Engage@Spears Fall 2014 by Spears School of Business

The official magazine of the Spears School of Business, Oklahoma State University

VOL. 4, NO. 1, FALL 2014

C E L E B R AT I N G

TABLE OF CONTENTS

A publication of Oklahoma State University Spears School of Business • Vol. 4, No. 1, Fall 2014

CELEBRATING 100 YEARS Mark your calendars Tours, a groundbreaking for our new home, an open house, a tailgate party and a reception and dinner for the Spears School Tributes: 100 For 100 honorees are all on tap this fall.

A look back Special events and dates remind us of how far we’ve come during the first 100 years of business education at Oklahoma State University.

Spears School Tributes: 100 For 100 While all of OSU’s business school graduates over the last 100 years are worthy of special recognition, we’ve selected 100 who represent our rich history, and diversity of experience and who exemplify the OSU and Spears School spirit.

LEADERSHIP CHANGES

Taking the Spears School helm Ken Eastman, an OSU veteran who is the new dean of the Spears School of Business, shares his vision for the future. And Karen Flaherty has a new title of associate dean.

EDUCATION FOR LIFE

Earning a Ph.D. Banker Tom Bennett Jr. and executive Patti Jordan share their thoughts as they prepare to become some of the first graduates of the Watson Graduate School of Management’s Ph.D. in Business for Executives program.

RESEARCH

Microlending motivation OSU scholars discovered that a strong business plan may not be the most appealing approach for entrepreneurs seeking funds from microlenders.

IN BRIEF

One retirement ... and more news Tipton McCubbins is retiring after 28 years at OSU, Spears School extends its accreditation and the Eastin Center is launched.

14 16 20 10 120 128 130

LETTER FROM THE DEAN OSU Spears School of Business Dean Ken Eastman

Associate Deans Karen Flaherty Carol Johnson

Vice Dean, Watson Graduate School of Management Ramesh Sharda (interim)

Spears School Marketing and Communications Terry Tush

Editor Dorothy L. Pugh

Art Director Valerie Cummins Kisling

Contributing Writers Robert Allen, Beverly Bryant, Cori Duke, Dollie Elliott, Elizabeth Payne and Taryn Trujillo

Photography Phil Shockley and Gary Lawson

Graphic Designer Mikey Neeley

reetings,

Welcome to a very special edition of Engage@Spears. We are commemorating our 100th anniversary this year with a number of events and activities. In these pages, you will learn more about our Spears School Tributes: 100 For 100.

The business school has produced more than 40,000 graduates, and the Tributes honor the diversity of these graduates. A number of Oklahoma State University business school alumni helped select these honorees as representatives for all of our graduates as they offered nominations on our website. As you will see, these honorees are from various backgrounds, ages and occupations. Each has an inspiring story to tell, and we are proud to have them as part of our family. Sept. 5 will be an exciting day as we celebrate the groundbreaking of our new business building. The groundbreaking event comes exactly 50 years after the same event for our current building. Our new building will be a truly transformative space that will enhance business education for our students and provide an innovative home for our faculty, staff and alumni. Construction will begin in earnest early next year, and we are all very excited to see the building completed.

Contributing Designer Mark Pennie

Spears School Department Heads Lee Adkins, Economics and Legal Studies in Business Bruce Barringer, School of Entrepreneurship Robert Cornell, School of Accounting Jim Pappas, Management John Polonchek, Finance Joshua L. Wiener, Marketing Rick L. Wilson, Management Science & Information Systems

Contact Spears School of Business Oklahoma State University 201 Business Building Stillwater, OK 74078-4011 405-744-5064 ssb.news@okstate.edu spears.okstate.edu

As we spend this year looking back and commemorating our past, we also glance forward. We are excited about the opportunities that lie ahead of us, and we look forward to partnering with our alumni and friends to build upon our legacy. Our future is bright, and I am eager to see what we accomplish in the next 100 years. All the best, All the best, Ken Eastman Dean, Spears School of Business

Oklahoma State University, in compliance with Title VI and VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Executive Order 11246 as amended, Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, and other federal laws and regulations, does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, age, religion, disability, or status as a veteran in any of its policies, practices or procedures. This includes but is not limited to admissions, employment, financial aid, and educational services. Title IX of the Education Amendments and Oklahoma State University policy prohibit discrimination in the provision of services or benefits offered by the University based on gender. Any person (student, faculty or staff) who believes that discriminatory practices have been engaged in based upon gender may discuss their concerns and file informal or formal complaints of possible violations of Title IX with the OSU Title IX Coordinator, Mackenzie Wilfong, J.D., Â Director of Affirmative Action, 408 Whitehurst, Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, OK 74078, (405) 744-5371 or (405) 744-5576 (fax). This publication, issued by Oklahoma State University, as authorized by the dean, Spears School of Business, was printed by Walsworth Print Group at a cost of $17,510/8,500. A commemorative edition run of 250 was produced for a cost of $13,770. Job # 5509 8/14

y the time 14-yearold Matthew Reiners arrives on Oklahoma State University’s Stillwater campus, it will look much different than when his parents were taking classes in the 1990s. Derek and Lynn (Olinger) Reiners spent many hours in the current Business Building while Derek was earning a bachelor’s degree in finance and a master’s in accounting, and Lynn a degree in management science and information systems. Matthew is expecting to become a legacy in a few years, but when he arrives, little will be the same as when his parents were walking across campus nearly 25 years ago. The current Business Building will be replaced with a state-of-the-art building that will transform how students learn and faculty teach in the Spears School of Business.

engage@spears fall 2014

The groundbreaking for the new building is scheduled for Sept. 5. Former students, faculty and staff, as well as friends and supporters of the school, are invited to participate in the 4 p.m. ceremony as part of the Spears School’s 100th Anniversary. The design of the new building will be unveiled at the groundbreaking. Elliott + Associates Architects of Oklahoma City, which designed the Postal Plaza project in downtown Stillwater for OSU, is the architect for the new building, and Manhattan Construction was selected by the Board of Regents as the construction firm. Construction on the new building, to be located north of the current Business Building, will begin in early 2015. Completion is expected in 2017. “One of the most gratifying aspects about being named the dean is that we have so many great things converging now, including the new building coming to fruition,” says Ken Eastman, the longtime OSU professor who was named dean of the Spears School in June. “The new building is not just a new facility but it’s going to allow us to transform who we are

ELLIOTT + ASSOCIATES ARCHITECTS

The ConocoPhillips Student Lounge, as envisioned in the only rendering of the new Business Building available at press time, is one of the common areas that will be designed to enhance interactivity among students.

and how we do things. It will allow us to remake ourselves.â&#x20AC;? The building is being funded through a combination of university funds, Spears School funds and philanthropic support, with donors contributing more than half of the current budget of $63 million. More than 200 individuals, corporations and foundations are making this landmark project possible through their gifts, and fundraising continues with the goal of raising the project's budget to $70 million to ensure all of the needed space can be constructed. The new building will create an identity and a unified space for the Spears School, which has faculty and staff using four buildings across campus. It will include an inviting space for students from all other colleges, who are encouraged to take at least one business course while attending OSU. Interactivity will be the key theme for the Spears School, and thus for the building. The architects are designing spaces that support interaction among students, among faculty, and between faculty and students. These spaces include formal

common areas such as the living room and the ConocoPhillips Student Lounge, as well as informal spaces with comfortable, movable furniture where students and faculty can have conversations and meetings. The new space for the Riata Center for Entrepreneurship will bring students together from all disciplines across campus so student entrepreneurs can find partners for building and launching their new ventures. Students from engineering, architecture, music, the human sciences and other disciplines will have the opportunity to meet with faculty for advice on launching businesses and to interact with business students to find compatible skills to build new companies, following in the footsteps of OSU alumni Amy and Malone Mitchell 3rd, whose careers as entrepreneurs began while they were students at OSU. Interaction between students and alumni is another distinctive focus of the new building, which will include space for alumni to spend an entire day on campus meeting with students in Continued

fall 2014 engage@spears

“The competition for students is fierce and I think when students walk in and see all the things the new building will have for them, they will be amazed. I think it will greatly improve our ability to recruit the best and brightest students, faculty and staff because who won’t want to attend school or work in a place that is this exciting?” — Dean Ken Eastman Continued from page 5

small groups or one-on-one while staying connected with their offices. “Having our alumni and other business people provide mentoring, guidance and encouragement to our students will be a defining feature of our facility and our entire approach to helping students launch new ventures. Those interactions will be key to our students’ long-term success,” says Bruce Barringer, head of the School of Entrepreneurship. The classrooms in the new building will be designed for flexibility and interactivity. The furniture will be flexible to create any number of configurations and to incorporate small group exercises into class time. Today’s employers are looking for new hires who are capable of working collaboratively in small groups, so the curriculum is much more about hands-on or experiential learning. The new building will provide facilities to better prepare students for the workplace. In addition, some classrooms will have video technology and the latest whiteboard technology.

engage@spears fall 2014

“There are a lot of things now that we’re held back from doing because of the current facility, including how we teach students and how we interact with them,” Eastman says of the current Business Building, built in 1966. “The architect team has been very helpful throughout the process in asking us to not think like we have in the past. I think it’s been a very liberating experience for everyone involved. Faculty may not realize that they can teach classes differently and interact with students differently. I think it really will open up a lot of venues for new opportunities and new innovations.” Eastman believes Matthew Reiners and other future OSU business students will benefit the most from the new building. “I think the new building will have a huge impact on existing faculty and students, but I really think of those future individuals and the impact it will have on their educations,” he says. “When we’re recruiting people they will come in and see this facility and everything that it has to offer. Our

faculty recruits will be dazzled, and future students amazed. “The competition for students is fierce and I think when students walk in and see all the things the new building will have for them, they will be amazed. I think it will greatly improve our ability to recruit the best and brightest students, faculty and staff because who won’t want to attend school or work in a place that is this exciting? “The new building will help us create a vibrant atmosphere where people want to be, they will want to work together, and they will want to coexist.”

The design of the building continues the Georgian tradition of the OSU campus and uses classical architecture in its symmetry, balance, proportion and human scale. Elements will include familiar campus features such as dormers and gables. The new building will be the eastern bookend of the main quad and will include outdoor space for special events, including on football game days. Hester Street will be remodeled to be pedestrianfriendly, the same as Monroe Street between University and Hall of Fame. Legacy Walk will end directly in front of the building. @

“The new building will help us create a vibrant atmosphere where people want to be, they will want to work together, and they will — Dean Ken Eastman want to coexist.” Please join us for the

BUSINESS BUILDING groundbreaking S E P T E M B E R 5 , 2 01 4 | 4 : 0 0 P M KE Y TO T H E F U T U R E O F L E A RN IN G

fall 2014 engage@spears

Elliott + Associates Architects transformed the historic 1933 Stillwater Post Office into the Postal Plaza Gallery for Oklahoma State University

The renovation allowed the energy of the building to be released. What was once behind plaster is now exposed and breathing again.

“The mezzanine’s mysterious window viewports animate the walls while thoughtful lighting showcases the steel roof structure above.” -Lisa Chronister, Art Focus

Architects for the new Spears School of Business E lliot t + A s s ociat es A rc hitec ts

Okla h oma City • Athen s • Marfa

301 Awards Worldwide • 10 National AIA Awards, 9th Most in AIA History • e-a-a.com

Oklahoma State University SPEAKER SERIES Presented by the Spears School of Business and Corporate Sponsors

DAVID BROOKS

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Columnist, New York Times Commentator, NPR & PBS Newshour

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President & Publisher, ForbesWoman

Chief Scientist, Fusion-io Co-Founder, Apple Computer

“Impact of Business and Politics”

“Leading Through Power Change”

“Questions & Answers with Steve Wozniak”

Brooks is an American political commentator and the author of “The Social Animal: The Hidden Sources of Love, Character, and Achievement” on what drives individual behavior and decision making.

Forbes has interviewed power players in-depth on determining how to best lead a team and business through radical change, empowering growth, and tools required to move to the next level.

Wozniak is an American computer scientist best known as one of the founders of Apple and the inventor of the Apple II computer, and recently competed on ABC’s Dancing with the Stars.

Tulsa Business Forums 2014-2015

Make your reservations: cepd.okstate.edu/emb

Make your reservations: cepd.okstate.edu/tbf

Oklahoma City

Tulsa

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12–1:30 p.m. Luncheon Presentation Cox Business Convention Center

12–1:30 p.m. Luncheon Presentation Hyatt Regency Hotel

MOIRA FORBES

12–1:30 p.m. Luncheon Presentation Cox Business Convention Center

12–1:30 p.m. Luncheon Presentation Hyatt Regency Hotel

STEVE WOZNIAK

4–5:30 p.m. Question & Answer Session Cox Business Convention Center

10–11:30 a.m. Question & Answer Session Mabee Center

November 5, 2014

March 11, 2015

April 7, 2015

For sponsorship opportunities and more information, contact the Center for Executive and Professional Development 1-866-678-3933 | cepd.okstate.edu

November 4, 2014

March 12, 2015

April 7, 2015

Leading the Way Eastman looks ahead as he takes the Spears School helm

STORY BY TERRY TUSH/SPEARS SCHOOL PHOTOS BY GARY LAWSON/UNIVERSITY MARKETING

engage@spears fall 2014

en Eastman has a soft spot for firstyear students who arrive at Oklahoma State University and feel overwhelmed by their new surroundings. As a freshman from a small farming community, he remembers what it’s like entering a classroom with hundreds of students, living away from home for the first time, and feeling intimidated by the whole college experience.

in management in 1982. His first job as a grocery warehouse supervisor was far from perfect. “I absolutely hated it. I remember vividly on one of my days off, I went back to Iowa State to whine about my job to a pair of my professors. They said, ‘Why don’t you become a professor?’ I said, ‘What? I’m not smart enough to be a professor.’”

Thus, when 18-year-olds walk into the Business Building each fall for their first class as college freshmen, Eastman wants to be there to show his support. He keeps in touch with mentors who did the same for him over the course of his college career.

James McElroy and Paula Morrow, the two Iowa State professors, encouraged him to enroll in graduate school. A few years later, he had his master’s degree in management from Iowa State and eventually earned his doctorate in business administration with an emphasis in organizational behavior from the University of Nebraska.

“I’ve always been fortunate to have a professor or instructor who took an interest in me and encouraged me, and it really instilled in me that same desire to try to do the same for kids,” says Eastman, who begins his 25th year at Oklahoma State University this fall.

“I really believe if Dr. McElroy and Dr. Morrow had not interjected themselves into my life, I don’t know where I would be,” Eastman says. “My interest in giving back to students is really because I’ve had mentors like Dr. McElroy and Dr. Morrow who took the time to help me and guide me.”

Since joining the OSU business school’s faculty in 1989 as an assistant professor of management, he has served OSU in a number of roles, including director of the MBA program, head of the Department of Management, and interim dean from July 2013 to May 2014. In May, OSU President Burns Hargis selected Eastman as the new dean of the Spears School of Business. “Ken is an expert in leadership, performance management and organizational politics, and we believe he will guide our award-winning business school to new levels of success,” Hargis says. Eastman grew up on a 160-acre farm outside Calendar, Iowa. While attending Prairie Community High School, he was the senior class president and president of the FFA chapter, but he dropped out of the University of Iowa after only two weeks as a freshman in 1978. “When I dropped out, I thought that was it,” he says. “I really enjoyed the farm and never thought I’d leave, to be honest. I think if my mom hadn’t kept pressuring me to go to college, I probably would have stayed on the farm. My mom’s persistence and the combination of my friends talking about their experiences in college really made me realize that I needed to go back to college.” His status as a full-time farmer lasted only a few months before he decided to enroll at Iowa Central Community College. He eventually transferred to Iowa State University, earning his bachelor’s degree

“I see my role as a facilitator. I want to help people become the best they can be and that includes students, faculty, staff, departments and alumni.” — Spears School Dean Ken Eastman Eastman took a circuitous route to his management degree. He began by first pursuing political science and economics degrees with the desire to attend law school, changed to wanting to become a radio disc jockey, then refocused his efforts on political science to become a television news anchor. He eventually decided on earning his management degree, and followed the advice of his former professors to attend graduate school. “I like to tell people I was 29 when I felt confident and knew what I wanted to do with my life. That’s when I came to the realization for the first time that academia was the right path for me,” he says. “As my mother said, you quit college but once you went back, you never stopped.” In 1988, the aspiring professor went to the Academy of Management’s annual conference in California to find an academic job, interviewing with nearly 15 schools. Oklahoma State was far from the top of his list.

Continues fall 2014 engage@spears

“I see my role as a facilitator. I want to help people become the best they can be and that includes students, faculty, staff, departments and alumni,” Eastman says as he prepares to lead more than 4,200 undergraduates, 1,100 graduate students, about 150 faculty and 100 staff members. “I really want to do what I can to help faculty do great research, provide the best classes we can for students, for students to have opportunities to become better human beings and leave here with better opportunities.” But Eastman realizes that some tough decisions will have to be made in his new role. “We are doing a lot in the Spears School, and I think faculty and staff do feel a bit overburdened just because we’re pulled in a lot of different directions. We will need to work together to focus and spend our scarce resources where it’s going to give us the biggest hit rate in terms of success,” he says.

Spears School of Business Dean Ken Eastman and his wife, Laurie, have been married for 33 years.

Continued from page 11

Longtime OSU management professor Wayne Meinhart changed Eastman’s opinion. “I remember my wife asking me after the conference which school I was most impressed with, and I said, ‘Well, it’s going to seem odd but Oklahoma State. And Dr. Meinhart was just amazing.’ He really made me want to come to Oklahoma State. He had such passion for this place, and it was infectious.” Three days after the Dec. 4 birth of Zeke, the first of Ken and Laurie Eastman’s three sons, Meinhart called to offer Eastman the faculty position at OSU. “It was a good Christmas,” he says. The Eastmans moved in August 1989 and have called Stillwater home for the past 25 years. “Like a lot of people, I came here expecting to be here five years, and we’re still here 25 years later. We raised our three sons here, and they had wonderful experiences in Stillwater,” he says. Eastman never envisioned leading the Spears School after serving under five different deans — Bob Sandmeyer (1977-94), Gary Trennepohl (1995-99), James Lumpkin (2000-04), Sara Freedman (2006-10) and Larry Crosby (2010-13). He has served the Spears School in various roles over those years. 12

engage@spears fall 2014

“But everyone wants to be great. No one wants to work to be mediocre. You don’t have to spend an inordinate amount of time to become successful if you’re doing things you have great talent for and great passion for. I think that’s what we want to focus on. We want every department to identify things they have passion for and what the department’s strengths are and then help facilitate them to be the best they can be in those areas.” One of Eastman’s major tasks over the next several years will include the construction of a new building. Its groundbreaking is scheduled Sept. 5, with construction beginning in 2015. “I think one of the most gratifying things about being named the dean is there are so many great things converging now. We have accreditation behind us, we have the new building coming to fruition. … It really is just an exciting time,” he says. “I tell kids when they come to college that it’s their chance to remake themselves. You can become a different person, a new individual. That’s how I feel with the building,” he says. “It will really be an opportunity for us to transform ourselves, so what I want to do for the next two years while it’s being built is really examine everything we do. So when we move into that new physical building we come in with the best programs, the best processes, and the best ideas. We’re not going to wait for the new building to be here to become new but to start that transformation now.” Eastman and his wife, Laurie, have been married 33 years. They have three children: Zeke, 25, pursuing his master’s degree in education at OSU; Abe, 23, pursuing a master’s in psychology at Boston University, and Sam, 20, a junior in accounting at Iowa State. @

New associate dean named

aren Flaherty, an Oklahoma State University associate professor of marketing, was named an associate dean for the Spears School of Business, Dean Ken Eastman announced in June.

