmark 40th anniversary as an OU employee in August and will soon be retiring. Under his leadership, an ever-growing variety of food options—combined with expansions of more than two dozen dining concepts across campus—has become a major recruiting tool. 

All Norman campus tours, in fact, now include a key stop at one or more of OU’s dining facilities. 

Entering Couch Restaurants, one can see why. The cafeteria building is the same one Henry walked into as an OU freshman, but what’s inside could not be more different. Today, a huge, inviting swath of food courts and serving stations offers options to suit every palate, from barbecued brisket to Asian; Mediterranean and Mexican-themed dishes; soups, salads, pizza and pasta; desserts from Norman’s iconic La Baguette bakery; and even an all-day cereal bar. 

“We’re also home to the famous, all-you-can-eat Chick fil-A,” he notes. “It’s the only one of its kind in the world.” 

Henry walks among the stations frequently, observing each with a critical eye and visible pleasure at seeing the huge numbers of students enjoying their meals. In addition to Couch Restaurants, Henry is ultimately responsible for more than 27 different dining options across OU’s Norman campus, as well as event catering. 

In Oklahoma Memorial Student Union alone, options include a full-size Starbucks, Union Market and a food court with four restaurant concepts. Then there’s the elegant and cozy University Club, which is open for lunch and special events.

“On the third floor of the union is our catering operation,” he adds. “We provide catering for Union events and most of the catering on campus.”

Running each of these entities smoothly and with excellence takes dedication and long workdays. Henry thrives on it all.

“A lot of why I love my job is service, and the other half is interacting with people,” he says. “I think it’s always been about the people—the ones I worked for, the ones I worked with, the students, staff and customers. It’s all of them.”

In addition to serving thousands of OU students, faculty and staff daily, Henry and his staff manage hundreds of special events each year. “On some days it can seem like, ‘My God, I’m not going to make it.’ Then you get rested up and you come back to work. It’s always just felt right. I’ve had opportunities to meet people and do things that I probably wouldn’t have had working anywhere else.”

Helping Henry is a massive team of 200 full-time staff and approximately 800 student employees, many of whom serve 20 hours per week to pay for room and board. This opportunity makes the difference in many students’ ability to attend OU.

While still in college, Henry became a part-time student supervisor for OU Food Services and then a student manager. He says today’s world of university food service is different as night and day from when he started in 1980.

“Couch had six lines and only a handful of entree choices, and the food was the same on all six. Cate Cafeteria only had three lines,” Henry recalls. “Friday night was hamburgers. There was no dinner service on Sunday evenings, so students were on their own.”

By the late 1980s, he was the full-time assistant manager at Couch Cafeteria. Henry credits his predecessor and mentor, retired OU Food Services Director David Annis, with giving him the inspiration, training and leadership skills to be successful. His training included attending national conferences and even traveling to China as part of a student recruitment team. 

“Dave took me under his wing; I really don’t know where I’d be if he hadn’t shown an interest,” Henry says. “I learned so much from him.”

“Everybody has to eat, but at the same time, students don’t have to eat here,” he observes. “Dave’s and my goal was, ‘Let’s make it so they want to eat here.’ ”

Henry, in turn, created opportunities to mentor employees when he stepped into the top leadership role and enjoys seeing career paths unfold.

“I like to go into our various operations and chat with everyone, to help them realize that I’m approachable, they can talk to me and share concerns,” he says. 

Henry acknowledges that his career in food services was unanticipated. But so was spending his adult life in Norman. He grew up as a U.S. Army brat with a father who hailed from Boston and a German mother. The oldest of five boys, Henry spent his formative years following his father’s military assignments between Germany and the United States. Eventually, the family ended up at Fort Sill, where he graduated from Lawton’s Eisenhower High School. Many of his fellow students applied to OU. Henry explored other options—including West Point and the University of Notre Dame—but ultimately chose to join his friends at OU.

“Even back then, you could tell OU was different from other colleges. People would talk to you. My freshman roommate, Richard Guenther, is still a close friend.

“I look around now at OU, at the new Jones Family Welcome Center and at the things the university does for incoming freshmen, and I think it’s amazing,” he adds. “Why wouldn’t you come here?”

Leaving the OU family is bittersweet, Henry admits, but retirement will give him extra time to spend with his own family, which now includes seven grandchildren. Like so many long-term employees, however, he is not entirely sure he’s ready to sever all ties. 

“I’ve visited with OU bus drivers and told them, ‘When I retire, I’m coming for your job,’ ” Henry says with a smile. “You never know.” 

Staci Elder Hensley is a freelance writer living in Tecumseh, Okla.

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