Leroy Folks enrolled at Oklahoma A&M after his service in the Korean War. At Oklahoma A&M he earned his bachelor's and master's degrees in mathematics with an emphasis on statistics.

Folks worked at Texas Instruments for several years until he returned to OSU as an associate professor with the mathematics department. He served as chair of the mathematics department for 25 years and was named a Regents Service Professor. He retired from OSU in 1998.

Folks is the author or coauthor of three books and has published more than 65 statistical papers. He is a Fellow of both the American Statistical Association and the Royal Statistical Society and a member of the International Statistical Institute. His community activities include church, Rotary Club and American Legion projects.