“Dr. Flaherty is highly respected within the Spears School of Business and throughout Oklahoma State University, and she has a keen interest in issues related to undergraduate education,” says Eastman. “I greatly appreciate the enthusiasm and professionalism she brings to the school.” Flaherty has taught courses at the undergraduate, graduate and postgraduate levels at OSU. She also serves as director of the Spears School Honors Program. She was nominated for the Greiner Teaching Award in 2005 and 2011 and named a faculty member of distinction by the Spears School Business Student Council in 2012. She received the Richard W. Poole Research Excellence Award from the Spears School in 2008 and 2009. She earned her bachelor’s degree in marketing from Providence (R.I.) College, her MBA at Suffolk University in Boston, and her doctorate from the University of Massachusetts in Amherst, Mass. “I am delighted to join the Spears School of Business leadership team. I look forward to working with our talented faculty to continue to deliver worldclass undergraduate programs to our students,” says Flaherty. Flaherty’s academic research focuses on issues related to the management of frontline sales professionals. In particular, she has studied the motivation, leadership and control of salespeople. Her work has been published in journals such as the Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Journal of Retailing, Journal of Personal Selling & Sales Management, Industrial Marketing Management and Journal of Business Research.

She is the author of several book chapters, including a chapter on Strategic Leadership in Sales in the Oxford Handbook of Sales Management and Sales Strategy (edited by Cravens, Le Meunier-Fitzhugh and Piercy). She serves on the editorial boards of the Journal of Personal Selling & Sales Management and the Journal of Marketing Theory and Practice. Flaherty is an active member of the American Marketing Association. She has served as chair of the AMA Selling and Sales Management Special Interest Group, and is currently the vice chair for Awards and Recognition. She is also a member of the Global Sales Science Institute. @

fall 2014 engage@spears

CENTUrY OF SUCCESS

COMES

full circle What goes around comes around. Over the past century, business and community leaders have graduated from OSUâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Spears School of Business. Through it all, Bank SNB has been there to support the school and its graduates. In our own 110-year history, weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve provided future business leaders and entrepreneurs with the financial solutions, resources and expertise they needed to achieve success. And in turn, they have become customers that have been instrumental in our success. Bank SNB could not be more proud of the graduates being recognized in the 100 for 100 program. We are committed to bonding with the next generation of Spears School graduates and leaders.

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Wear your BRIGHTEST ORANGE and join us at these events: Tours, Groundbreaking, Open House and 100th Anniversary Reception

s Georgina M. Holt was teaching Oklahoma A&M College’s first business courses — stenography and typing — she couldn’t have imagined the evolution of the Business Department into a Business Division and ultimately in 1914 into the School of Commerce and Marketing. Fast-forward 100 years. Our 4,200 undergraduate and 1,100 graduate business students are joining alumni and friends in 2014 to celebrate our 100th anniversary of business education at Oklahoma State University. The school has changed names numerous times over the years. In 1958, it became the College of Business, and it was located in Morrill Hall until 1966, when it moved next door into its own building. For almost 50 years the College of Business — now the Spears School of Business — has been providing a world-class business education from the corner of Morrill Avenue and Hester Street in Stillwater. On Sept. 5, as we celebrate our 100th anniversary of business education at OSU, we will also break ground on a new state-of-the-art business building to house the Spears School, next to the current building on the former site of Hanner Hall. Registration is required for the special 100th Anniversary and groundbreaking events. Visit Spears100.okstate.edu to complete your online registration and to learn more about the location, costs and details. @

FRIDAY, SEPT. 5 1-3 p.m. 3-4 p.m. 4-5 p.m. 5:30-8:30 p.m.

Tour of OSU Athletic Facilities Tour of OSU Student Union Open house at the Spears School of Business Groundbreaking for the new Business Building 100th Anniversary Reception (Wes Watkins Center)

100th Anniversary Tailgate Party

SATURDAY, SEPT. 6 11 a.m.

North side of Business Building OSU vs. Missouri State football game is set to kick off at 2:30 p.m.

Spears School Tributes: 100 For 100 Reception and Dinner

FRIDAY, NOV. 7 6:30-7 p.m. 7-9 p.m.

Reception at OSU Student Union Dinner and recognition of the members of the Spears School Tributes: 100 For 100

FOR INFORMATION, CALL 1-866-678-3933

fall 2014 engage@spears

1898

Georgina M. Holt is hired as the first business teacher at Oklahoma A&M College. She resigns in 1903 to marry Dr. Lowery Layman Lewis, who was instrumental in getting the School of Commerce and Marketing established.

1914

The School of Commerce and Marketing is established at Oklahoma A&M

College.

1915

1922

The School of Commerce and Marketing records the largest enrollment of any of the six schools on the campus, and it moves into its first official building, the Old Engineering Building.

1924

The School of Commerce and Marketing becomes known as the School of Commerce.

1925

Morrill Hall becomes the home for the School of Commerce. It was built in 1906 as the administration building.

Professor H.W. Moorhouse is appointed the first dean.

1916

The first bachelorâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s and masterâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s degrees are granted by the School of Commerce and Marketing.

1916

Willard Rude joins the faculty, serving as department head from 1920 to 1945. He wins a yearly contest for shorthand penmanship sponsored by Gregg Publishing Co. so many times that the company retires the trophy to him.

engage@spears fall 2014

1929

Raymond D. Thomas becomes dean. His 28-year tenure as dean is the longest in the Spears School.

1933 The faculty in the School of Commerce consists of 19 members.

1937

The School of Commerce becomes the Division of Commerce.

1945

As World War II ends and soldiers return home, enrollment in the School of Commerce increases dramatically, tripling from 1945 to 1946, and reaching nearly 2,000 by 1947.

1953

The Business Extension is created with Harry Canup named director. Today, the outreach portion of the Spears School is the Center for Executive and Professional Development.

1955

The Division of Commerce becomes known as the Division of Business.

1957

Eugene Swearingen (right) replaces Raymond D. Thomas as dean.

1958

The Division of Business becomes the College of Business.

1960

The Ph.D. program in economics is the first doctoral program in the College of Business. The first three students in the program are (from left) Richard W. Poole, Duck-Woo Nam and Robert L. Sandmeyer.

Dec. 9, 1964

The groundbreaking on the current Business Building is held as OSU celebrates the 50th anniversary of business education. The building opens in the fall of 1966.

1965

Richard W. Poole becomes dean. He resigns in 1972 to become vice president for University Relations and Development.

1969

The College of Business becomes known as the College of Business Administration.

1975

A tornado sweeps through Stillwater and the OSU campus on June 13. There are no casualties but most of the Business Buildingâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s windows and glass doors are chipped or destroyed, and the walls and ceilings sustain structural damage.

1977

Robert A. Sandmeyer (right) becomes dean and serves for 17 years.

1981

The Department of Accounting becomes known as the School of Accounting, a long-sought goal by Wilton T. Anderson, head of the department since 1961. continues

fall 2014 engage@spears

continued from page 17

1982-83

Enrollment peaks with 5,267 full-time undergraduate students enrolled in the College of Business Administration. In addition, full-time faculty reaches its highest numbers ever with 133 members.

2004

The College of Business Administration is renamed the William S. Spears School of Business. Today, the college is known as the Spears School of Business.

1987

The Tulsa Business Forums series begins. Two years later, the program expands to Oklahoma City with the Executive Management Briefings.

1995

Gary Trennepohl (above) becomes dean of the College of Business Administration, serving until 1999 when he becomes president of the newly created OSU-Tulsa campus. Today, he is Regents Service Professor and ONEOK Chair in Finance, and Presidentâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Council Chair in Finance in the Spears School.

1998

Former Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev (left) is the featured speaker during the Tulsa Business Forums and the Executive Management Briefings in Oklahoma City.

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2012

A record 1,031 diplomas are granted at commencement exercises. Four students were in the first graduating class of the School of Commerce and Marketing in 1916, and the school has graduated students every year since.

2014

While celebrating 100 years of business education at OSU, the Spears School breaks ground on Sept. 5 for a new business building just north of the current building. @

Congratulations to the Spears School of Business on your 100th Anniversary!

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fall 2014 engage@spears

SPEARS SCHOOL TRIBUTES:

hat do accountants, attorneys, bankers, entrepreneurs, financial advisers, physicians, politicians, real estate investors and one of the world’s most successful country music icons have in common? Oh, and let’s toss in an NFL quarterback, too. All are among the thousands of graduates from Oklahoma State University’s business school. As we celebrate the 100th anniversary of business education at OSU this year, we are proud to recognize the Spears School Tributes: 100 For 100. From 95-year-old Robert Karlovich (accounting, 1942) to 27-year-old Kyle Ensley (international business, 2009), these tributes represent a rich history and diversity of experience among those earning OSU business degrees over the last 100 years.

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This list of those who deserve recognition is not comprehensive. Since 1914, thousands of OSU business graduates have improved our world through their professional achievements, contributions to their communities and service to OSU. Given the challenge of identifying just 100, we express our appreciation to the Spears School graduates who helped us select these tributes from the hundreds of tribute nominations we received. Over the next 100 pages, you’ll read about business school graduates who exemplify the OSU and Spears School spirit. We invite all who are loyal and true to enjoy these

Spears School Tributes: 100 For 100.

Jack Allen Business (1969)

ack Allen is the perfect example of not giving up on his dream.

education and the community, and creativity in solving problems for clients.

After graduating with an Oklahoma State University business degree in 1969, Allen joined Hartford Insurance Co.’s career development program. Over the next four years, he spent time in several cities, making his way to being the company’s top marketing representative.

In addition, Allen also started a business in the 1990s called Whatever You Do Inc., to be a primary resource for products and information about management methodology, corporate culture and corporate vision. He is still the chief executive officer of Whatever You Do.

He left Hartford Insurance to return to his hometown of Tulsa, looking to make his mark in insurance. Even after he was fired from two different agencies in Oklahoma, he didn’t give up.

Allen is involved in numerous philanthropic activities.

He was hired by the Chandler Frates and Reitz Agency in 1976; within three years, he became its top salesperson. Allen purchased 50 percent of the agency in 1984, and two years later he bought the other half to become its sole owner. Allen expanded it from 12 employees to one of the largest insurance agencies in the region with 100 employees. He changed the name of the company to CFR in the mid-1990s, and in 2012 sold it to HUB International, one of the largest privately held insurance agencies in North America.

A member of the Sigma Chi fraternity at OSU, he has been active at his alma mater, serving on the advisory board for the Spears School’s Riata Center of Entrepreneurship and on the board for the OSU Foundation. He has been inducted into the Spears School Hall of Fame, as well as the Oklahoma City University Meinders School of Business Hall of Fame. Allen has been a sponsor of the Tulsa Business Forums, presented by the Spears School’s Center for Executive and Professional Development, since 1989. In addition, he endowed the Jack Allen Family Scholarship for the Spears School.

“We’ve always operated on the philosophy that, if we took care of employees, customers and vendors, we would make a great living. It’s doing whatever you do so well that the people who see you do it come back to see you do it again and bring someone with them. When I asked HUB why they were willing to pay such a high multiple for CFR, they said it was because of who we were,” says Allen, who remains with the company as chairman of HUB International CFR.

The author of The Little Red Hen in Corporate America, Allen is a guest speaker at university classes on diversity, vision and management methodology. He has taught in the OSU-Tulsa MBA program on contemporary management and has been a guest lecturer for the Meinders School of Business Brown Bag Luncheon Series.

The National Alliance for Insurance Education and Research and Rough Notes magazine voted Allen one of the 25 Most Innovative Agents in the nation, based on technological leadership, superior relationship-building ability, leadership in

“It is a great honor to be recognized by OSU’s School of Business. With this recognition come new opportunities to share my passion for education,” he says.

In 2002, he established the CFR Education Foundation for public education.

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TRIBUTES: 100 FOR 100

Mae Badiyan Marketing (2003)

ae Badiyan’s experience as an entrepreneur, lawyer, stylist and consultant are impressive, making her a great ambassador for Oklahoma State University. The 32-year-old earned a bachelor’s degree in marketing from the Spears School of Business in 2003 and a Juris Doctor degree from DePaul University in Chicago in 2006. Growing up in Stillwater, Badiyan always loved OSU and felt a part of its deeply rooted traditions, even before attending the school. She considered a few other universities but ultimately decided that she wanted to be a part of the Cowboy family she had always admired. She was a member of Kappa Delta sorority and named a Top 10 marketing senior. “My years at the business school laid the foundation for my present-day success,” she says, citing the practical real-world skills she learned and the connections she made. After graduating from DePaul, she practiced corporate law in Chicago. Although she thrived in the fast-paced environment, she longed for something more. So she moved overseas to work in the nonprofit sector at the Bahá’í World Centre in Haifa,

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Israel. “After three life-changing years, I returned to the United States and by chance settled in my hometown of Stillwater,” Badiyan says. In July 2013, she opened the Blo Bar, a luxury spa, salon and boutique on Main Street in Stillwater. Additionally, she writes and curates a life and fashion blog and works as a stylist, social media consultant and business mentor for female entrepreneurs. She is the director of the Mateen Badiyan Foundation, a non-profit established in honor of her younger brother Mateen, to assist with the social and educational needs of children and youth worldwide. She is also on the board of directors for CASA and the Stillwater Arts and Humanities Council. Additionally, she is a member of the Junior Service League of Stillwater. Her parents, Mehran and Lili Badiyan, are Oklahoma State University alums. Badiyan is honored to be recognized in the Spears School Tributes: 100 For 100. “I am beyond thrilled. My days at Oklahoma State were full of not only learning but so many fun memories and lifelong friendships as well. This honor is truly the cherry on top,” Badiyan says.

William C. Barnes Accounting (1976)

illiam C. Barnes has had a successful career since his days at Oklahoma State University. The Tulsa native earned his bachelor’s degree in accounting from OSU’s business school in 1976.

on the NYSE in 1990. By the end of 2005, Vintage had become a large independent oil and gas company with more than 700 employees and operations throughout the U.S., South America and Yemen.

Barnes almost chose a different route. Many of his high school friends were planning to attend the University of Oklahoma. However, after visiting both campuses during his senior year, he knew OSU was the right place for him.

“Vintage was a company filled with extremely talented, driven employees, an outstanding board of directors and a unique corporate culture that could only be fully appreciated as we all look back on it today,” Barnes says. “I am very thankful and proud to have been a part of such a great company.”

“Choosing OSU landed me in one of the top accounting programs in the nation and exposed me to several outstanding professors, including G. Michael Crooch,” Barnes says. “Dr. [Wilton T.] Anderson and Dr. Crooch had a significant impact on my career choice and success. The OSU business school instilled in me the technical knowledge, problem solving and analytical skills necessary for a successful career in business.” Barnes participated in intramural athletics, was named to some all-university teams and coached a girls’ flag football team. He was also in Beta Alpha Psi, an international accounting honor organization, and Phi Kappa Phi collegiate honor society. He lived and worked in Kerr Residence Hall while at OSU. He also worked at a variety of summer jobs — making and packaging ice cream for a milk company, commercial cabinet manufacturing for major retailers, electrician’s assistant in commercial construction — to save for college expenses. After graduation, he was hired by Arthur Andersen & Co. to work with clients primarily in the oil and gas industry and became a certified public accountant. In 1983, he joined Vintage Petroleum Inc., a startup oil and gas company, as vice president of finance. They only had five employees at the time. Vintage grew quickly, becoming a public company

At Vintage, he served as vice president of finance from 1983 to 1990, treasurer and secretary and director in 1987, senior vice president and chief financial officer in 1990 and executive vice president in 1994. In early 2006, Vintage was acquired by Occidental Petroleum Corp. Now retired, Barnes manages personal investments and is a trustee of his family’s charitable foundation. He is a CPA and member of the American Institute of CPAs, Oklahoma Society of CPAs and Financial Executives International. He’s also on the OSU Foundation board of governors and a member of the finance committee of his church. He resides in Tulsa with his wife of 37 years, Marsha, who is also an OSU business school graduate. “None of the success I have enjoyed in my career and personal life would have been possible without her love and support,” Barnes says. They have two children and one grandchild. Barnes appreciates being chosen for the Spears School Tributes: 100 For 100. “I am proud and honored to be included among the 100 graduates being honored on the 100th anniversary of the OSU Spears School of Business,” Barnes says. 2014 engage@spears

TRIBUTES: 100 FOR 100

David Batchelder Accounting (1971)

avid Batchelder may call San Diego home but he’s an Oklahoma State University Cowboy at heart.

The 1971 OSU graduate, who in 1996 co-founded Relational Investors LLC, an activist investment fund with $6 billion under management, says it all began thanks to the education he received at the OSU business school. “It was a turning point in my life,” he says. His father, Arley, was the first member of the family to attend college, graduating from Oklahoma A&M after serving in World War II. Gene Batchelder, David’s older brother and a Spears School Tribute: 100 For 100 honoree, followed his father and helped pave the way for David. “I think it was a turning point for me because I wasn’t a great high school student, not at all. I was a poor high school student, so I came to Oklahoma State worried about my ability to do well enough to stay in school,” says David Batchelder. “What I ended up learning was that I didn’t have to be smarter than the others, I just had to work harder. We don’t necessarily have to out-smart the other guy — we just out-work him. I figured that out and have applied that ever since. “I think it was more out of fear, and a fear of failure. So I really applied myself for the first time ever to my education. Then, I saw how successful that was and witnessed how it could benefit me,” says Batchelder, who was a member of Sigma Alpha Epsilon at OSU. Batchelder began his career as an audit manager with Deloitte & Touche. From 1978 to 1988, he held several executive positions with Mesa Petroleum Co., and he was named president and chief operating officer in 1986.

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In 2005, he was a featured speaker at the Spears School’s annual CEO Day. He was inducted into the School of Accounting Hall of Fame in 2009,

the Spears School Hall of Fame in 2011, and the OSU Alumni Association Hall of Fame in 2013. He and his family contributed to the ConocoPhillips OSU Alumni Center; the fireplace in Traditions Hall is named after his father. Batchelder credits much of his success to the encouragement of former accounting professor Wilton T. Anderson. His first encounter with Anderson came in the first class that all accounting students were required to enroll in, which Anderson taught. “He was perfect for me. He was very demanding, but for someone who was prepared and applied themselves, he was perfect,” Batchelder says. “He had that disciplinarian approach, and for me that was great. He and I hit it off, and he helped me to understand how [accounting] could impact my life.” Batchelder’s dedication in the classroom did not go unnoticed. “Dr. Anderson was the first true mentor for me. I always fall back to him. He offered me a scholarship, which to me was a big deal. I can’t remember how much it was, it wasn’t a huge amount, but it covered part of the cost of books and fees. He was somebody who believed in me and showed me that encouragement.” The Batchelder President’s Distinguished Scholarship now provides the same opportunity to incoming freshmen majoring in accounting. He is honored to be one of those recognized in the Spears School Tributes: 100 For 100. “It makes me very proud. It makes me especially proud that I’m being honored with my brother, Gene. Knowing how much the school has meant to my success and to the foundation of my success, I don’t know how to put it into words really. It just makes me very proud,” he says.

