Home About Bud Seretean

Bud Seretean
(1924-2007)

OSU lost a dear friend this fall. M.B. “Bud” Seretean was a champion of wellness and the philanthropist who created the OSU Seretean Wellness Center. Dr. Seretean was recently honored during the Sam Houston State game on September 29, 2007, and his family was presented with a “Forever Cowboy” award on behalf of his contributions as both a philanthropist and proponent of wellness. To view this tribute, click the picture below.

“Act assured. Impart the image of success. Think big. Act humble.”

A 1949 graduate of OSU, Bud is a self-made man, achieving financial success by anyone’s standards. Bud learned first-hand that no amount of money can buy good health, and that without good health, all the money in the world is useless. In 1975, while visiting the Pritikin Institute for Wellness, Bud discovered that his health was not as good as he imagined. His blood pressure and cholesterol were both elevated to borderline high-risk levels.

At that point, Bud literally turned his life around and began making positive health choices concerning nutrition, physical activity, and stress management. Today, he exudes the confidence that comes with knowing that he is achieving an optimal level of health and wellness.

Bud is not content with just improving his own health. "The measure of a man's true success is not his money or his position," Seretean states. "What is most important is what he does that improves society and helps his fellow man."

Through his generous contributions to OSU, and specifically to the Seretean Wellness Center, Bud leaves a lasting legacy to the OSU Community. It is his wish that students learn at an early age how to take care of themselves, the value of good health, and carry that message with them as they leave OSU for the “real world”.

The President's Council on Physical Fitness and Sports has named Bud Seretean among those who have received its first lifetime achievement award. Seretean, whose gift made the Seretean Wellness Center a reality at Oklahoma State University in 1990, was honored along with five other pioneers of health and fitness including Jack LaLanne, Joe Weider, Dr. Ken Cooper, Bonnie Prudden and Judi Sheppard Missett. Lifetime Achievement Award winners are chosen based on the span and scope of their career, estimated number of lives touched by their work, their personal legacy, and awards and honors they’ve received during the course of their career. At the age of 83, Seretean still finds the time to lecture on health and wellness and practices what he preaches. He is also responsible for building the M.B. Seretean Center for Health Promotion at Emory University in 1997. He has also served as president of the Atlanta Hawks.