Oklahoma native Jack Zarrow graduated from Tulsa’s Central High School and began his career with Sooner Pipe and Supply Corporation after graduating from the University of Texas in 1947. He rose to become executive vice president of the company and its affiliates and was also president of T.K. Valve and Manufacturing, Ltd., in Scotland – once the largest manufacturers of petroleum industry valves.

Zarrow has served as chairman of the Grand River Dam Authority board of directors and was also a director of the Independent Petroleum Association of America, Mid-Continent Oil and Gas Association, Association of Oil Pipelines, and many other business and professional organizations. An active and prominent civic leader and philanthropist, The Zarrow Center for Learning Enrichment at the University of Oklahoma’s College of Education was funded in 2001 by the Maxine and Jack Zarrow Foundation and the Anne and Henry Zarrow Foundation of Tulsa.