Gene Batchelder Accounting (1969)

ene Batchelder’s experience at Oklahoma State University didn’t end after his graduation from OSU’s business school with a bachelor’s degree in accounting in 1969. Batchelder, a native of Bartlesville, Okla., was quite active at OSU. He was a member of Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity, participated in intramural athletics and worked part-time to help cover his expenses. He also received a Phillips Petroleum Co. Scholarship. He says his time at OSU’s business school greatly affected him in various ways. “My whole experience at OSU was about learning and growth … learning about myself and growth as an individual,” Batchelder says. “Learning what it would take to succeed, how to be a part of something much larger than just me, how to contribute individually and as part of a team, and what it would take to compete and win. Those years helped me establish a foundation that would serve me well both personally and professionally.” His OSU experience continues through attending athletic events, participating in continuing education, involvement in various university organizations, and his children attending OSU. After graduating from OSU and serving in the U.S. Army, Batchelder went to work for Ford Motor Co. He joined Phillips Petroleum in 1972 and held numerous positions throughout his 42-year career at ConocoPhillips, including president of Phillips Driscopipe Inc., senior vice president and chief financial officer of GPM Gas Corp., and chief information officer and senior vice president for ConocoPhillips. He retired in 2013 and is currently a director of Occidental Petroleum. His past professional affiliations include membership in the American Institute of Certified Professional Accountants and the Oklahoma Society of Certified Professional Accountants. He

served on the board of directors and executive committee of the Plastics Pipe Institute. He has attended executive programs at Duke University and Harvard Business School and published articles on information technology management in various publications, including Harvard Business Review. He is or has been on numerous civic, philanthropic and corporate boards. A past national president of the OSU Alumni Association Board of Directors, Batchelder served as president of the Alumni Association’s Washington County, Okla., chapter. He was also a trustee for the OSU Foundation, a life member of the OSU Alumni Association, a former member of the Spears School of Business Associates and member of the OSU POSSE. Batchelder was recognized as an OSU School of Accounting Distinguished Alumnus and inducted into the Spears Hall of Fame in 2002. He was named an OSU Distinguished Alumnus in 2005 and inducted into the OSU Hall of Fame in 2011. The Batchelder family contributed to the ConocoPhillips OSU Alumni Center, and the fireplace in Traditions Hall is named after his father, Arley. Batchelder and his wife, Lori, reside in Houston and have a ranch near Anderson, Texas. Between them, they have six children and 14 grandchildren. Batchelder appreciates being recognized for the Spears School Tributes: 100 For 100. “I am certainly honored to be a part of this group and humbled by the achievements and contributions of the others,” Batchelder says. “So many successes on so many fronts over so many years. It’s very special. It is especially meaningful to be a part of this group with my brother, David. I know that our father, Arley, the first of our Batchelder family to secure a college degree from OSU, would be very pleased and proud. Thank you so much.” 2014 engage@spears

TRIBUTES: 100 FOR 100

Bruce T. Benbrook Finance (1976)

t’s no wonder Bruce T. Benbrook speaks so highly about “the quality of people” from Oklahoma State University and the Spears School of Business. He is one of them. A humble leader, Benbrook is the third generation of his family to lead the Stock Exchange Bank in Woodward, Okla. Benbrook, a Woodward native, earned his bachelor’s degree in finance in 1976 from the College of Business at OSU. The Benbrooks are a family of Cowboys. Bruce, his father, Temple; sister, Mary Jane Godlove; his wife, Sheryl; and his oldest daughter, Rachel, all earned degrees from OSU. His youngest daughter, Julia, is a freshman at OSU. “I had a wonderful experience at OSU and the School of Business. The thing I remember most are the people,” Benbrook says. “There were people who were always willing to help you reach your potential. They’ve had a tremendous impact on my personal life and career.” Benbrook took advantage of every opportunity on campus. He was president of the Student Government Association, on the Inter-Fraternity Council, Student Senate, Business Student Council and a member of Sigma Nu fraternity and Blue Key. On campus, he received the Raymond D. Thomas Award from the College of Business, Outstanding Male Graduate from the OSU Alumni Association and the Outstanding Greek Man Award from the Inter-Fraternity Council. “I was fortunate enough to have people who inspired me and made me be the man I wanted to become,” Benbrook says, as he recalls mentors Curtis Hamm, marketing professor emeritus; Walter Starks, Business School Student Services;

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and Kent Sampson, OSU Student Services director. Sampson advised Benbrook and his classmates in student leadership organizations more than 40 years ago, and the link continues today: Benbrook was pleased to learn that Sampson advises organizations that his daughters Rachel and Julia have been involved in. “You really appreciate people like Hamm, Starks and Sampson who have dedicated their lives to helping our university,” says Benbrook. “OSU has been a part of our family for many years, and it’s been a tremendous experience now to see my daughters have the same positive experiences that I had.” After graduating in 1976, Benbrook moved back to his hometown to work for his family-owned bank. In 1981, he succeeded his father as president and chairman. Benbrook has been chairman of the OSU Board of Regents, chair of the OSU Alumni Association, and has served two terms on the board of governors of the OSU Foundation. Currently, he is on the board of directors for the Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation and the Oklahoma Heritage Association, and chairman of Leadership Oklahoma and a member of its executive committee and board of directors. In 2006, he was elected chairman of the board of First Oklahoma Casualty Reinsurance Group. “This award [Spears School Tributes: 100 For 100] is one of the greatest honors I’ve ever received,” Benbrook says. “It truly means the world to me, and to be able to share it with my family is important to me because OSU and the School of Business has meant the world to me. I feel so humbled and so honored to receive this recognition.”

Jessie Thatcher Bost Oklahoma A&M College (1897)

Armon H. Bost Economics (1933)

essie Thatcher Bost believed education held the key to independence and opportunity. She became the first female graduate of Oklahoma A&M College — indeed, the first female graduate of any Oklahoma college — in 1897. She spent most of her life as a teacher in Oklahoma public schools. She gave the commencement address for her class of three, displaying her spirit for women’s rights, saying, “The one who rocks the cradle, rules the world.” She also established the Sigma Literary Society to counter the men’sonly Webster Literary Society. Bost accomplished many “firsts” during her life. She established and served as the first president of the Alumni Association and the Half-Century Club. In 1925, OSU named its first women’s dormitory in her honor. Following graduation, she taught in Stillwater schools for nearly a decade, marrying former classmate Henry Bost in 1902. In 1907, the couple homesteaded in western Oklahoma, then moved to Alva in 1908. There she organized a parent-teacher association and was chair of the Northwest District PTA. She put her teaching career on hold until her four children were grown. The family returned to Stillwater, where their four children attended OSU, then moved to Cleveland, Okla., where she taught until her retirement. She has received several posthumous awards such as a room in OSU’s Edmon Low Library in her name, the establishment of a scholarship for Special Collections in the library and induction into both the Oklahoma Women’s Hall of Fame and the Heritage Hall of Fame. She remained loyal to OSU, her family, women’s rights, and education throughout her lifetime. She died in 1963.

rmon Bost, son of Jessie Thatcher Bost, had an orange legacy to live up to early on — and he did. After graduating from Oklahoma A&M in 1933 with a bachelor’s degree in economics, Bost established the Midwestern Engine and Equipment Co. in Tulsa. After 77 years, it still produces specialty products for pipeline construction. Bost was an officer in World War II and served as a commander in the Korean War, retiring as a colonel. He later served as president of the Reserve Officers Association and the Navy League. Bost gave back to the community and OSU. He was president of the Tulsa School Board and a charter member of the Oklahoma Commission on Education. He was president and lifetime member of Tulsa Boys’ Home, chairman of the Royal Order of Jesters, a 32nd-degree Mason and a Rotarian. Bost also served as a member and president of the OSU Board of Regents, visiting and inspecting OSU projects in Ethiopia, Afghanistan, Nepal, Thailand, Japan and more at his own expense. He was inducted into the Spears School of Business Hall of Fame and the OSU Alumni Hall of Fame. He received the Howard G. Bennett Distinguished Service Award and the Edna Mae Phelps Library Award. Two scholarships have been established in his honor: the Armon H. Bost Scholarship and Advanced Studies for Special Collections and University Archives. The Bost residence hall was also named for him. The Bost legacy at OSU continues. His wife, aunts and uncles, two sisters and brother attended, as have four of his five children, a son-in-law, three nieces and nephews, four grandchildren and one great-grandchild.

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TRIBUTES: 100 FOR 100

Karl G. Bovee Finance (1991)

arl G. Bovee credits his education from Oklahoma State University as the foundation for his career. The Adams, N.Y., native earned his bachelor’s degree in business administration with a major in finance and minors in accounting and marketing in 1991. Bovee was a member of Pi Kappa fraternity, serving as the IFC representative and the sorority relations chairman and was involved in Spring Sing. He participated in intramural sports, including soccer, softball and football. He was also a member of Delta Sigma Pi, the Financial Management Association and the Marketing Club. He was a University Scholar, on the dean’s honor roll and received a Lew Wentz Scholarship. “I was always taught that anything worth doing is worth doing well,” Bovee says. “While I tried to apply that credo to my studies, I readily saw it exhibited in the investment made back into the students by many of my business professors. I not only saw it in the classroom but also in my engagement with the faculty as I worked in the Support Services Department in the College of Business. That genuineness is something that impacted me, and I have tried to lead in my business career with similar authenticity.” Bovee, who began as a commercial loan officer with Bank of America Corp. in 1994, is the central region executive for business banking at Bank of America Merrill Lynch. He leads client management and is responsible for delivering strategic financial advice and integrated solutions to companies with $5 million to $50 million in annual sales in the central United States. Previously, Bovee served as enterprise client coverage executive for global corporate & investment banking, global commercial banking and business

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banking, where he was responsible for driving business integration efforts across the company. Bovee has served as a government banking market executive and has held various leadership and production roles in credit and client management, serving traditional middle-market commercial clients, as well as those in the government, institutional health care and other sectors. He has been in banking for 23 years, starting as a commercial lender in the Farm Credit System. He is active on the executive committee of the OSU Spears School of Business Associates, a member of the Poole College of Management Board of Advisers at North Carolina State University, and a Spears School of Business Outstanding Young Alumnus honoree. He has been active in community organizations such as Kids Against Hunger, Big Brothers Big Sisters, Common Heart (Food Pantry), Friendship Trays (Meals on Wheels), Elementary Financial Education, Operation Christmas Child, Habitat for Humanity, Operation Gratitude and Charlotte Arts & Sciences Council. His wife, Carol (Wright) Bovee, is also an OSU graduate. The couple has one son, Andrew. They were planning a move from Charlotte, N.C., to Dallas this summer. Bovee is honored and humbled to be included in the Spears School Tributes: 100 For 100. “To be selected in the company of the other honorees is humbling,” Bovee says. “OSU’s Spears School of Business has produced many outstanding leaders and professionals in the past 100 years. To be counted in this select few is a wonderful honor and one that gives me pride, but it also makes me thankful for the important role OSU Spears School of Business had in helping to prepare me for my career.”

Ann E. Bradshaw Accounting (bachelor’s, 1983; master’s, 1984)

everal families are represented by more than one family member in the Spears School Tributes: 100 For 100. Siblings Ann and David Bradshaw, the daughter and son of lifelong Stillwater residents Gerald and the late Jeanette Bradshaw, are among those being recognized. Ann E. Bradshaw, tax partner and Southwest Region director of credits and incentives services for Ernst & Young, credits the success of her career to the outstanding foundation she received at Oklahoma State University’s business school. “From the superior education provided by the faculty to the wonderful experiences afforded me because of the respected OSU accounting degree I received, I feel that I was well-positioned to thrive and achieve success from the very start of my career,” says Bradshaw. During her collegiate years, Bradshaw was a member of Beta Alpha Psi and served as president of the Chi Omega sorority, earning Outstanding Greek Woman honors, among many other awards.

After graduating with a bachelor’s degree in accounting in 1983, Bradshaw received her master’s in accounting in 1984. She has been employed with Ernst & Young for 30 years. Bradshaw, who lives in Houston, earned her CPA in Texas and is a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants as well as the Texas Society of CPAs. She is a former chair of the Ernst & Young state and local tax technical review committee. Bradshaw was also inducted into the OSU School of Accounting Hall of Fame and named a Distinguished Alumnus for the OSU School of Accounting. Bradshaw gives back by serving on the OSU School of Accounting advisory board. She also serves on the Strategic Advisory Board for Houston Area Baptist Student Ministries and is a member of the Tallowood Baptist Church board of directors. As if one successful Bradshaw isn’t enough, her brother, David Bradshaw, is also being honored as one of the Spears School Tributes: 100 For 100. Ann Bradshaw says she is deeply honored by this recognition.

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TRIBUTES: 100 FOR 100

David Bradshaw Finance (1980)

avid Bradshaw moved in July 2013 from New York City to Houston, where he is a managing director in the investment banking division of Houston-based Tudor Pickering Holt & Co. David spent nearly 25 years in New York before moving to Houston. He earned a bachelor’s degree in finance from OSU’s business school in 1980, then went on to get a master’s degree from Texas Tech. He began his Wall Street career in Dallas, covering the energy sector for Rauscher Pierce Refsnes before moving to New York in 1988. Bradshaw was a managing director and senior energy analyst at PaineWebber from 1988 to 1996 before moving to Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette, where he was a vice president and the exploration and production analyst from April 1996 to October 2000. From 2000 to 2002, he was a managing director and senior equity analyst at Deutsche Bank in New York, covering the oil exploration and production sector. Bradshaw has been a partner of the Cherokee Group Inc., an energy industry consulting group, since the firm was founded in 2003. From 2005 to 2013, he was an advisory director to the investment banking division of UBS Investment Bank, following a similar assignment from 2003 to 2005 with Deutsche Bank.

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From 1989 to 2002, Bradshaw was ranked among the top analysts on the All-America Research team by Institutional Investor magazine. He is a member of the New York Society of Security Analysts, the National Association of Petroleum Investment Analysts, Petroleum Exploration Society of New York, the International Association of Energy Economists, Oil Analysts Group of New York and the Association for Investment Management and Research. The 55-year-old Bradshaw believes his OSU education was a strategic contributor to his success in the business world. “I think the No. 1 thing I got from my OSU business school education was just the exposure to the real world,” Bradshaw says. “Going in, you have this curiosity about the realities of the business environment, and the college experience further opened the door.” Bradshaw is pleased to be recognized during the business school’s centennial celebration, and is thrilled to be honored alongside his sister. “I’m respectful of the history of the school, and stand in awe of the graduates it has produced. So it’s humbling to me to be included in that impressive group,” he says. “Of course, it goes without saying that I’m a great admirer of my sister, along with her great and varied accomplishments.”

Don Brattain Management (1962)

s an underclassman, Don Brattain sat in the office of the dean at Oklahoma State University’s College of Business contemplating his options. This one decision — from one discussion with Dean Eugene Swearingen — would change the trajectory of his entire career and possibly his family’s future. The Ponca City, Okla., native says OSU’s location made it his natural college of choice. He had married right out of high school; the couple lived in Ponca City while he commuted to Stillwater. He drove 80 miles round-trip every day to take classes from the College of Business while working at the local paint store.

In 1975, he became the vice president of human resources at Toro Co. and was later promoted to senior vice president of all administration. He and his team increased the company’s value from $3 million to $60 million when it was sold in 2000. In 1981, he launched Brattain & Associates, a private investment company in Minneapolis, where he is president. Brattain serves on several private company boards in the medical and software industries. He is the chairman of Geissler Technologies, a livestock imaging and identification products company. He also serves as director and audit committee chair on the board of Tyler Technologies.

When the couple’s first son, Kurt, was born with a cleft palate, the young father felt he needed to leave school to help take care of his child. He met with Swearingen to tell him what he was contemplating. The dean, whose nephew was born with a cleft palate, persuaded Brattain to stay at OSU.

Over the course of his career, Brattain has taken five companies public, enjoying his career as an entrepreneur but keeping a balanced lifestyle.

“He said, ‘It will be tough but getting an education is the best thing you can do for your family in the long run.’ That discussion with Dean Swearingen had a profound impact on me,” says Brattain.

Today, he keeps close ties with OSU, making a few trips every year to campus as a season-ticket holder to the Cowboys football games. In 2001, he endowed a professorship in the OSU School of Entrepreneurship. “I’ve always felt indebted to OSU,” Brattain says.

Brattain chose to stay in school. The couple’s son did well, growing up to be a medical doctor. “When I think back on the influence of my upbringing and the guidance I received from OSU, a voice telling me to always stay the course and have a good work ethic and good things will happen — it’s something that has stayed with me my entire career,” says Brattain. After OSU, Brattain worked as an administrator in the research center of Marathon Oil Co. in Littleton, Colo. He also completed the Stanford University Executive Program, in Palo Alto, Calif. By 28, he was working as a vice president of store operations for Target, based in Minneapolis.

In 1994, he founded the Jane Brattain Breast Cancer Center, in honor of his wife who is a breast cancer survivor.

He was inducted in 2004 into the Spears School of Business Hall of Fame. He and Jane live in Minnesota. He is proud of his five adult children, who all have careers in the education and medical industries. One granddaughter will start OSU’s graduate speech-pathology program the fall of 2014. “I feel fortunate, honored and humbled to be a part of the 100 For 100,” he says. “What can I say? This is a very significant honor, which I never expected.” 2014 engage@spears

TRIBUTES: 100 FOR 100

Garth Brooks MBA (2011)

here was the usual commencement excitement in the air on May 6, 2011, as hundreds of Oklahoma State University graduate students prepared to walk across the stage inside Gallagher-Iba Arena to receive their diplomas. But the crowd was surprised to see one famous Oklahoma native in attendance: Garth Brooks. The country music icon, in a cap and gown, was receiving his MBA from the Spears School of Business. News of his presence spread quickly, and Brooks was accommodating, posing for photos with his fellow graduates. Brooks received a bachelor’s degree in advertising from OSU in 1984, and chose the Spears School’s distance learning program for his MBA. Brooks got his start in music by singing in bars and clubs while attending OSU. The Yukon, Okla., native received a track scholarship to OSU, where he competed in the javelin. In 1987, he moved to Nashville, Tenn., to try to make it in country music. “When we first started, I had one thing in mind, and that was to make folks back home proud,” Brooks says. “I really felt like I was representing Yukon, Okla., and more than anything, I wanted them to like what I did.” Those folks — and many others — did. Brooks is the highest-selling country artist ever, and trails only the Beatles and Elvis Presley in all categories, according to the Recording Industry Association of America. To date, Brooks has sold more than 125 million albums in his career. Brooks officially announced his retirement from recording and performing in 2000, but he is planning a world tour for 2014.

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Brooks also has a passion for charity. He began the Teammates for Kids Foundation, which provides financial aid to charities for children. The organization breaks down into three categories spanning three sports: Touch ’Em All Foundation (baseball), Top Shelf (hockey) and Touchdown (football). He is also a fundraiser for various other charities, including children’s charities and famine relief. He performed at several benefit concerts for the victims of natural disasters, including the California wildfires, Hurricane Katrina and Oklahoma tornadoes. Brooks was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2011. The following year, Brooks became a member of the Country Music Hall of Fame. George Strait and James Taylor were among the artists that honored Brooks at his induction ceremony. He married fellow country singer Trisha Yearwood in 2005. He has three daughters from a previous marriage, Taylor Mayne Pearl, August Anna and Allie Colleen. They have been living on their ranch in Owasso, Okla., but have said they are planning to move to Nashville. “I think my gift truly is I’m an average guy,” Brooks says. “What I like, an average guy likes. It’s that simple. The music that I love, I find that most guys around me love, too.” Brooks is truly an Oklahoma treasure. His extraordinary accomplishments, humility and generous spirit make him worthy to be recognized in the Spears School Tributes: 100 For 100.

Larry J. Bump Accounting (1964)

arry J. Bump has had great success in the pipeline industry since his days at Oklahoma State University. The Fairfax, Okla., native earned his bachelor’s degree in accounting from OSU’s business school in 1964. He was also a member of Kappa Sigma fraternity. In many ways, he was a nontraditional student because his eight semesters of college spanned seven years. Although he did work some during the school year, he began working in pipeline construction when he was 18 and discovered that he enjoyed both the work and the pay. He often stayed out of school for a year or more to save enough money to pay for a year’s tuition. Bump credits one professor in particular for his success. Burl Austin, an accounting professor, was a pioneer in construction cost accounting. Bump told Austin of his interest in the field and that he had a few years of experience. Austin coached him and provided research material and cost theory. Austin even invited Bump to teach his advanced cost accounting class for a week or two, focusing on construction planning. After graduation, Bump took a job in the project management group building pipelines with his previous employer, using much of what he learned from Austin. “I’m convinced that the success I enjoyed in the industry, managing large projects, was due in part to what I learned directly from professor Austin at OSU,” Bump says. “I can think of no better example of how my experience at OSU greatly enhanced my career in the pipeline industry, and I owe much to Burl Austin. I was fortunate to have had many impactful instructors while at the business school, but none was more influential on me than professor Austin.”

