March 17, 2026, 10:25 a.m. CT
The executive director of a state agency that supports science and technology startups resigned suddenly at the end of February, one day after being summoned to a meeting with the state commerce secretary and the state’s chief operating officer.
Jennifer McGrail, who headed the Oklahoma Center for the Advancement of Science and Technology for almost four years, didn’t provide any details about her departure in a resignation letter obtained under the Open Records Act. The board that oversees OCAST appointed Commerce Secretary Deb Moorad as interim director at a special meeting on March 2.
In December, the OCAST governing board approved almost $8.7 million in grants, providing early-stage funding for 21 companies in biotechnology, aerospace and energy. But for the first time, the board gave conditional approval to four of those start-up companies. Final approval was up to Moorad, the chair of the Oklahoma Science and Technology Research and Development Board. That change in the conditional approval process was not debated or presented at previous board meetings.
Oklahoma COO calls returns on investment ‘loosey goosey’
OCAST’s Industry Innovation program provides competitive grants of $10,000 to $500,000 to Oklahoma start-up companies developing technology innovations.
David Ostrowe, Oklahoma’s chief operating officer, said he wasn’t happy with the direction of recent grants made by OCAST. He said he made that clear to McGrail in earlier conversations and in a December email. Ostrowe declined to comment about the specifics of her resignation, saying it was a personnel matter.
“Her board made a decision to go in a different direction,” Ostrowe said Monday.
Ostrowe, who served in Gov. Kevin Stitt’s first term and returned to state government last year, said he had gone through previous OCAST grantees and found some of the agency’s follow-up on returns on investment to be “loosey goosey.”
In a Dec. 3 email, Ostrowe asked McGrail to provide a comprehensive status and accounting of recent OCAST grant awards.
“I’ll be blunt: I’m concerned that some portion of this portfolio may involve misuse of funds or outright fraud,” wrote Ostrowe, who has no formal oversight of OCAST. “I want an honest assessment of how much exposure we have and which awards, if any, need immediate attention.”
McGrail did not return a request for comment. It’s unclear if she signed a nondisclosure agreement as part of her separation from the agency.
In a Feb. 27 email, McGrail told Ostrowe and Moorad she was picking one of two options presented to her during a meeting the previous day.
“In order to preserve the opportunity to seek severance under the terms outlined, I have attached my letter of resignation to this email, consistent with the 8:00 AM deadline provided,” McGrail wrote.
Stitt picked Moorad to be secretary of commerce in February 2025. He then named her as chair of the OCAST governing board in July. Among the conditions the board put on her as OCAST interim executive director at the March 2 special meeting was that she not pursue the job on a permanent basis and she not draw a salary from OCAST. Moorad is leading the board search for a new executive director.
Stitt has four appointments, plus his science and innovation secretary, on the nine-person OCAST governing board. Leaders of the House and Senate each have two appointments.
Moorad could not be reached for comment on Monday.
OCAST director’s resignation surprises lawmakers
McGrail’s resignation was a surprise to many in the Legislature. She presented the agency’s budget at a Jan. 7 Senate hearing. McGrail said OCAST helps turn ideas into companies that stay in Oklahoma.
“OCAST is not a typical education agency,” McGrail said at the budget hearing. “We’re not a typical economic development agency. And we’re no longer an agency that exists primarily to support academic research to grow new industries. We truly are an agency that exists at the intersection of all three of those things. That is what makes us different. We help create innovation in all 77 counties in Oklahoma.”
Rep. Brian Hill, R-Mustang, chairman of the House oversight committee on commerce and economic development, said the OCAST board’s change to allow conditional approvals of grants by one person concerned him.
“I believe it is important that OCAST continue to have a robust system of approvals with multiple checks and balances so that we, the people of Oklahoma, can have confidence in their approval process,” Hill said.
Stillwater-based Weaver Labs was among the companies that received a grant in December. Chief Executive Officer Marten Hillen said the company developed a process to better remove so-called forever chemicals, or PFAS, from drinking water. Weaver Labs got a $485,000 grant over two years in the latest OCAST Industry Innovation funding cycle. More than 120 companies applied for the grants.
Hillen said he was impressed by OCAST’s responsiveness to questions throughout the grant application process. He said the agency uses outside evaluators to rank grant applicants, who have to provide matching funds from any non-state sources on their own.
“It allows us to get that stamp of approval,” Hillen said. “If I can demonstrate high-value technology that benefits not only the state, the country and ultimately the world, I am in a much better position to grow both the company and our impact. This is like a flywheel for us.”
In her Feb. 27 resignation letter, McGrail said she was proud of the team at OCAST.
“In a remarkably short period of time, this group of public servants fundamentally transformed the agency’s trajectory,” McGrail wrote. “We increased appropriations and strengthened confidence in our outcomes through transparency and measurable performance.”
McGrail said the agency’s only growth in personnel came from grant-covered positions that covered their own costs.
“We did not raise overhead,” she wrote. “We did not expand bureaucracy. We expanded impact. At the same time, the team maintained rigorous accountability. Every program was administered within statutory authority. Every dollar was tracked. Independent audits confirmed strong internal controls and compliance.”
Oklahoma Watch, at oklahomawatch.org, is a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization that covers public-policy issues facing the state.