Bump has spent his career in the energy engineering and construction industry. After managing several large pipeline construction projects in the Middle East, he became president of Willbros Group in Tulsa. In 1980, he became chairman and CEO of Willbros. Retired since 2002, he currently serves on the boards of two companies. Bump has also been the owner of a small boutique winery, Darms Lane LLC in Napa, Calif., since 1991. His youngest daughter, Tricia Bump Davis, who is a 1994 OSU Spears School graduate, manages the family’s wine operation. Bump has been a member of the OSU College of Business Associates since 1980 and served as chair in 1994. He was presented with the OSU Alumni Association’s Distinguished Alumni award in 1989, inducted into the College of Business Hall of Fame in 1992 and the OSU Alumni Association Hall of Fame in 2004. He served on the OSU/A&M Board of Regents from 1998 to 2002 and as a governor of the OSU Foundation from 1980 to 1998. In 1996, he established the Larry J. and Linda L. Bump Scholar Leader Scholarship Fund and the Endowment for Excellence Fund. He and his wife, Carol, both previously widowed, have been married for five years and have five children and 11 grandchildren. Their principal residence is in Tulsa, but they spend time in Scottsdale, Ariz., and Napa Valley, Calif. “There have been so many worthy and deserving OSU graduates over the past 100 years, people that have had such great careers and were so very successful, that I am not only greatly honored but also humbled by it,” Bump says. “This is undoubtedly the finest honor of my career, and I thank the Spears School and the selection committee. I am so very proud to be an OSU alumnus and a graduate of the Spears School of Business.” 2014 engage@spears

TRIBUTES: 100 FOR 100

Connie Tatum Burnett Finance (1984)

onnie Tatum Burnett has spent the past 27 years practicing law in Oklahoma, Kansas and Texas while raising a son and daughter, both of whom followed her path to Oklahoma State University. Burnett, an Oklahoma City native, graduated in 1984 from Oklahoma State University’s business college with a bachelor’s degree in finance. She went on to earn a juris doctorate in 1987 as a top 10 graduate of the University of Oklahoma College of Law. As an OSU student, Burnett excelled academically, made lifelong friends, was a member of the President’s Leadership Council, president of Pi Beta Phi sorority and named a Top 10 Business Graduate, Outstanding Greek Woman and an intramural champion. “I truly enjoyed my experience at OSU,” says Burnett. “The business school provided me with a great foundation of business knowledge. I am proud to be a Cowboy.” She initially practiced law in Oklahoma City before joining the Hinkle Elkouri Law Firm LLC

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in Wichita, Kan., in 1991. She became the firm’s first female partner in 1994 and left in 2008. She served as deputy general counsel at Petrohawk Energy Corp. in Houston from 2009 to 2011. Since 2012, she has been associate general counsel for corporate affairs at Devon Energy Corp. in Oklahoma City. Burnett enjoys a high professional ranking among her peers as a member of the American, Kansas, Texas and Oklahoma bar associations. Burnett served on the OSU Spears School of Business Alumni Board from 2005 to 2011. She is a past board member for Catholic Charities of Wichita, WINS, St. Thomas Aquinas and Kapaun Mount Carmel High School, both in Kansas, and she and her husband maintain a self-funded foundation. Besides her OSU children, Connie has two stepsons at the University of Arkansas. She and her husband, Chris Burnett, reside in Oklahoma City, where she says, “It’s so rewarding to be near family, friends and Oklahoma State University.”

Roger Cagle General Business (1973) MBA, Finance (1975)

oger Cagle has accomplished much since graduating from Oklahoma State University’s business school with his bachelor’s degree in general business in 1973 and his MBA in finance in 1975. The native of Heavener, Okla., began college after he graduated from high school in 1965. In 1967, he dropped out and joined the Marines. His second stint in Stillwater — a very different experience — began in 1970. He was a full-time student, worked part-time and had a family to support. He went to class year-round and got involved with many faculty members. Cagle appreciates his time at OSU and believes the business school influenced his career.

Cagle then moved into consulting work. In 1997, he co-founded SOCO International, an independent exploration and production company listed on the London Stock Exchange and a constituent of the FTSE 250 index of companies. He has been instrumental in driving the company to its current position in the independent oil and gas exploration and production industry. With more than 35 years of experience in the oil and gas industry, he is the deputy chief executive officer of London-based SOCO. Cagle has been honored on multiple occasions by the Spears School of Business and enjoys the continued interaction with students and faculty primarily through the study-abroad program.

“The Spears School of Business continues to have an influence on me,” Cagle says. “I earned valuable academic credentials, but more importantly I learned how to successfully apply these in a very competitive market.”

He lives in London with his wife, Cynthia. He has an adult son from a previous marriage and two granddaughters, who all live in Houston.

Cagle went on to hold various managerial positions in the oil and gas industry. He joined Exxon and quickly advanced before departing for Superior Oil Co. in 1979. He co-founded Conquest Exploration in 1981 and was chief financial officer and vice president of finance before the company was acquired in 1991.

“It is a great honor,” Cagle says. “There are a lot of bright, really successful people who have graduated from the Spears School of Business, and I feel very privileged to be recognized in this group.”

Cagle is thrilled to be a member of the Spears School Tributes: 100 For 100 honorees.

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Vickie Carr Accounting (1985)

ickie and Jeff Carr are glad to put miles on their vehicles. They have made a number of trips from their home in Dallas to Stillwater over the years to visit their daughter, Jenna, who graduated in May from Oklahoma State University with bachelor’s degrees in hotel and restaurant administration and business (marketing major). Even so, the Carrs will be traveling north again on Interstate 35 in the coming months. They’ll be heading to Stillwater when Vickie is inducted into the OSU School of Accounting Wilton T. Anderson Hall of Fame. The Carrs will head back to Stillwater in August when son Mitchell enrolls for his freshman year at OSU. They’ll return in the fall to participate in the OSU business school’s 100th anniversary, including Vickie’s recognition as one of the honorees in the Spears School Tributes: 100 For 100. “My four years at OSU were terrific: great friends, terrific environment for learning, opportunities for involvement in sports (Cowboys basketball and football, as well as intramural sports), and so many activities for students to connect based on personal interests,” says Carr, a tax partner with Deloitte in Dallas, serving public and private companies including multinational corporations in the consumer product industry. “I knew from the beginning that accounting was for me,” Carr says. “The business school made sure we stayed informed about decisions that were important in preparing us for our future career.”

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Carr began her career as an intern at Deloitte in the Tulsa office before moving to Memphis, Tenn. There, she served clients, primarily multinational public companies, there for 12 years until she accepted a role in the firm’s competency group for financial accounting and reporting — income taxes. She relocated to Dallas in 2010 to return to client service.

She has held leadership positions or participated in various firm activities: dean of Deloitte Tax’s Tax Consultant II (2008), member of the firm’s nominating committee (2007), Southeast Regional FAS 109 Competency group leader (2006-2008), member of the Tax Peering Group Committee (2005-2007), member of Deloitte Tax CEO’s Tax Advisory Group (2003-2005 and 2012-present), office tax managing partner, Memphis practice (2001-2004), national tax recruiting (1999-2001) and co-dean of Deloitte’s Mid-America Region Intern Conference (2012). In August 2013, she assumed the role of national competency leader of the financial reporting of taxes, in addition to her client service roles. Carr is a frequent speaker on tax topics at internal and external conferences. She has been a speaker in the OSU School of Accounting’s Practicum course several times and has arranged visits to Deloitte University on behalf of the Spears School. She is also an active donor to the OSU School of Accounting, including the Jeff and Vickie Carr Endowed Scholarship in Accounting. “Being part of the OSU family has absolutely contributed to who I am today, both personally and professionally,” Carr says. “Oklahoma State University traditions were an important part of my life. Over the years, my husband and I shared those OSU traditions with our children even after moving to Memphis. “Being part of the Spears School of Business 100th anniversary, celebrating the past and the future, is an amazing honor. I feel blessed to be a part of it and to be able to share it with my own OSU family, and with our children who both have (or soon will) live their own OSU days and have their own wonderful OSU memories.”

Karen Walters Chapel Accounting (1977)

aren Walters Chapel is the senior director over global finance at commercial real estate firm CBRE. She has spent her entire career in accounting/financial management and commercial real estate. In fact, when she was just a freshman in the College of Business at Oklahoma State University, she knew exactly what her future career would be. “After my very first entry-level accounting class, my instructor [Wilton T. Anderson] pulled me aside and said, ‘You need to be an accounting major.’ Right then, I knew it was meant to be,” says Chapel. Chapel was born and raised in Miami, Okla., where her parents still reside. Both her parents graduated from the University of Kansas. Her mother, Marie, was a music major, and her father, Gordon, an accounting major. “I think I got the accounting gene from my dad. Since high school, math and accounting always seemed to come easy to me,” says Chapel. A science award Chapel won in high school first brought her to OSU’s campus to do a presentation. She and her family often attended athletic events with her older brother, Ron Walters, who earned a bachelor’s degree in math in 1974 and a master’s in 1976 in computer science from OSU. At Oklahoma State, Chapel devoted much of her free time to clubs, organizations and activities around campus. She won the Raymond D. Thomas Award for Outstanding Senior in the College of Business in 1977, was a Top 20 Senior at OSU, a Top 10 Greek Woman, president of Business Student Council and a member of Mortar Board, Beta Alpha Psi and OSU Ambassadors. She was honored by the Beta Gamma Sigma international honor society, Omicron Delta Kappa national leadership honor society, Phi Kappa Phi honor society and Redskin

Congratulates. She also served on the OSU Homecoming Steering Committee. Chapel was a member of Pi Beta Phi sorority and received its Amy Burnham Onken Award for academic achievement and service. During her senior year, Chapel worked in the Internal Audit Department on campus, which she says helped prepare her for her position at KPMG in Tulsa where she began after graduating in 1977. After obtaining her CPA certificate and a promotion, she transferred to KPMG’s Dallas office and has spent most of her career in the accounting and financial management of commercial real estate with companies including CBRE, Trammell Crow Co. and SCI Realty Group. Today, Chapel is a member of the Spears School Associates, OSU School of Accounting Advisory Board, the OSU Alumni Association, the steering committee for the OSU Dallas Brighter Orange event (which recently raised a record $135,000 in scholarships for OSU students from North Texas), and the OSU Dallas Women’s Council. Chapel also volunteers for several charitable organizations, including the American Red Cross, Family Outreach Center, and the Austin Street shelter in downtown Dallas. She is an avid boater and kayaker in her spare time. Her sons, Bret, an OSU finance graduate, and Andy, who earned an economics degree from the University of Texas and a master’s degree in accounting from Notre Dame, both live in Dallas. “This is the greatest honor I’ve received. To be recognized for something from OSU this late in my career, after being gone for so long, just brought back all the wonderful memories of my time at the College of Business. So this is probably the proudest moment of my life,” says Chapel.

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TRIBUTES: 100 FOR 100

Stan Clark Business Administration (1975)

ulsa native Stan Clark graduated from Oklahoma State University in 1975 with a bachelor’s degree in business administration. His parents, Emerson and Marvene Clark, encouraged him to think entrepreneurially, so the College of Business was his natural choice for his major. Clark, who wanted to support himself through college, had little time for activities outside the classroom. “I knew showing up for every class, taking notes and staying focused would mean I would spend less time studying outside the classroom,” says Clark. The summer before his senior year, Clark was in Tulsa when a family friend from Minnesota told him about a technology that printed logos and school names on scarves and hats. Eventually, Clark borrowed $6,700 to purchase 2,400 hats that had the words Cowboys and Go Big Red. That fall, he sold every hat at Oklahoma State and the University of Oklahoma football games, making enough to pay off his loan and live off the profits his entire senior year. After he graduated, the 22-year-old had $1,200 to his name when childhood friend Steve File suggested opening a bar. Clark agreed, and the two opened Eskimo Joe’s on July 21, 1975. After 2½ years as partners, Clark bought File’s interest to become the sole proprietor of Eskimo Joe’s. The bar business was good, and from day one, Eskimo Joe’s sold a lot of t-shirts that put smiles on the chests of patrons and generated lots of word-of-mouth advertising. “One of the key lessons I remember from the College of Business was learning from adversity. You had to really be able to react in a strong way. Probably the watershed, most difficult period in my career was in 1983 when the state legislature 38

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changed the legal drinking age from 18 to 21 years old,” Clark says. “That’s when we put food service into the mix, but what looked as if it might kill us was truly the best thing that ever happened to us. We expanded our target market and right behind that there was growth and an overall reach into a broader base of clientele. That’s when Eskimo Joe’s just took off like a rocket.” Today, the Stan Clark Cos. employ more than 500 people. One of the company’s legacies is its support of the Stillwater community, particularly the Stillwater Area United Way. Eskimo Joe’s has sponsored and hosted the Juke Joint Jog for more than 20 years and has been the title sponsor of the Three Amigos’ United Way Golf Classic for 16 years. Joe’s has sponsored or given to the Special Olympics of Oklahoma, the Stillwater Public Education Foundation, the Coaches vs. Cancer program, the OSU College of Education, and more. An Eskimo Joe’s scholarship for teachers was established with the OSU College of Education. Additionally, more than $13,000 in product is donated annually to schools, social organizations and events within Oklahoma. The associates at Stan Clark Cos. have contributed countless hours and talent to these and other worthy causes. Clark is proud of his philanthropy and feels that it’s just getting started when it comes to creating a better city and state in which to raise his family. “Nothing feels better than sharing the big grin for the greater good,” Clark says. He and his wife, Shannon, reside in Stillwater with their three children, Maguire, Gabi and Hudson. “I’m delighted to be recognized as a Spears School Tributes: 100 For 100, particularly in light of doing business just a block away from our campus and the Spears School,” Clark says.

John Clerico Finance (1964)

ohn Clerico followed a family path to his education and his career. While weighing his options as a high school senior in Bartlesville, Okla., he realized that following his sister Janet to OSU was in his best interest. After four years at OSU — although his arrival was delayed by a six-month stint in the Army — he then followed in the footsteps of his father, Ralph Clerico, who spent nearly 40 years as the head of the payroll department at Phillips Petroleum in Bartlesville. John Clerico joined Phillips after graduating from OSU’s College of Business with a bachelor’s degree in finance. John Clerico spent 2½ years with Phillips before joining Conoco. During his 16 years with Conoco, he made several moves. In London, Clerico was promoted to European finance director for Conoco. He kept that title when DuPont acquired Conoco. He left to become treasurer and chief financial officer at Union Carbide from 1983 to 1991. When Union Carbide split into several companies, Clerico joined industrial gas business Praxair, serving as an executive vice president, chief financial officer and a director from 1992 to 2000. In 2000, Clerico co-founded ChartMark Investments with his nephew, Mark Smith, in Tulsa. He has served as the chairman of the investment advisory firm since. He serves on the board for Community Health Systems, a hospital management company, and Educational Development Co., a publisher and distributor of children’s books. He also serves on the national board for Sigma Chi fraternity. Retirement is not an option for the 72-year-old OSU alumnus. He gave $1 million in the largest gift ever to the OSU Edmon Low Library to create an endowed library dean’s chair and has served

his alma mater in a variety of volunteer roles over the years, including on the board of trustees of the OSU Foundation, Board of Governors for the OSU Foundation, and the OSU Athletic Foundation. “Most people want to continue to utilize their backgrounds and keep their skills as sharp and as relevant as they can while gaining some new experiences. The hospital business was something I knew nothing about, but I’ve been on the board of the company for 10 years now and have learned a lot about it. It’s been a good experience. No, I don’t want to get married to work again. I really don’t have any desire to do that again, but I do want to stay busy and involved,” he says. Clerico says his OSU education prepared him for the business world. “I was inducted into the [Spears School] Hall of Fame a few years ago [2006], and I had a chance to think about that issue. What I’ve always said about it is, over the years as I’ve handled various jobs of increasing importance, I never really encountered a project or a topic or a task that I felt unprepared to deal with, largely because of my education at OSU,” he says. “I’ve been involved in a lot of pretty sophisticated financial transactions and acquisitions. ... I’ve never felt out of my element. I have never found myself saying, ‘How do I do this? What do I do now? How do I evaluate that?’ I always knew.” He is honored to be recognized as one of the Spears School Tributes: 100 For 100. “Obviously, it means a lot to me. ... I think of all the people who have gone to Oklahoma State and not only were successful but created and built businesses on their own; it’s pretty amazing to me. ... Quite frankly, to be considered to be among the top tier of that group is pretty amazing and quite an honor.” 2014 engage@spears

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Dr. Tom A. Coburn Accounting (1970)

om A. Coburn was one of the top students in the College of Business Administration during his four years at Oklahoma State University. Raised in Muskogee, Okla., he graduated from Central High School there. In 1970, he graduated from Oklahoma State University with a bachelor’s degree in accounting after succeeding in the classroom while also showing his leadership abilities. He served as president of the Business Student Council and was one of the Top 10 seniors in the College of Business Administration. From 1970 to 1978, he was the manufacturing manager at the Ophthalmic Division of Coburn Optical Industries in Colonial Heights, Va. Under his leadership, the Virginia division of Coburn Optical grew from 13 employees to more than 350 and captured 35 percent of the U.S. market. After the family business was sold, Coburn returned to school to become a physician. He graduated from the University of Oklahoma Medical School in 1983, and eventually opened his practice in Muskogee, specializing in family medicine, obstetrics and allergy. Coburn has delivered more than 4,000 babies. Coburn entered politics in the late 1990s. He represented Oklahoma’s 2nd Congressional District in the U.S. House from 1995 to 2001. Near the end of 2001, after completing his third

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congressional term, Coburn was chosen to be cochair of the President’s Advisory Council on HIV/ AIDs. Coburn kept his word to serve no more than six years in the House and returned to his medical practice in Muskogee. But he returned to politics in 2004 when one of Oklahoma’s Senate seats opened up. He served his first six-year term and was easily re-elected in 2010. Coburn, a three-time cancer survivor, announced in January 2014 that he would not serve out his full Senate term, intending to step down because of health issues. He and his wife, Carolyn, a graduate of OSU and former Miss Oklahoma, were married in 1968. They have three children and seven grandchildren. Coburn is honored to be recognized in the Spears School Tributes: 100 For 100. “As my time in public life winds down, I’m more convinced than ever that our nation needs people with real-life experience and a frame of reference outside of politics to serve in elected office. The Spears School played a critical role in providing me with a frame of reference and perspective that has been invaluable for me in business, medicine and politics. I’m so grateful for OSU’s commitment to students, our state and our nation and am humbled to be one of the 100 For 100,” he says.

Justin L. Courtney Finance (1997)

ustin L. Courtney’s successful career has stemmed from Oklahoma State University’s Spears School of Business. He graduated in 1997 with a bachelor’s degree in finance and a minor in accounting. He also earned various awards, including Top 10 Freshman and OSU Top 10 Senior as well as a Top 10 Senior for the College of Business. The Blackwell, Okla., native was a member of Farmhouse Fraternity, the Financial Management Association and the Business Student Council as well as a College of Business Ambassador. Courtney appreciates his days at OSU’s business school and feels that it helped jump-start his career. “It was a great, familial experience,” Courtney says. “Very much a small-town feel. I was fortunate enough to be recognized for a number of awards that in each case led to new relationships and career opportunities. In my profession, many of my peers came from liberal arts schools, so I had a huge head start with a business background and was well prepared for a career in finance.” Courtney started with NationsBank in 1997 when it was building an investment bank. Over the next few years, he had more new business cards and bosses than years of experience as the bank expanded to become what is now Bank of America Corp. He spent time in Dallas, Charlotte, N.C.,

and New York before joining financial services firm Stephens Inc. in Dallas in 2005. He’s currently a managing director in corporate finance, leading coverage of the retail energy and 3D printing sectors. Neither existed in any material form when he joined the firm. Since then, it has completed more M&A, IPO and capitalraising transactions than any other investment bank in those sectors. Courtney was recently recognized as an Outstanding Young Alumni for the Spears School. He is active in his church as well as the local lacrosse, baseball and soccer organizations, where his three sons keep him busy. His wife, Kelli, is also an OSU graduate. She was a nurse and is now caring for her three children and husband. The family enjoys outdoor activities such as hunting, fishing, boating, bike riding and skiing. They reside in Dallas. Courtney is honored to be recognized in the Spears School Tributes: 100 For 100. “It is a tremendous honor, particularly given the group of honorees that are included,” Courtney says. “I’ve had the privilege of getting to know Dr. [Bill] Spears on a personal and professional level, as well as Chuck Watson and Griff Jones, to name a few. I can only hope to achieve a small portion of the success that they have had.”

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G. Michael Crooch Accounting (1966)

. Michael Crooch’s experience at Oklahoma State University extends beyond his days as a student. The Okmulgee, Okla., native earned his bachelor’s degree in accounting from OSU’s business school in 1966. He also earned a master’s degree from OSU in 1967 and a doctorate from Michigan State University in 1969. Crooch was a member of Acacia fraternity and graduated with honors equivalent to Phi Beta Kappa. Crooch knew when he first came to OSU that he wanted to spend his career in business. The business school gave him the tools to prove himself in the business world and achieve his goals. After getting his doctorate, Crooch was a professor of accounting at OSU from 1970 to 1979. He left academia for Arthur Andersen in 1979, becoming a partner and serving as the director of international accounting principles in the professional standards group. Crooch was a board member of the Financial Accounting Standards Board from 2000 to 2008 and served on the board’s task force on interest methods. Before that, he served as the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants’ delegate

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to the International Accounting Standards Committee and served on the IASC’s executive committee. He has served as chairman for various committees of the AICPA. He was awarded the College of Business Administration Outstanding Teacher of the Year in 1977, honored as an Outstanding Alumnus Beta Alpha Psi in 1988, and inducted into the Spears School of Business Hall of Fame in 2000. Crooch is retired and lives with his wife of 46 years, Janet, in Geneva, Ill. They have two children: Joshua and Benjamin, who owns Scissortail Skydiving in Shawnee, Okla. They have one grandson, John Henry Crooch, the son of Joshua and his wife, Emily. Crooch appreciates his time at OSU and being honored as one of the Spears School Tributes: 100 For 100. “It is such a great honor,” he says. “I learned so much from my years as a student and my years teaching at OSU that has stood with me over my entire career for which I will be forever grateful. My father, John Henry Crooch, who graduated from OSU and was always a huge fan, would be so proud to have his son honored in this manner.”

Eddy R. Ditzler Accounting (bachelor’s, 1978; master’s, 1981)

ddy R. Ditzler treasures the impact Oklahoma State University has made on his life. The Henryetta, Okla., native earned a bachelor’s degree in accounting in 1978 and a master’s in 1981 from OSU’s business school. “My time at OSU was a wonderful and memorable experience that impacted my life,” he says. He remembers challenging professors and courses, especially in the School of Accounting, which helped prepare him for the CPA exam and his career in public accounting. Being from a blue-collar family in a small town, Ditzler says the business school gave him his first glimpse into the business world. He remembers plaques in the classrooms that recognized national public accounting firms for their involvement with OSU. “The business school, Beta Alpha Psi, my professors and the direct involvement in the business school by the national public accounting firms gave me great insight into the world of public accounting,” Ditzler says. “These factors drove my desire to be a partner in a national public accounting firm.” Ditzler joined Grant Thornton LLP (then Alexander Grant & Co.) in Oklahoma City in 1978 and became a CPA in 1979. He rejoined Grant Thornton in 1981 after earning his master’s degree. He spent most of his career in the Oklahoma City office of Grant Thornton except for three years (1987 to 1990) in the Dallas office. In the early 2000s, he joined the Grant Thornton Professional Standards Group while also maintaining his directed client service responsibilities. In 2011, he became Grant Thornton’s national professional practice director for the central region, the position he holds today.

As the director for the Central Region, he supports audit teams by providing technical support on accounting, auditing and regulatory matters. He consults with audit teams and client management to resolve technical accounting and auditing issues. Offices within his region include Dallas, Denver, Houston, Kansas City, Oklahoma City, St. Louis, Tulsa and Wichita, Kan. Ditzler is also a member of the audit committee for the Oklahoma City Community Foundation, the Spears School of Business United Advisory Board and the School of Accounting advisory board. He was honored as a School of Accounting Distinguished Alumnus in 2004. He and his wife of 29 years, Deniece, live in Edmond, Okla. The couple both love OSU. “Deniece has been a wonderful supporter of my career over these 29 years while at the same time actively pursuing her career as a paralegal,” he says. “She bleeds orange and is an avid supporter of OSU athletics and OSU in general.” Ditzler appreciates his inclusion in the Spears School Tributes: 100 For 100 as well as the other opportunities OSU has offered him. “The business school, OSU and OSU athletics have been a very important part of my life, while at OSU in the late 1970s and through today,” Ditzler says. “I am certain I would not be where I am today without the great education, work ethic and overall experience I received while at OSU. Through OSU and related activities, I have met many great friends and great people. Because of these factors, I have always believed it is important to give back to OSU. My blood is orange and I love OSU, so to have this honor bestowed upon me is humbling. I am extremely proud of OSU and I am honored to be recognized in this manner. I will remain forever ‘Loyal and True.’”

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Tim DuBois Accounting (bachelor’s, 1971; master’s, 1972)

ith two degrees in accounting, Tim DuBois’ successful career in the recording industry might surprise some. His career has included recognition as a songwriter, manager, record executive and producer. Today, he is the president of Artist Management Partners, an artist management and publishing firm with offices in Nashville, Tenn., and Dallas. At Oklahoma State University, DuBois was awarded the Oklahoma State Regents Scholarship, Arthur Andersen Scholarship and the Atlantic Richfield Scholarship. He was a member of Beta Alpha Psi, Beta Gamma Sigma and Phi Kappa Phi.

DuBois sits on the boards of the Country Music Association and the Academy of Country Music, and has served on the boards of the Country Music Foundation, Nashville Songwriters Association International, Leadership Music and the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences.

As an undergraduate, DuBois worked as an internal auditor at Oklahoma State. He earned a bachelor’s in accounting in 1971 and a master’s in accounting in 1972 from the College of Business. Following graduation, he also earned his certified public accountant certificate.

He was named the most powerful person in the music industry by Business Nashville in 1996, Record Executive of the Year in 1992 by Pollstar, and made Entertainment Weekly’s 101 Most Powerful People in Entertainment in 1994 and 1995.

DuBois worked as a public accountant until 1974 when he became an instructor of accounting at the University of Tulsa. He taught accounting at OSU, the University of Tennessee and Vanderbilt University, while also working as a staff songwriter. The first three of his five No. 1 records were written while he was still teaching. In 1986, he entered the music industry full time, becoming a partner at Fitzgerald/Harley Co. in Nashville.

DuBois was inducted into OSU’s Alumni Hall of Fame in 1996 and named Accounting Alumnus of the Year in 1992.

DuBois has led both Arista Records and Universal South Records. His songs have received numerous awards, including two Grammy Award nominations. As a producer, his accolades have included more than 20 No. 1 and top-five singles and more than a dozen gold, platinum and double platinum albums. Tapped to open a Nashville division of Arista Records in 1989, DuBois discovered and signed Alan Jackson, Brooks & Dunn, Brad Paisley, BlackHawk, Pam Tillis and Diamond Rio. 44

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DuBois quickly turned the new label into one of the most successful in country music history, selling more than 100 million records worldwide in just 11 years. After serving as president of Gaylord Entertainment’s Creative Content Group in 2001, he went on to head Universal South Records with Tony Brown from 2002-06.

He is an adjunct professor of management at Vanderbilt’s Owen School of Management and longtime ASCAP member. He is also a co-founder and board member of MyWerx LLC, former chairman of the Nashville Convention and Visitors Bureau, and a board member of Sun Trust Bank in Nashville. He and his wife, Pam, reside in Nashville. They have three children, Michelle, Chris and Jamie. DuBois is honored to be recognized. “I am very thankful for this recognition,” says DuBois. “Although the majority of my career has been outside the world of accounting, my business training has been a huge part of my success. I am proud to be a Spears School graduate.”

Joseph Eastin Marketing/Business Administration (1992)

oseph Eastin was a small-town boy with big dreams. He learned the value of hard work on his family’s farm outside Adair, Okla., and he carried it with him when he ventured off to Oklahoma State University. Eastin applied that work ethic at OSU, dedicating himself both to his studies and his extracurriculars. He served on the Business Student Council and as a business senator. After earning a bachelor’s degree in business administration in 1992, Eastin’s path took him into business development for the software and energy sectors. There, he learned skills and formed relationships that established the foundation of his career today. Eastin is president and a principal of ISN, a global software and service company that manages and amalgamates performance, safety and compliance data for capital-intensive industries. The company is headquartered in Dallas with offices around the world that support more than 50,000 subscribing companies. He has overseen ISN’s growth from three employees in 2001 to more than 450 today and many of those are Spears School graduates. “We’re very fortunate to be able to hire a lot of OSU graduates,” says Eastin. “I think two things stand out to me. One is the [Spears School] does an amazing job at preparing students when it comes to foundation and technical abilities around the core curriculum. Secondly, I think there is this inherent, natural work ethic that comes with the students from Oklahoma State. Having the good

fortune of hiring a lot of the students, we get to see firsthand at how many of those skills play out after graduation.” ISN has been named one of Inc. magazine’s 500 fastest-growing privately held companies for the past seven years. Eastin sits on the boards of the Dallas Lone Star Chapter of the Young Presidents Organization and the Riata Center for Entrepreneurship. He also serves on the board of governors for the Oklahoma State University Foundation. He and his wife, Monica, helped launch the Eastin Center for Talent Development, which focuses on curriculum and student activities that promote career readiness. The Eastin Center aims to organize and promote existing opportunities and create activities to achieve career readiness. Students will be inspired to participate in activities from the moment they arrive on campus as freshmen and will be recognized when they successfully complete the program. In 2012, Eastin was inducted into Oklahoma State University’s Spears School of Business Hall of Fame. Eastin is pursuing his MBA at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Sloan School of Business. He is married with four children and resides in Dallas. The honor of being a part of Spears School Tributes: 100 For 100 is truly humbling, he says. “I really didn’t believe it,” says Eastin. “I could name dozens of people in my class that should be on this.”

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TRIBUTES: 100 FOR 100

Charles R. Eitel Business Administration (1971)

harles R. Eitel’s time at Oklahoma State University holds some of his most cherished memories. The Tulsa native describes his college days as “the best four years of my life.” While earning his bachelor’s degree from the business school, he was involved in various organizations and held multiple leadership positions. He was a member of the Sigma Nu fraternity, president of Blue Key and Intercollegiate Knights, and a member of UP Business Student Council. He was recognized as a Top 10 Senior and received the Raymond D. Thomas Award as the top business senior in 1971. Dean Richard Poole and professor Bob Hamm were Eitel’s greatest mentors, making a lasting impression on him. Today, Eitel is an accomplished company leader, author and speaker who specializes in corporate financial growth and culture development. In 2009, he co-founded Eitel & Armstrong, a consulting practice for middle-market companies. He was chairman and CEO of Simmons Bedding Co. from January 2000 until October 2008 and vice chairman through December 2009. Before that, he was president and chief operating officer of Interface Inc.; CEO of Collins & Aikman Floor Covering; president and COO of Carriage Industries; and president of Coronet Carpets, which was purchased by RCA. He is on the boards of Mattress Firm Inc., Duke Realty Corp. and American Fidelity Assurance Corp. He is also a former chairman of the International Sleep Products Association and a former board member of Ladd Furniture. Eitel published two books chronicling his management experience in facilitating corporate

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turnarounds and building powerful company cultures: Eitel Time: Turnaround Secrets and Mapping Your Legacy: A Hook It Up Journey. He is active in several organizations, including the World Presidents’ Organization and Points of Life volunteer organization. He’s been recognized by multiple organizations and has been honored with a City of Hope Spirit of Life Award in 2004 and the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award for Alabama, Georgia and Tennessee in the consumer products category in 2008. He also served on the board of the George West Mental Health Center (Skyland Trail). Eitel has been inducted into both the College of Business Hall of Fame (1997) and the OSU Alumni Hall of Fame (2005). He also serves on the OSU Foundation board of trustees. In 2008, he was inducted into the Sigma Nu Hall of Fame, and in 2012, he became the national regent for Sigma Nu until July 2014. Also in 2008, he received the Henry G. Bennett Distinguished Fellow for the International School of Business Award. He is a frequent speaker at OSU and the University of Virginia’s Darden School of Business. He is the subject of a Harvard University School of Business five-part case study used to teach MBA students high-performing management principles. Eitel and his wife of 43 years, Cindy, reside in Naples, Fla. He is honored to be among those recognized in the Spears School Tributes: 100 For 100 and plans to attend most of the centennial celebrations throughout the year.

Kyle Ensley International Business (2009)

yle Ensley’s journey began in the small town of Valliant, Okla., expanded to Oklahoma State University and now encompasses the worlds of diplomacy, music and acting. At OSU, Ensley invested his time in many campus organizations and committees. He served as Speakers Board chair, the Interfraternity Council external vice president and the Business Student Council secretary. He was recognized as Greek Man of the Year, an OSU Top 10 Senior, a Spears School of Business Top 10 Senior, a ConocoPhillips Spirit Scholar and a Thomas R. Pickering Foreign Affairs Fellow. There is still more to Ensley. Googling his name reveals he was one of the 25 finalists on season seven of American Idol. Soon after his American Idol experience (and while still in his junior year at OSU), Ensley appeared on The Ellen DeGeneres Show as a guest interviewer and performer. Ensley says his professors and peers impacted his time at the Spears School. “The business school gave me a better understanding of the global economy and how to work in cross-cultural contexts, which has benefited me greatly as a diplomat in the U.S. Foreign Service,”

says Ensley, who graduated from the Spears School with a bachelor’s degree in international business while earning a second degree in political science from the College of Arts & Sciences. Ensley went on to earn a master’s degree in public policy from the Harvard Kennedy School of Government in 2011 and began working as a U.S. diplomat shortly thereafter. Since then, he has represented the United States in six countries as a cultural ambassador and public diplomacy officer. Currently living in Washington, D.C., Ensley says music and acting have remained a big part of his life. “Fortunately, I have been able to balance both while working as a diplomat,” he says. “I recently released a Christmas song on iTunes, and I have also appeared in House of Cards and Veep, which are both shot in the D.C. area.” After being notified he was one of the Spears School Tributes: 100 For 100, Ensley says he was honored and humbled. “Attending OSU was the best decision I ever made, and it all started when I enrolled as a freshman and decided to major in international business,” says Ensley. “The business school opened my eyes to the world, and I haven’t stopped traveling since.”

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Frank Fairbanks Finance (2005) Accounting (master’s, 2005)

rank Fairbanks enjoys guiding his clients through life’s financial decisions big and small.

The 2005 Oklahoma State University graduate is a financial adviser who provides direction for elite pro football, baseball and basketball players as well as golfers. As a director in the financial planning department at Robertson, Griege & Thoele, a wealth-management firm in Dallas, Fairbanks specializes in the firm’s sports practice. It all started at the Spears School of Business, where Fairbanks earned a bachelor’s degree in finance and a master’s in accounting. The Stillwater native parlayed an internship prior to his senior year at OSU into a full-time job with Ernst & Young. Fellow OSU classmate Joanna Jadlow, the daughter of now-retired Spears School professors Joe and Janice Jadlow, told him Robertson Griege was seeking a leader for its sports practice. “It immediately caught my attention, being a guy who enjoys sports and at a time I was looking for the right opportunity to transition into financial planning,” he says. “It allowed me to combine two things I’m genuinely passionate about, financial education and athletics. Joining RGT was an easy decision, and it’s been confirmed over the years.” Fairbanks has spent seven years working with athletes. He adds structure and stability in their lives, including setting up budgets, analyzing real estate transactions, advising on investments, tax planning, and consulting on big-ticket purchases. “We’re fortunate in that we work with clients that want to be very involved,” he says. “We won’t allow them to just pass the buck and allow us to make the decision for them. We want to coach them up and ultimately have them to make educated decisions between reasonable, vetted alternatives.”

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At 32, Fairbanks isn’t much older than many of the athletes he advises. “I’m in a bit of a unique position being just a few years older than they are. I’m not the old guy that has become out of touch, and I can still relate to what video games they’re talking about — which is usually Call of Duty,” he says. “Fortunately, our longtime managing director, Joe Nolan, entrusted me to work directly with our clients early in my career. That allowed me to gain experience right out of the gate, and now that I’m a little bit older, several clients like to remind me that I’m not so young, and my gray hairs are starting to add up. “I get a lot of satisfaction out of my work,” says Fairbanks, who is a certified public account and a certified financial planner. “A lot of what we do is educational, and it’s always fun to see the light bulb come on. They start asking good questions, which leads to good decision-making. Instinctively, if you’re not an expert in an area you may go on the defensive and be slow to react. As our clients get down the road and we’re able to spend significant time with them, they get secure, they become comfortable and they begin making good decisions.” Fairbanks met his wife, Courtney, in an accounting class at OSU. He is an avid OSU Cowboys fan, often returning to Stillwater for football games, and has served on the board of the Dallas chapter of the OSU Alumni Association. Fairbanks is thrilled to be included in the Spears School Tributes: 100 For 100. “It’s a huge honor. I can’t overstate how much it means to be listed with these other tributes. It means a ton. I’m really looking forward to spending some time with them and learning from them, whether it is at the golf tournament in August or at some of the different 100th anniversary events,” he says.

Larry Donald Ferree Business Administration (1959) MBA (1961)

arry Donald Ferree was the first in his family to attend and graduate from college, and he was the first person ever to earn an MBA from the College of Business at Oklahoma State University. The Oklahoma City native’s parents supported their son in furthering his education, even though their own educational opportunities had been limited. “My mom and dad were loving parents and terrific examples of responsible citizens, and they modeled a strong work ethic for me and my sister,” Ferree says. His mother went to work to help pay tuition and related fees while he earned the rest of his college expenses. Ferree recalls two primary role models at OSU: Edward C. Burris, vice dean of the College of Business, and Costic Roman, a professor and head of the management department. “Their knowledge of the business world and their enthusiasm and commitment to motivating students to seek and succeed in business made an impression on me and made me realize why I was there,” Ferree says. “Mr. Burris’ main area of expertise was human resources (then called personnel), and he was the consummate professional in his manner, speech and dress, and I wanted to be like him.” Roman was instrumental in designing the initial curriculum for the MBA degree, and encouraged Ferree to be the first person to participate in the new program. “I was both surprised and honored, and I said yes immediately,” Ferree says. Following graduation, he moved to St. Louis to work as a systems analyst at McDonnell Aircraft Corp., but realized it wasn’t for him. Ferree landed his initial HR position with the Sandia Corp. in Albuquerque, N.M., and retired as vice president of human resources for Express Employment Professionals Inc. in December 2005. Over the course of his 42-year career in

human resources, he held management and executive positions in several different industries, including research and development, manufacturing, banking, retail and staffing. He received certification as a senior professional in HR management and was certified in civil and employment mediation. He served as an adjunct professor at OSU–OKC and is a member of the Spears School of Business Speakers Bureau. He has served on numerous boards, including the Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation (35 years), the National Management Association, American Heart Association, State Department of Education (career advisory committee), Oklahoma Industrial Recreation and Fitness Council, Governor’s Jobs for Veterans Committee, and the Redlands Council of the Girl Scouts. In retirement, he took up photography, which has grown into a small business named Jewels Photo Art. Ferree markets his digital images at regional art shows, retail stores and online. He and Suzy (an OSU 1958 graduate), his wife for 56 years, reside in Oklahoma City. They enjoy travel and spending time with their three children, Mark, Mindy and Julie, and their families. Attending their grandchildren’s activities has been a favorite way to spend time over the past 18 years. “For a person who arrived at OSU more by accident than anything else, I’m humbled beyond description when I reflect on my life since arriving at Oklahoma A&M. I have been blessed in so many ways. I arrived at OSU in the mid-1950s, truly the good old days; I met the person who became my best friend and my life partner for the past 56 years; and I found a work that I loved. I couldn’t have scripted it any better if I’d written it myself,” Ferree says. “To be recognized as one of the 100 For 100, well, that seems more like a dream than reality.” 2014 engage@spears

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Dan Gilliam Accounting (1979)

an Gilliam never envisioned spending 35 years with the same corporation when he accepted a job after graduating from Oklahoma State University in 1979.

to do to be successful. They taught us how to be professional.”

“My dad worked for Conoco [now Phillips 66 Co.] while I was growing up, and I vowed to never work there,” he says, “but joining Conoco right out of college was the best decision I ever made professionally, and it will be 35 years in August.”

“When we recruit students from Oklahoma State, we tend to get kids that know right from wrong and follow through on commitments,” he says. “Those are the type of people we look for, and that’s the type of people we find at Oklahoma State. We look for OSU-type people who understand honesty, integrity, family, and friends. The words loyal and true go a long way in describing OSU people.”

Following in the footsteps of his father, Les Gilliam, has worked out just fine for the native Oklahoman, who accepted an internal auditing position with Conoco in 1979 after earning his bachelor’s degree in accounting from OSU. Gilliam has held management positions in most of the accounting groups with both Conoco and Phillips 66, including internal auditor, several staff analyst positions, accounting director, refinery finance manager, assistant controller, manager of corporate accounting and manager of corporate affairs. Those jobs have taken him all over the United States, including several stops in his hometown of Ponca City; Wilmington, Del.; Houston; Lake Charles, La.; twice in Bartlesville, Okla., before returning to Houston in 2013. He is currently internal audit manager for Phillips 66 in Houston. “We had excellent professors who took the time to make sure we learned the material and then challenged us to apply it in real-world settings,” he says of his time at OSU. “We not only got the accounting theory but they were also able to share about the philosophy of how to live life, the things you needed to think about and the things you need

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As a manager, Gilliam has hired hundreds of OSU graduates over the years.

They also describe Gilliam, who is past chairman of the OSU Alumni Association and the Spears School of Business Associates. He also served on the School of Accounting Advisory Board. In addition, he has been on the executive committees of the State Chamber of Commerce, the Oklahoma Heritage Association, and Leadership Oklahoma and is active in church and community affairs. When Gilliam is not working or attending OSU sporting events, he can sometimes be found playing guitar and singing with his father, Les Gilliam, the Oklahoma Balladeer. Gilliam is honored to be recognized among the Spears School Tributes: 100 For 100. “I’m certainly very humbled and surprised,” Gilliam says. “As I look through the names of the people that have been recognized, I certainly feel honored to be included with such select company. I’m pleased that I’ve been able to give back to OSU just a portion of what the school has meant to me over the years.”

Marlin (Ike) Glass Management (1952)

arlin (Ike) Glass Jr. is an entrepreneur and successful businessman who learned a strong work ethic from his father while participating in the family-owned trucking business as a young man. Glass is now chief executive officer of Glass Operating Group, having turned it into a large enterprise that operates throughout the Midwest. After high school, the Newkirk, Okla., native joined the Navy, serving in the Korean conflict. After four years of service, Glass returned to Oklahoma to attend Oklahoma State University, where he met and married Marybeth Burnsteter. In 1952, Glass graduated from OSU’s Division of Commerce with a bachelor’s degree in management. Glass has worked hard to make higher education and post-secondary education available to all children and citizens of our state. He has financially supported multiple scholarship programs and given encouragement and financial assistance to many young people, enabling them to pursue higher educations. In 1997, Glass served as president of the OSU Alumni Association. In 1998, he was inducted into the Spears School of Business Hall of Fame. He has also been inducted into the Oklahoma Heritage Association Hall of Fame.

Gov. Frank Keating appointed Glass to the Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education for a nine-year term in 1997. In 2007, Gov. Brad Henry reappointed him. Glass served as president of the Oklahoma Transportation Center, vice chair of the Governor’s Conference on Small Business, president of the Oklahoma Trucking Association and chairman of the State Chamber of Commerce. He is a past president of the Newkirk School Board and has been inducted into the school’s Hall of Fame. Glass also serves on the boards of the Oklahoma Heritage Association, the Marland Children’s Home and RCB Bank and Trust. He is a member of the American Legion, Navy League, Disabled American Veterans and Veterans of Foreign Wars. “This [Spears School Tributes: 100 For 100] recognition is very humbling,” Glass says. “What an honor to be a part of such an outstanding group of OSU Business School alumnus.” Glass and his wife, Marybeth, reside in Newkirk. Their children — Rob Glass, assistant athletic director for strength and conditioning in OSU athletics, and Jennifer Johnson, a Washington, D.C. resident — are both OSU graduates.

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Rick Green Marketing (1970)

ick Green’s connection to Oklahoma State University began early — at birth, actually. He was born in Stillwater while his parents were students here.

“Working at a bank, you meet a lot of people. That’s been a very important part of my life and my family’s life. We felt like we knew everybody,” Green says.

He lived in Snyder, Okla., for a short time before moving to Altus, Okla., to live with his grandparents. In high school there, he met the love of his life; the two wed at 17 and moved to Stillwater in 1965 to attend OSU.

Giving back to Stillwater is important to him. He recently got involved with the Spears School Mentoring Program, which he finds very rewarding. He’s helped the community in other capacities and finds volunteerism a great way to meet new people, whether it be helping newcomers to Stillwater or visiting the hospital to speak with patients.

The move was a huge transition for the couple. Green remembers being frightened about being in a new place and not knowing anyone. They both worked almost full-time jobs in school. “Part of the advantage we had as a young married couple was that we had responsibilities; we understood clearly the need to focus on our educational process,” Green says. He graduated in 1970 with a bachelor’s in marketing. The business school had a tremendous impact on Green. A debate between an accomplished accountant and an established marketing professor was key to his decision to earn a marketing degree. “We were very fortunate to meet a lot of faculty and people in the community,” Green says. The people he met at work, church and school led to a devotion to OSU and Stillwater. Their connection to the community is what ultimately led Green and his wife to remain in Stillwater. In 1967, Green began his career as a teller and a printer at Stillwater National Bank, where he worked his way up for the next 45 years. He eventually was promoted to CEO and vice chairman of the bank, which allowed him to meet people from across the state and nation.

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His family is a tremendous part of his life. He and his wife have two grown children and four grandchildren. He and his family plan to attend the centennial events throughout the year. Attending OSU has become a tradition for the Green family. Five generations have attended the university beginning with Green’s grandfather, Jess L. Green, who graduated in 1928. His father, William E. Green, graduated in 1948. Both of Green’s children, Darren and Staci, earned their degrees from OSU, as well. Granddaughter Gabrielle will graduate in 2014. “This recognition of being a part of this celebration that the Spears School of Business has developed is a tremendous privilege, honor and responsibility,” Green says. “The school means so much to me in intrinsic value and in ways in which you feel. It’s really difficult to express those feelings, and I know those others who are being honored feel the same way. It’s really quite special.”

Michael L. Greenwood Business Administration (1977)

ichael L. Greenwood, founder and managing director of Carnegie Capital LLC, recognized long ago that his Oklahoma State University business education was key to the success he has achieved throughout his career. “The business school provided me with the essential tools to enter the workforce and prepared me to meet the challenges of the real business world,” he says. Greenwood grew up in Tulsa and graduated from OSU with a bachelor’s degree in business administration with an emphasis in marketing and economics in 1977. He graduated summa cum laude with his MBA from the University of Tulsa in 1980. Greenwood paid for his college education and still managed to make the president’s and dean’s honor rolls at OSU, while graduating with honors. He had little time to participate in clubs and organizations, but his education paved the way for his successful career. He began his career with the Williams Cos. in business development. From there, he moved to various senior executive positions including chief financial officer of several public companies.

private equity clients, Greenwood served as vice president-finance of Energy Transfer Partners, chief financial officer of Heritage Propane Partners and Alliance Resource Partners, and a mergers & acquisition executive for Mapco, the Penn Central Energy Group and the Williams Cos. He has also served on the boards of directors of several public companies. Greenwood resides with his wife, Anne, in Stillwater. He is also an OSU Foundation trustee, OSU Student Foundation sponsor and a member of the Spears School of Business Associates, Stillwater United Way, Payne County Youth Services, the American Cancer Society and the National Multiple Sclerosis Society. Greenwood has supported OSU through major contributions for facility improvements and the establishment of several endowed scholarships. Greenwood said being selected as an honoree in the Spears School Tributes: 100 For 100 is an honor he will always cherish. “I am humbled to have my name included alongside many of the greatest business icons to graduate from Oklahoma State University,” he says.

Before founding Carnegie Capital LLC, a financial advisory services firm serving corporate and

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Jim Griffith Business Administration (1975)

im Griffith went to college for one reason: to learn how to successfully run his own convenience store company.

Griffith, a Stillwater native, graduated from OSU on a Friday and reported to work at one of his father’s convenience stores the next Monday. He’s been in the business ever since. As chief executive officer of OnCue Express, Griffith has overseen the company's growth since he purchased it from his father, Jack, in 1995. From 11 stores then, the company now has 41 convenience stores, 14 compressed natural gas fueling stations, 10 restaurants and more than 650 employees. Griffith says five stores will open in 2014, adding another 100 jobs. Griffith says his business school education more than prepared him for his future with OnCue. “Every class that I took at OSU I took because I thought it would help me going forward in business,” he says. “I knew I wanted to be in the convenience store business. I’ve always loved it, and so everything I took was related to helping me be a success in business.” He began working at convenience stores in high school and continued to do so while at OSU. Griffith spent many hours getting hands-on experience working for his father. “I did a lot of manual labor type stuff. I actually ran a milk route after school for a number of years,” he says. Despite that, he found time for Beta Theta Pi fraternity and intramural sports. But the lessons learned nearly 40 years ago are still valuable today. “I learned that it took hard work to get ahead,” Griffith says. “I have always liked money, and the paycheck was my reward. It didn’t matter what I had to do; I liked being able to be independent.” 54

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Griffith is the grandson of legendary wrestling coach Art Griffith, who led Oklahoma A&M’s teams to nine national titles and 10 undefeated seasons in 13 years. “Some of my great memories growing up in Stillwater were going to the wrestling matches. It was loud and it was crazy inside Gallagher Arena. There weren’t too many things more fun than going to watch Cowboy wrestling,” he says. His leadership in the growth of CNG fuels has been widely recognized by Oklahoma’s governors and business developers. Griffith focuses his charitable efforts on youth-related issues; his company raised nearly $200,000 last year for St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital. His volunteer leadership includes past president of the Oklahoma Petroleum Marketers and Convenience Store Association, board of directors of the Petroleum Marketers Association of America, past president of Leadership Oklahoma, where he led the effort to found the Youth Leadership Oklahoma program, and on the board of the World Presidents Organization OKC. After 40 years in business, Griffith still enjoys heading to the office every morning, where he now works with his daughter, Laura. “I love work. In fact, I don’t call it work because if you enjoy doing something, it shouldn’t be called work. I love coming in every day. I have a great company with great employees, and we have exciting plans for the future,” Griffith says. “It was very exciting for me when my daughter Laura [Aufleger] decided to join the business. Hopefully, my grandson Griff and granddaughter Ella will find my business exciting and someday join our team.”

Jennifer Reid Grigsby Accounting (1991)

ennifer Grigsby’s days at Oklahoma State University guided her path to success. Indeed, she credits a lot of her achievements to the Spears School of Business. “I received a tremendous education from the School of Accounting, and I’m very proud of it,” Grigsby says. “I am very passionate about the Spears School’s success and am proud of its national ranking as one of the top business schools in the country. I am very committed to the fundraising effort for the new business building and believe our first-class students and faculty deserve a first-class facility.” Before launching her outstanding career, Grigsby indulged her love for sports by participating in various intramurals at OSU. She served as the sports chairman for her sorority, Pi Beta Phi, and won the Mary Cheryl Mannering Outstanding Greek Sportswoman Award from 1990-1991. She was also named to All-Greek teams for softball, volleyball, flag football and soccer, and served as a Diamond Doll for the OSU baseball team. This organization hit close to home for Grigsby, for her father played baseball for the Cowboys in the early ’60s. Grigsby also found her future husband Steve while attending school. Steve shares her passion for sports as well. After graduation, Grigsby started her career as a public accounting auditor for Deloitte & Touche, now Deloitte LLP, and has been a certified public accountant since 1992. She worked for an aircraft manufacturing company in Oklahoma City before joining Chesapeake Energy Corp. in 1995. Grigsby started with Chesapeake when it was a very small and young public company and says she was fortunate to contribute, along with her colleagues, to its tremendous growth throughout the 18-plus years she worked there.

Grigsby has been inducted into the Spears School of Business Hall of Fame and the School of Accounting’s Wilton T. Anderson Hall of Fame. She has received multiple recognitions for her professional career and her philanthropic service to OSU and the Oklahoma City community, including recently being named the Junior League of Oklahoma City’s Sustainer of the Year for 2014. In November, she will be recognized as a Meinders School of Business Distinguished Alumna at Oklahoma City University, where she earned an MBA in 1999. Grigsby is an active volunteer, including serving as board chair for the OSU Alumni Association, on the board of trustees of the OSU Foundation, as a founding member of Women for OSU and on the boards of the Petroleum Club of Oklahoma City, the Oklahoma Heritage Association, the YMCA of Greater Oklahoma City and Leadership Oklahoma City. Grigsby also serves as a director for CrossFirst Holdings, a bank holding company based in Leawood, Kan. Grigsby calls her nomination as one of the Spears School Tributes: 100 For 100 tremendously humbling. “In fact, it’s a bit hard to wrap my head around,” Grigsby says. “Over the past 100 years, the Spears School has graduated thousands of outstanding students who have, and right now are, changing the world. So, to be recognized along with 99 others as graduates who ‘exemplify the OSU and Spears School spirit’ is truly humbling and very special to me.” Grigsby resides in Edmond, Okla., with her husband and two boys, Reid, 14, and Jack, 10. The family of sports fanatics cheers on OSU’s teams and the Oklahoma City Thunder.

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B. Curtis Hamm Marketing (1955) MBA (1962)

. Curtis Hamm saw the young men and women taking his class as more than just names and faces during his 38-year teaching career. Indeed, many later became his friends. The Oklahoma State University marketing professor taught on the Stillwater campus from 1966 to 1990 and from 1996 to 2002. Many of those OSU students are successful in the oil and gas industry, as attorneys, business owners, college professors, U.S. congressmen and other professions too numerous to list. Hamm helped point them in the right direction during their college days. After he retired in 2002, Hamm was still held in such high regard that a group of former students helped fund a $250,000 endowed scholarship in his name. In recent years, former students have also spearheaded an effort to honor him by naming a classroom in the new business building in his honor. The teaching icon was also inducted into the Oklahoma Higher Education Hall of Fame in 2007. His other awards include a Distinguished OSU Alumnus award and a Yearbook Faculty Member of the Year. His mentorship of Blue Key

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members led him to be selected as the National Faculty Adviser of the Year. “One of my greatest fears is that people would ask one of my students, ‘Who did you have for marketing?’ And they would say, ‘I don’t remember, but I know we had a green book,’” Hamm said. “I still get phone calls from students who will quote back to me things that I said in class many years ago, and they still remember it. It’s nice to know they haven’t forgotten you.” It’s safe to say that this fear never came true. It is because of the profound impression he left on his students that the Spears School of Business continues to honor him today. Although his list of accomplishments and awards is extensive, his greatest achievement will always be the everlasting impact he had on his students. Hamm received his undergraduate marketing degree from Oklahoma A&M in 1955 and, after a military obligation and time in the executive development program at IBM, an MBA from Oklahoma State in 1962. Hamm died of kidney failure on Feb. 5, 2014, in Stillwater.

Bill C. Hardgrave Information Systems (Ph.D., 1993)

ill C. Hardgrave, dean of the Raymond J. Harbert College of Business at Auburn University in Auburn, Ala., earned a doctorate in information systems from the College of Business Administration at Oklahoma State University in 1993. “As someone in higher education, I especially appreciate the legacy of great alumni from business schools,” Hardgrave says. “For me to receive this recognition from my alma mater is quite humbling, and I am truly honored.” Before attending OSU, Hardgrave earned a bachelor’s degree in computer science from Arkansas Tech University in 1986 and an MBA from Missouri State in 1990. After graduating from OSU, Hardgrave was a faculty member at the University of Arkansas’ Department of Information Systems in the Sam M. Walton College of Business for 17 years. In 1999, he started the Information Technology Research Institute, which continues today. In the early 2000s, he began working with Wal-Mart on Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology to track and manage inventory and shipments. This work eventually led to the formation of the RFID Research Center, which quickly gained a reputation for its high quality work. “The RFID Research Center and the work we did there was really a defining time in my career,” says Hardgrave, who received the Ted Williams Award from AIM Global in 2009 as the top researcher in RFID. RFID Journal also recognized him for the impact he has had on the field. “OSU prepared me very well to be a faculty member at a great institution. I was able to go from the OSU Ph.D. program to the University of Arkansas and make an immediate impact,” Hardgrave says. “It was at OSU that I really

learned how to do research, but, perhaps most importantly, to appreciate the value of research to industry and to the academy.” In 2010, Hardgrave was appointed dean of the College of Business at Auburn University. In June 2013, the College of Business received Auburn’s largest gift to date, $40 million from Raymond Harbert with a $15 million match, and the College of Business was renamed for him. Hardgrave had no prior ties to OSU before attending here, but it met all his requirements. He wanted a doctorate in information systems; at the time, only about 30 schools in the country offered such a program. Seeking programs that were consistent with his background narrowed the field to about five institutions. “When I visited OSU, I knew my search was over. I loved the campus, the faculty, everything about OSU,” Hardgrave says. On campus, the Clarksville, Ark., native was heavily involved in intramural sports. A lifelong member of the Kappa Alpha fraternity, Hardgrave also helped re-establish the chapter at OSU. After his first year at OSU, Hardgrave won the Golden Key Outstanding Graduate Teaching Award. In 1993 OSU honored him with the prestigious Phoenix Award, awarded to the top graduating doctoral student. Hardgrave recalls being influenced by Rick Wilson and Ramesh Sharda, longtime professors in OSU’s management science and information systems Department. “Rick Wilson was my dissertation chair and was very instrumental in helping me get through the program,” Hardgrave says. “It all led to the first academic job, which is the most important job coming out of a Ph.D. program.” He and his wife of 26 years, Ronda, have two children, Rachel, 18, and Gavin, 12. 2014 engage@spears

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Jay Helm Business Administration (1970)

f Jay Helm had gotten his way, he would never have served on the OSU/A&M Board of Regents for nearly 13 years. Or been an active member of the board of trustees for OSU-Tulsa from 1999 to 2013. Or served in any of the other leadership positions so instrumental to Oklahoma State University’s success over the years. When he was graduating from Edison High School in Tulsa, Helm tried to persuade his parents to allow him to attend the University of Missouri. After all, he was born in St. Louis and grew up in Jefferson City, Mo., before moving to Tulsa in high school with his family. His parents, Julius and Helen Helm, helped him decide to stay in Oklahoma. “When I went over to OSU to visit, it just felt like the right place,” Helm says, “and it’s always felt that way. “I can say the business school made a difference in my life and made a difference in how I approach business,” says Helm, who was a member of the Sigma Chi fraternity. After receiving his bachelor’s degree in business administration in 1970, Helm decided to attend law school. But he quickly realized he didn’t want to be a lawyer and was hired by Tulsan Roger Hardesty of the Hardesty Co. to manage his homebuilding division. “I was able to take nearly everything that I learned in the College of Business and immediately apply it to my life and my job. I organized and charted a plan for the business,” he says. A few years later, he went to work for Midland Mortgage (now MidFirst Bank) in Oklahoma City before moving back to Tulsa to establish his own brokerage business. He spent 13 years as the managing partner for Lincoln Property Co. In 1997, he founded American Residential Group Ltd., which develops and manages multifamily residences. Under his tenure, it has bought or built 11,000 units in several states. 58

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But his real passion is — and always will be — Oklahoma State University. “I enjoy my job and my work, but I also like spending time on charitable organizations. I call that my OSU time,” he says. Helm serves on the board of the Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education, the board of trustees for the OSU Medical Authority, and the board of trustees for the OSU Medical Trust. He was on the board of trustees for OSU-Tulsa from 1999 to May 2013 and on the OSU/A&M Board of Regents from 2001 to May 2013. “I’m trying to make a difference for OSU, and hopefully I’m doing that in my own way. ... It’s important to me that OSU do well, so I’ve spent a lot of time at it,” he says. ““It’s been very rewarding. As always, if you think you can make a difference and you’re helping, you should do it. I would encourage everybody to support their alma mater,” says Helm. He and his wife, Fayenelle, have been married 35 years. Their daughter, Christian, is also an OSU graduate, and they have one granddaughter. Helm is honored to be recognized among the Spears School Tributes: 100 For 100. “[It’s been] 100 years and 40,000 graduates? That’s pretty exciting, isn’t it?” he says. “If you look who contributes back to OSU, both money and other support, a lot of them come out of the School of Business. I think the Spears School has been a good school for a long time. I think you can tell by the people who were successful and have contributed back to the school that it made a difference in their lives. “I’m just excited. It’s hard to believe that it’s 100 years because not many business schools were around 100 years ago.”

Chuck Hensley General Business (1967)

huck Hensley, who graduated from Oklahoma State University’s School of Business in 1967 with a bachelor’s degree in general business with a focus on marketing, appreciates the quality of his education at OSU.

the St. Michael School and the Episcopal School of Dallas, and the associates board of the Cox School of Business at SMU. He also served on a special committee to the board of trustees at the Parkland Hospital’s Endowment Fund.

He says his professors prepared him well for life in the business world, mentioning Bob Hamm in marketing, Wilton T. Anderson in accounting, and Costic Roman in management as incredibly good teachers.

He currently sits on the OSU Foundation Board. Hensley also was an Associates Board member for the OSU Spears School of Business. His passion has been serving Native American education on the reservations. Hensley served on the board of the American Indian College Fund in Denver for eight years and was a member of the executive committee for seven years.

The Checotah, Okla., native was a member of Beta Theta Pi fraternity and held the offices of rush chairman, social chairman, and intramural sports chairman. He was also in the OSU business fraternity and a member of the Young Republicans. Hensley started his career in finance at Republic National Bank in Dallas before going to Paine, Webber, Jackson and Curtis investment firm in 1969, where he became an account vice president at 30. In 1976, he opened the First Boston office in Dallas. In 1984, Merrill Lynch Capital Markets in Dallas recruited him to manage all fixed income products for the five-state Southwest region and named him managing director and Southwest regional manager in 1986. Hensley retired from Merrill Lynch in 2000. For the last 12 years, he has been associated with WFG Inc., where he manages his own investments. Hensley’s induction last November into the Spears School of Business Hall of Fame was unexpected but truly appreciated. In Dallas, he has served on the board of the Dallas Symphony, the boards of

His wife of 43 years, Joannie, is also a graduate of OSU. They reside in Dallas. Hensley says he is honored to be recognized by the Spears School of Business with these two prestigious awards. “I was floored to be honored as an inductee into the Spears School of Business Hall of Fame, but I was even more surprised by this unbelievable honor,” Hensley says. “There are so many outstanding OSU business school graduates that are deserving of this recognition that I feel overwhelmed. “It’s a lifetime award for me to be in the position to accept something of this magnitude. I know all of the people considered for this acknowledgement worked very hard in their professions. That, along with our OSU education, obviously prepared us to go into the world and leave our mark. I thank everyone associated with this recognition from the bottom of my heart.”

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Mike Holder Marketing (1970) MBA (1973)

ike Holder came to OSU in 1966 as a freshman and never left. The Ardmore, Okla., native earned his bachelor’s degree in marketing from OSU’s business school in 1970 and completed his MBA at OSU in 1973. Holder was a member of the OSU golf team during his undergraduate years, becoming a Big Eight medalist and leading OSU to the conference title in 1970. He was a third-team All-American his junior and senior seasons and an honorable mention All-American as a sophomore. In his final semester as an undergraduate, he got married. “Marriage changed my life and forced me to grow up. My wife is the best thing that ever happened to me,” Holder says. The business school had its own positive impact on Holder as well. “Without OSU and the business school I wouldn’t be where I am today.” In May 1973, Holder finished his MBA. He was hired as the OSU golf coach in June. In his 32 years of leading the golf program, his name became synonymous with success on the golf course and in fundraising, facility development and his student athletes' academic success. He was named vice president for athletic programs and director of intercollegiate athletics at OSU in 2005. He still holds that position — but it’s not work. “I love OSU and being around young people is a privilege that I never take for granted,” Holder says. “In reality, I’ve never worked a day in my life.” Recognized as a 2013 finalist for National Athletic Director of the Year in the Sports Business Awards by SportsBusiness Journal and SportsBusiness Daily, Holder is a central figure in OSU’s athletic resurgence.

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Holder is one of five coaches in NCAA history, regardless of sport, to win a national championship in four different decades. The Cowboys won eight NCAA titles under Holder, and three times, he coached the Cowboys men’s golf team to the national title the same year an OSU individual also claimed medalist honors (1978, 1987 and 2000). Along the way, he claimed 25 conference championships. His 21 Big Eight championships were the second most by a head coach in any sport, trailing only Kansas basketball coach Phog Allen. Also, his vision and fundraising abilities resulted in the creation of Karsten Creek, the golf course in Stillwater used by the OSU teams. Holder and his wife, Robbie, illustrated their commitment to OSU when they donated $500,000 for the first fully endowed scholarship for Cowboy football, named for a former OSU player, the late Vernon Grant. The Holders’ gifts to OSU exceed $2.5 million, including $1 million for an entrepreneurship super chair in the Spears School. “Robbie and I made the gift to the College of Business because of [OSU donors] Malone and Amy Mitchell,” Holder says. “Having two degrees in business was the icing on the cake. I would like to see the new program nationally recognized and make a difference in the lives of young people.” The Holders live in Stillwater and have one daughter, Michele. Holder is flattered to be recognized as one of the Spears School Tributes: 100 For 100. “I definitely wasn’t an outstanding student, but this award shows that anyone can succeed if they are given the opportunity, and OSU provided me that opportunity,” Holder says. “OSU changes lives and makes dreams come true.”

Rex Horning Business Administration (1974)

magine being able to say, “I hitchhiked through southern Africa and worked on an Angora goat ranch to raise enough money to buy a plane ticket back to Oklahoma.” Few other, if any, Spears School of Business graduates have been in similar situations. But that is exactly what happened to Rex Horning. What’s more interesting than his story is his character and his ability to rise to the challenge. Horning, the second son of Edward and Monta Horning, is a native of Wakita, Okla. His older brother, Mark, earned a bachelor’s degree in management from OSU’s business college, and he was the first Horning to go to college, opening the door for Rex to follow. Rex earned a bachelor’s degree in business administration from OSU in 1974. As an underclassman, Horning’s involvement on campus primarily included activities around dorm and university life. He joined the Young Republicans Club, the U.S. Marine PLC program and was heavily involved in intramural sports. He is a proud alumnus of the Social Zeros team, who he says dominated OSU intramural football during his time. Horning is rumored to be one of the infamous Washington Street bull riders during the streaker days on OSU’s campus in the 1970s. If Horning’s undergraduate activities didn’t prove his courageous spirit, his last act as an OSU student probably did. In 1974, then-President Richard Nixon spoke at OSU’s commencement ceremony. Just as Nixon concluded his address, Horning ran up on stage and handed the president the tassel from his graduation cap. Luckily, he received a warm welcome from Nixon, who also autographed Horning’s commencement program. Horning recalls exactly where he was when he heard that Nixon had resigned as president: in

Mebelapudi, Botswana, Africa, helping a group of villagers build a corral for their donkeys. Immediately after graduating, Horning had joined the Peace Corps and was stationed in rural Botswana. His Peace Corps service ended in 1975, and he found himself stranded after his money was stolen. He ended up hitchhiking throughout southern Africa and was picked up by a goat rancher, who employed Horning until he could earn enough money for a plane ticket back home. “My time at OSU gave me so much confidence to pursue things in life that I otherwise would not do. Whether it was the Peace Corps or career choices. I’d tell myself, ‘OK, if what I’m doing isn’t fulfilling, what’s the next thing?’ It gave me the confidence to have options my entire life.” After the Peace Corps, he took an entry-level job at Eastman National Bank in Newkirk, Okla., where he met his future wife Charlotte. She helped train him in his new position and the two married in 1976. He is still in banking nearly 40 years later, serving as president of the Stillwater division of Bank SNB. Horning has served as the chairman for many organizations: Spears School Associates, OSU Alumni Association, Executive Committee for the State Chamber, City of Stillwater Audit Committee and Stillwater Chamber of Commerce. He is currently on the OSU Center of Innovation and Economic Development and Cowboy Technologies boards. “I can’t overstate OSU’s impact on me. It has meant everything,” says Horning. “Without OSU, the Spears School and the professors, and the people I met, I would have never obtained a consideration for a professional career.”

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Scott Allen Householder Marketing (1980) MBA (1981)

cott Allen Householder credits his education from Oklahoma State University as the foundation for his successful career. The Oklahoma City native earned his bachelor’s degree in business administration with a major in marketing and a minor in economics in 1980 and his MBA with an emphasis in finance in 1981 from OSU’s business school. Householder was extremely active at OSU. He was involved and held offices in more than 25 groups and organizations. At his Sigma Chi fraternity, he was the house renovations chairman responsible for the initiative that resulted in building a new house in 1980. Additionally, he was the founder of Phi Beta Kappa, president of the MBA Association and an officer in the Young Republicans. He was named a Top 10 Senior and received 14 scholarships during his college career. The business school had an enormous impact on Householder. “It guided my whole life,” says the CEO of Householder Group. “Because of my education, I learned what I needed to know in all of the various business disciplines, which enabled me to be very successful. Specifically, my well-rounded business education and all of the various business disciplines have allowed me to build my company to the level of success and the ability to help thousands of individuals that we enjoy today.” He started off his career with Exxon Company USA, then moved into financial services and advanced to division vice president of American Express Financial Services, before he decided to become an entrepreneur, founding the Householder Group.

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At both Exxon and American Express, his teams were named top company producers in the nation. Householder Group, which manages several billion dollars’ worth of client assets among its 40 offices in the U.S., is one of the largest independent registered investment advisory firms in the nation. Householder is involved in his community, serving on philanthropic boards, on his church board of directors, and as president of his community association for many years. He coached more than 20 basketball and soccer teams for his children while they were growing up. He was named one of the top 50 MBA alumni out of the last 50 years for Oklahoma State University. Additionally, he was recognized by Arizona Business Magazine as an Arizona Business Leader, specifically Wealth Adviser of the Year. Householder and his wife, Debby, have been married for 28 years and live in Phoenix. They have three children, Megan, Davis and Caroline. Householder appreciates what OSU has done for him and being recognized as one of the Spears School Tributes: 100 For 100. “It is a wonderful honor, and I am extremely humbled to be included in such a successful group who have achieved such high levels of success since leaving Oklahoma State University,” Householder says. “I am extremely grateful of the opportunity that I had to receive my education at OSU. I have always tried to live my life within the values of helping other people succeed and having the highest business ethics possible to live up to the values that were instilled in me while at Oklahoma State University.”

David L. Houston Business Administration (1975)

avid L. Houston never considered anywhere but Oklahoma State University for his education. As a Stillwater native, he knew he would fit in at OSU, even though it would still be a whole new experience. “Stillwater was two different worlds back then, the university and the town,” he explains. Houston participated in the Sigma Chi FraternityVarsity Review, Spring Sing, Glee Club, intramural sports football, softball, wrestling and made the dean’s honor roll. He worked at Harold’s Men’s Apparel. Houston remembers his classes in the College of Business and says real estate law, insurance, accounting, and money and banking helped his business experience over the years. “It has always been amazing how the college experiences both academically and socially influenced my future in ways I would have never expected,” he says. After OSU, Houston earned a graduate degree in banking from Louisiana State University in 1979. He spent 16 years in banking (13 as CEO), building an organization from $10 million in assets to $650 million before changing careers. In 1991, he created Houston Financial, a multigenerational vertically integrated wealth management organization.

Houston has been Northwestern Mutual’s top adviser in the country. He currently serves as board chairman of Gulfport Energy, lead director of Diamondback Energy and trustee of the OSU Foundation. He is a member of the OSU Alumni Advisory Council, YMCA of Greater OKC Board, Downtown OKC Rotary Club, Gaillardia Golf and Country Club and Crossings Community Church. He is a former board chairman of Deaconess Hospital and a member of the first Oklahoma State Ethics Commission, serving as chairman in 1988. He has also participated in Leadership Oklahoma and Leadership Oklahoma City. Winfrey Houston, David’s father, still resides in Stillwater. David and his wife of 40 years, Denise Stevenson, an OSU secondary education graduate and Alpha Chi, live in Oklahoma City. The Houstons have two sons, Daron and Matt. Daron has four boys, and Matt has a daughter and twins on the way. Houston is honored to be recognized in the Spears School Tributes: 100 For 100. “It’s humbling. I am pleased to be associated with OSU and the Spears School of Business,” Houston says. “I am proud to be a part of a wonderful heritage.”

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Samuel H. Howard Business Administration (1961)

amuel H. Howard credits Oklahoma State University’s business school for acquainting him with the vast opportunities available in the business world. “The business school introduced me to the business world,” the Lawton, Okla., native says. “I had very little knowledge of the opportunities in business. My initial and most memorable exposure to business came from the business school.” At OSU, he was involved in several organizations, including Phi Kappa Phi, as recording secretary of Blue Key and a member of Beta Gamma Sigma, Delta Sigma Pi, Sigma Epsilon Sigma and Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity. He earned a master's in economics from Standford University in 1963. Howard worked as a financial analyst with General Electric Co. from 1963 to 1967. In 196667, he served as a White House fellow and assistant to U.S. Ambassador Arthur Goldberg. He worked as director of educational computer services at Howard University and a consultant to the U.S. Health, Education and Welfare Department from 1967-68. He was named vice president of finance, secretary and treasurer of TAW International Leasing Corp., where he worked from 1968 until 1972. In 1972, he founded and served as chairman, president and CEO of Phoenix Holdings Inc. and Phoenix Communications Group Inc., which owned and operated broadcasters in Tennessee, Kansas and Mississippi. He was hired as vice president of finance and business at Meharry Medical College in 1973. He joined Hospital Affiliates International Inc. as vice president of planning at the INA Health Care Group in 1977 and was promoted to vice president and treasurer in 1980. He was hired by Hospital Corporation of America (HCA) as vice president

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and treasurer in 1981 and promoted to senior vice president of public affairs in 1985. He resigned from HCA in 1988 in order to chair Phoenix Holdings full time. In 1993, he became chairman, president and CEO of Xantus Corp., an investorowned company that owns and operates health maintenance organizations. He has also been a member, board director or committee member of many organizations. Howard was inducted into the OSU’s Spears School of Business Hall of Fame in 1983 and received the 1980 and 1984 Federation of American Hospitals President’s Achievement Award. He received the Nashville NAACP Branch Image Award for Lifetime Achievement and the National Conference of Christians & Jews Inc. Human Relations Award in 1994. He received the Outstanding CEO Award among the 100 largest privately held firms in Nashville in 1997 and the Nashville Business Journal’s 1995 Small Business Executive of the Year Award. He was honored as Nashvillian of the Year in 1998 by the Easter Seal Society of Tennessee and as Philanthropist of the Year in 1997 by the National Society of Fundraising Executives. In 2010, he received the White House Fellows John W. Gardner Legacy of Leadership Award. Howard also wrote The Flight of the Phoenix: Thoughts on Work and Life, published in 2007. He and his wife, Karan, have been married 51 years and live in Nashville. They have two children, Anica Lynne Howard and Samuel H. Howard II. Howard is proud to be recognized in the Spears School Tributes: 100 For 100. “Being listed as one of the 100 for the school of business is indeed a significant honor,” he says.

Jim Hromas Accounting (1967) MBA (1970) Marketing (Ph.D., 1982)

im Hromas has supported and promoted Oklahoma State University for many years. The Spears School of Business, the Business Extension (now known as the Center for Executive and Professional Development), and OSU’s School of International Studies have benefited from his efforts. He knew he didn’t want to join the family business of farming, so he came to OSU for his education and never left. Hromas earned three degrees from OSU’s business school, beginning with a bachelor’s in accounting in 1967. He would add an MBA in 1970 and a doctorate in marketing (with minors in management and economics) in 1982. Hromas accepted a fellowship at NASA only 10 days after the first moon landing. He describes it as a “real thrill” to have won that scholarship, and he worked there during numerous other space missions. He was an associate professor of marketing in the OSU business school and a director of International Education and Outreach, serving 40 years at OSU. Hromas first became involved in outreach as a graduate assistant and later became director of Business Extension at OSU from 1970 to 1991. Under his leadership, the school began the widely popular Tulsa Business Forums (in 1987) and Executive Management Briefings (1989).

U.S. President George H.W. Bush, former Soviet Union President Mikhail Gorbachev, former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, former General Electric chairman and CEO Jack Welch and syndicated columnist George Will have been featured speakers. “We built the program from basically nothing to what it is today through determination and a lot of hard work,” says Hromas, who retired in 2010. Between 1991 and 2004, he held several positions including University Extension director, 1991; University Extension dean, 1994; University Extension International and Economic Development dean, 1997; School of International Studies director, 1998; and International Education and Outreach director, 2004. Hromas was the driving force within OSU outreach and a catalyst for change bringing OSU to regional, national and international recognition through his outreach efforts. He has received a number of awards for his service and various accomplishments. He attributes much of his success to OSU and the opportunities it provided. “[OSU] means a great deal, obviously,” Hromas says. “I’ll always be proud of it. I think it was the thing that transformed me personally into a different person than I was going to be.”

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Behfar Jahanshahi MSIS (1998) Telecommunications Management (master’s, 2000)

ehfar Jahanshahi began his career while still a student at Oklahoma State University. The Stillwater native earned his bachelor’s in management science and information systems in 1998 and his master’s in telecommunications management in 2000 from OSU’s business school. Jahanshahi says he had “a lot of fun” at OSU, whether in class, working or tinkering with gadgets. Intramural sports were a favorite, and he was a member of OSU Club Soccer. He credits the business school for his successful career, saying it gave him the technical expertise he needed to be skillful in IT and the business and managerial skills to start his own business. “This education is the foundation for both my personal success and the success of InterWorks,” says Jahanshahi, president and CEO of InterWorks, a comprehensive provider of IT and data solutions based in Stillwater that he started while in college. “Each day in IT and data brings new challenges. I lean on the education I received at OSU to meet those challenges. The most important thing I learned from the business school was how to learn. This has made all the difference in the everchanging tech world.” InterWorks began expanding the business into other areas of IT, partnering with Dell and moving into software development, web strategy and database management. In 2008, InterWorks partnered with data visualization software company Tableau Software to become the premier provider of Tableau consulting and training services. The growing list of clients includes Facebook, Google, Rosetta Stone and, of course, OSU. As for Jahanshahi, he’s still learning every step of the way. “InterWorks is my career and my favorite

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hobby,” he says. “We’ve come a long way in a short amount of time, and I’m excited to see how much further we can go. The possibilities are endless.” Jahanshahi was named a Spears School of Business Outstanding Young Alumnus in 2010, a member of the 2011 Achievers Under 40 by The Journal Record, Tulsa Small Business Person of the Year in 2012 by Tulsa Metro Chamber, and one of 2012 Oklahoma’s Most Admired CEOs by The Journal Record. He is also an active member in the community. He’s been a board member of Oklahoma Wondertorium Children’s Museum, board member of the Saville Center for Child Advocacy (2010-2012), a contributor to the Stillwater Public Education Foundation, a planning committee member for Stillwater and an advisory committee member for both the Meridian Technology Center and the Francis Tuttle Technology Center. He’s also involved in the Riata Business Plan Competition and the OSU Entrepreneurship Club. Behfar and his wife, Staci Bejcek, live in Stillwater. He credits her for playing a big part at InterWorks by serving as the chief culture officer and being with him every step of the way. They have two daughters, Sophia, 5, and Aria, 4 months. “I enjoy nothing more than spending time with them,” he says. “Family is the most important thing in my life.” Being recognized in the Spears School Tributes: 100 For 100 means a lot to Jahanshahi. “It makes me proud to be associated with a school that places such an importance on following and appreciating its past students,” he says. “I feel a profound sense of accomplishment knowing that the OSU Spears School of Business would include me in such a list of successful alumni.”

Carlos E. Johnson Business education (master’s, 1966) Business education and accounting (Ed.D., 1977)

arlos E. Johnson, a native of Wilson, Okla., is a true advocate for his community, his profession, his state and his alma mater. “I’ve always believed that you need to give back,” he says.

Currently, Johnson is the chair for the National Association of State Boards of Accountancy, which represents 55 boards of accountancy before various legislative bodies at the state and federal levels.

Johnson chose OSU to study under Wilton T. Anderson, who became his mentor throughout his career. He earned his master’s in business education in 1966 and a doctorate in accounting and business education in 1977 from Oklahoma State University’s College of Business.

Johnson has received numerous awards and honors. In 2011, the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants gave Johnson special recognition for a career of public advocacy, the first time it had done so in 17 years.

“The relationships I developed with the professors and the coursework prepared me for a career in academia, public accounting and public service,” Johnson says. On campus, Johnson worked for the controller at the University Business Office. He obtained his certified public accounting certificate after getting his master’s degree. The following fall, he began OSU’s doctorate program, commuting from Ada, Okla., while a professor in the accounting department at East Central University.

In 2012, he received the Public Service Award from the Oklahoma Society of Certified Public Accountants and has been inducted into the Oklahoma Accounting Hall of Fame. Johnson served more than 10 years as chairman of the Governmental Technology Applications Review Board (formerly Oklahoma Internet Application Review Board) and on the state’s Building Bonds Commission. He has also served on the Reform Commission under Gov. Mary Fallin.

During countless trips back to Stillwater, he often brought East Central accounting undergrads with him to attend OSU’s lecture series and often inspired his students to pursue master’s degrees at OSU.

Since 1985, Johnson has served on the board of directors of the Oklahoma Zoological Society; in 2010, he was named a lifetime director. Since 1998, he has served on the Oklahoma State Chamber of Commerce board of directors and various chamber committees.

In 1970, Johnson became head of the school of business at East Central. After seven years, he left academia to work in accounting. He enjoyed a successful career in public accounting and retired after 25 years as a partner with KPMG.

“Being named a 100 For 100 is certainly an honor I never expected to receive. However, I am grateful to be included,” Johnson says. “I am very pleased that others would think that my career deserves such an honor. ”

Johnson has remained active at OSU, serving as chairman of the OSU School of Accounting advisory board and on the board of governors for the OSU Foundation. He has been honored as a Distinguished Professional by OSU’s School of Accounting.

Johnson and his wife, Pam, reside in Oklahoma City. They have three children and six grandchildren who regularly attend various OSU sports activities with the Johnsons.

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Griff Jones Finance (1991)

riff Jones graduated from the College of Business at Oklahoma State University in 1991 with a bachelor’s degree in finance.

Today, he is president and chief executive officer of Twin Eagle Resource Management, an energy commodity marketing and midstream company with headquarters in Houston. Jones has spent his career in the energy business, dedicated to the development of North American physical energy marketing businesses. The Tulsa native joined Natural Gas Clearing House Corp. shortly after graduating from OSU. The company was later renamed Dynegy, and Jones was named senior vice president and led a number of initiatives within the wholesale power and natural gas business. In 2003, he joined business partner Chuck Watson (an economics graduate from OSU) in founding Eagle Energy Partners, which was sold to Lehman Brothers four years later. Jones successfully led a spin-off of Eagle to a subsidiary of Électricité de France in November 2008. Eagle changed its name to EDF Trading North America, and Jones continued to serve as the chief executive officer until May 2010. Later in 2010, Jones and Watson partnered again to create Twin Eagle Resource Management LLC, where Jones serves as president and CEO. Twin Eagle has 150 employees and offices in Canada, Colorado, Wisconsin, Illinois, Michigan, Wyoming and Texas.

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Jones is also active in charitable organizations, including leadership positions in TOMAGWA Healthcare Ministry and the Fellowship of Christian Athletes. He has also been a trustee of the Oklahoma State University Foundation and is a member of the Young Presidents Organization. Among his awards and honors, Jones was proud to be inducted into the Oklahoma State University Spears School of Business Hall of Fame in 2013. “I chose OSU because I had no choice. My dad [Ed Keller] made me do it,” Jones says. He admits that his college choice had been made for him years earlier since his dad once played baseball for the Cowboys and served as chairman of the OSU Board of Regents. “I had friends who planned to go to OU and other places. Dad said you can go anywhere you want but you have to go work it out with the bursar’s office at Oklahoma State because that’s where the check is going to go.” At OSU, he was a member of Sigma Nu, selected as a Top 10 Freshman and a Top 10 Senior in the business college, president of the Business Student Council and served in various student government positions. Jones and his wife, Mindi (a 1991 OSU elementary education graduate), reside in Houston with their two children, Kennedy, 17, and Kale, 15. “I have been very fortunate to accomplish a few things in my career, so I feel extremely honored and humbled to be mentioned in the same breath as the Spears School Tributes: 100 For 100 honorees,” Jones says.

Robert Karlovich Accounting (1942)

early 80 years ago, Robert Karlovich’s life changed forever. He was one of the first recipients of a tennis scholarship from Oklahoma A&M College, where he created a legacy that his family follows to this day. “That was the surprise of my life,” Karlovich said of the day legendary Oklahoma A&M athletic director and coach Henry Iba awarded him one of the first two tennis scholarships. “Otherwise, I wouldn’t have gone to college.” Karlovich enrolled in the School of Commerce (now the Spears School of Business), earning a bachelor’s degree in accounting and eventually his CPA. He graduated in 1942, but not before meeting his future wife, Rose Frances Antonietti. In 1941, Karlovich was anxious to serve his country with the U.S. Army Infantry during World War II. He received two bronze stars before returning to Oklahoma when the war ended. In 1945, just weeks after returning home from the war, he took a job as an accountant with Haskins and Sales in Oklahoma City. Later, he joined Midwestern Engine and Equipment Co. with Oklahoma A&M alumnus Armon Bost. The

two worked side by side — Bost as president and Karlovich as executive vice president — for more than 30 years. Karlovich’s decision to attend Oklahoma A&M, now Oklahoma State University, paved the way for his family to follow in his footsteps. All four of Karlovich’s children — Robert Jr. (Bob), Debbie, Rick and Mary — attended OSU, and three of the four are graduates of the business school. “He’s always been proud of his education from Oklahoma A&M and it gave him a foothold into his future,” son Rick Karlovich says. “His legacy is really something at this point.” Karlovich’s grandchildren also followed him to Stillwater. Robert III (Trey) Karlovich earned his accounting degree in 1999, and Nick Karlovich graduated with MIS and management degrees in 2002. Chris Karlovich, another grandchild, is currently enrolled in the Spears School. This inspiring legacy makes Karlovich an alumnus worth honoring. He has influenced numerous generations of his family to join the Cowboy family and adopt the OSU spirit.

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TRIBUTES: 100 FOR 100

Edward F. Keller Finance (1963)

dward F. Keller was banking on joining Toby Greene’s Oklahoma State University baseball team and living his dream. But baseball was not to be in his professional future. Keller says he got much more from attending Oklahoma State and graduating with a bachelor’s degree in finance than the opportunity to play baseball. “It was a great experience but a challenging one for a boy from a small town,” says Keller, who was born in Nowata, Okla., and grew up in Dewey, Okla. “There were numerous opportunities to be involved in and a variety of extracurricular activities, which contributed to my personal growth and the development of many lifelong friends.” Keller’s educational focus was on finance, and he quickly realized that banking was a natural fit. “I recall that I always seemed to have professors in the business school who seemed to care whether I succeeded. The business school staff was very encouraging, from Dean [Eugene] Swearingen on down. The advice and encouragement I received had a major impact on my professional life.” Over the years, he has worked at numerous banks across the state, including management positions in Blackwell, Claremore, Oklahoma City and Tulsa. By 1978, he was executive vice president of First Oklahoma Bancorporation. He has also served as chairman and CEO of Bank IV, BankOne Oklahoma and most recently JPMorgan Chase Oklahoma, retiring in 2006. Keller says his volunteer work has stemmed from his belief in giving back to the community. He served on the board of Tulsa’s Saint Francis Health System and has chaired the Oklahoma Bankers Association, Oklahoma State University Regents, Tulsa Boys Home board of directors, Metropolitan Tulsa Chamber of Commerce, OSU Spears School 70

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of Business Associates and the City of TulsaRogers County Port Authority. Also, he chaired the OSU-Tulsa Board of Trustees after realizing his dream of bringing a publicsupported research university to Tulsa, for which he was named Tulsa’s Citizen of the Year. His honors include induction into the Oklahoma Hall of Fame in 2010, the OSU Alumni Association Distinguished Alumnus Award, induction into the OSU Hall of Fame and the Spears School Hall of Fame, and the Tulsa Education Foundation’s Leadership in Education Award. “I’ve always thought that banking was a quasipublic institution, and if that was your profession you were indebted to the community by giving back,” Keller says. “I believed if I was going to make a living in banking then I owed a tremendous debt to the community that was supporting us. It’s something I’ve believed from the day I started until now, almost 50 years in the business. “I always thought the banker had some special responsibility to reinvest both his time and resources of the institution in that community. I still do,” says Keller, who was recognized in Tulsa People’s “25 Tulsans Who Shaped Our City” in 2011. Keller and his wife, Marilyn, are proud that all four of their children — Kyle, Griff, Courtney and Elizabeth — attended Oklahoma State, and three of them married OSU graduates. He is looking forward to participating in many of the events surrounding the Spears School’s 100th anniversary, and is proud to be among the Spears School Tributes: 100 For 100. “Shocked! Flattered! It must be a mistake! I can think of many former OSU graduates who accomplished so much more. I sure hope they are also being recognized,” he says.

Joe B. Kreger MBA (1999)

rust, stewardship, personal and professional growth, wisdom and understanding, and a foundation in faith outline the principles of Kreger Financial and its founder, Joe B. Kreger. The second-generation OSU Cowboy followed his dad’s path to Oklahoma State. Dad Joe R. Kreger earned a bachelor’s degree in animal science and a master’s in agricultural education from OSU. Son Joe B. Kreger was named a Top 10 Senior in Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources in 1994. He earned his bachelor’s degree in agriculture, with a major in animal science and a minor in agricultural economics. In 1999, Kreger earned his MBA from Oklahoma State. Kreger, who grew up on the family’s beef cattle, wheat and alfalfa ranch near Tonkawa, Okla., ran his own successful cattle operation in addition to working on the family ranch while at OSU. He and several classmates founded an entrepreneurship club on campus, made up of OSU student entrepreneurs. He also worked in commercial and agricultural lending at Service Bank of Tonkawa during summers and Christmas breaks. As an undergraduate, Kreger was a member of FarmHouse Fraternity and served as its community service chairman, on the College of Agriculture Student Council, the Animal Science champion academic team and in the Block and Bridal Club (national Animal Science fraternity). Kreger worked in management and marketing consulting with a small firm in Houston before going back to OSU for his MBA. During this period, he was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. Just before Kreger began graduate school, he became engaged to his college sweetheart, Traci Bixler, an English education major and member of Pi Beta Phi fraternity from Woodward, Okla.

The two married during his first year in graduate school. In 2004, he became a certified financial planner and has been recognized as a Million Dollar Round Table lifetime member, a Million Dollar Round Table Court of the Table (2011-2013) and received the National Quality Award from the National Association of Insurance and Financial Advisers (2002-2013). In 2011, he was honored as an OSU MBA Program Top 50 Alumnus. He is the owner and principal of Kreger Financial a wealth management practice that is associated with Northwestern Mutual in Oklahoma City. He is also the managing principal of Salt Fork Resources LLC, and a partner with his father and uncle in the family’s Kreger Ranch. Kreger has a passion for alumni engagement and interaction, serving as the president of the Spears School Alumni Society board of directors, the MBA Alumni Advisory Board and the Spears School United Board. “OSU has been such a great part of my life, but I have always believed that it is so much bigger than me. It is remarkable to me that I am being recognized in this way by such a grand institution. Whether it’s the College of Agriculture or the College of Business, I’ve always wanted to give back to a school that has given so much to me and my family,” says Kreger, who is the founder and chairman of the Oklahoma FarmHouse Builder of Men Scholarship. Kreger volunteers as a member of Crossings Community Church and Crossings Christian School in Oklahoma City, and he serves on the Oklahoma board of directors for the National Multiple Sclerosis Society.

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George W. Krull Jr. Accounting (master’s, 1966)

eorge W. Krull Jr. moved many times before arriving at Oklahoma State University to earn his master’s degree in accounting from OSU’s business school in 1966. Before Stillwater, he lived in Ohio, Pennsylvania and Arkansas. In March 1965, Wilton T. Anderson recruited Krull to join the 1965-1966 master’s in accounting program. He received his bachelor’s from Ohio State University in August and began the OSU master’s program in the fall of 1965. He earned a doctorate from Michigan State University. Anderson and his undergraduate mentor inspired and encouraged Krull to consider pursuing an academic career. “If I remember correctly, some seven of us subsequently continued for doctoral degrees and for some part of our careers held university professorships,” Krull says. “Andy wetted our appetites by providing opportunities to teach Principles of Accounting classes and to interact with practicing accountants. While I was inducted into the Beta Alpha Psi chapter at my undergraduate school, I remained active with Oklahoma State’s Chi chapter and was inducted into Beta Gamma Sigma.” He is an outstanding accounting alumnus of Ohio State and Oklahoma State and an honorary alumnus of Northern Illinois University. Krull served as a partner in the executive office of Grant Thornton LLP, where he worked with the implementation of the firm’s automated audit and control software, and he was the firm’s chief learning officer. He retired in 2000. Krull is a trustee and immediate past president of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants Foundation and is a member of the AICPA’s National Commission on Diversity and Inclusion. He is one of four founding 72

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members of the Sponsoring Group of the Pathways Commission. Krull was recently a member of the Association to Advance Collegiate Business Schools International’s Blue Ribbon Committee on Accreditation Quality and remains on its Accounting Accreditation Committee. He recently received for the second time the Federation of Schools of Accountancy’s Practitioner Service Award for his continuing contributions to the accounting academy and education since his retirement. He serves on several university business and accountancy advisory boards, including OSU’s School of Accounting and Northern Illinois University’s Accountancy Executive Advisory Committee. He also serves as a board member and chair of the audit committee of a global nonprofit health organization. Krull and his wife, Nancy, reside in Wheaton, Ill., and Leesburg, Fla. They have three grown children, Wendy, Michael and Sara, and 10 grandchildren. Krull appreciates being named one of the Spears School Tributes: 100 For 100. “When I received the notice from Dean [Ken] Eastman, I was overwhelmed,” he says. “The honor is a shared one among my immediate family members and my colleagues over the years. Dr. Anderson taught his students and colleagues many lessons about what it means to consider oneself a professional. One lesson is that there is no greater reward than helping others succeed. I have tried to achieve that lesson every day. So the honor to be included as one of 100 recipients hopefully demonstrates that individuals who take the time to inspire, cajole and challenge aspiring professionals do make a difference and their efforts are most appreciated.”

John C. Linehan Accounting (1961)

or someone who didn’t necessarily plan on a career in business, John C. Linehan has made an outstanding career for himself.

Linehan grew up in Bartlesville, Okla., and left there in 1957 for Oklahoma State University. Money wasn’t easy to come by, so Linehan worked at a local bowling alley to earn his way through college. He was also in the U.S. Army flight program and involved in several campus organizations such as Kappa Sigma fraternity, Student Union Activities Board and the Newman Center. In 1961, Linehan graduated from OSU and was commissioned a second lieutenant in the Army. That summer, he married Caroline Nixon, also an OSU graduate. In late 1966, Linehan completed his military obligation at the rank of captain and began his civilian career. He began working for Skelly/Getty Oil Co. and was named controller of Getty in 1979. In 1985, Linehan joined KerrMcGee Corp. as controller and was named chief financial officer in 1986 and executive vice president in 1997. Following his retirement from KerrMcGee in 2000, he was an operation trustee for the Texaco Alliance Trust. Linehan credits much of his success to the OSU College of Business. Although his career choice wasn’t exactly planned, it worked out. “The business school taught me problem solving, logical thinking, time management and discipline,” Linehan says. “If you wanted to succeed through the university and thereafter, you had to study and work intelligently.”

During his career, he has been involved with many organizations. He is on a community bank board for BancFirst and has been a board member of Pacific Energy Partners LP and Tom Brown Inc. He was previously involved in civic and non-profit organizations as well, serving on the investment committees of the St. Anthony Hospital Foundation and the Oklahoma City Community Foundation. He was also a board member and a past president of the Boys & Girls Club of Oklahoma County and served as the governor’s appointee to the Oklahoma Commission on Children and Youth. Linehan, a certified public accountant, is a member of the American Institute of CPAs and the Oklahoma Society of CPAs. He’s been honored with inductions into the OSU Alumni Association Hall of Fame, OSU Spears School of Business Hall of Fame and the OSU School of Accounting Wilton T. Anderson Hall of Fame. He has been named an OSU Distinguished Alumnus and the OSU Financial Management Association Executive of the Year. Linehan and his wife, Caroline, live in Stillwater and have three children and 10 grandchildren. As for being honored as one of the Spears School Tributes: 100 For 100, Linehan says, “This recognition is the result of accomplishments, knowing that the accomplishments were made possible by family, co-workers, educators and friends.”

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Tucker Link Accounting (1972)

ucker Link never dreamed while growing up in north central Oklahoma that he would one day travel the world. But today, he attributes his success as a businessman, leading him all over the world, including living in Houston, Seattle, Los Angeles and London, to the foundation provided by his Oklahoma State University education. “Without OSU, I don’t know what we would have done,” says Link. Link, now the past chairman of the OSU/A&M Board of Regents, arrived at Oklahoma State as an engineering student. “In the ’60s the (United States) space program was making headlines, and it was intriguing to me. But after a while I figured out that I was not right for engineering,” he says. His Lambda Chi Alpha fraternity brother Ron Grooms was there to help when Link faced a tough decision: either quit school and return to his hometown of Covington, Okla., or change majors. “Ron convinced me not to quit school,” he says. Instead, Grooms took Link across campus to meet with Wilton T. (Andy) Anderson, head of the OSU School of Accounting. Link was an accounting major by the time he walked out of Anderson’s office, and that decision changed his life. “Ron Grooms was my mentor, and he introduced me to Dr. Anderson, and Andy took the reins and straightened me out,” Link says. “Andy is and has been a significant influence not only in my life but in a number of people’s lives. There have been a number of people that are graduates of the business school that Andy influenced, and anyone who came in contact with him got influenced in a very positive way.” Link and his wife, Vickie, have shown their appreciation for the retired professor’s investment in their lives by endowing the Wilton T. Anderson Chair in Accounting. 74

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Today, Link is chairman and founder of Knightsbridge Investments, based in Bermuda with offices in Dubai, UAE. Knightsbridge has expanded into a number of industries, including chemicals, oil exploration/production, renewable energy, real estate and ranching. KiamichiLink Ranch, a purebred Angus operation in Finley, Okla., consists of more than 1,000 head of cattle and state-of-the-art laboratory facilities to improve genetic engineering in beef cattle. “Over the past 40 years, there have been a lot of different paths and a lot of twists and turns. The business school and the accounting degree, and the people that I met there that I still associate with and still know, had a significant impact. It was the foundation for my success,” he says. “To now be involved in the university and on the Board of Regents, and serving as chairman, I’m fortunate to be able to reflect back on and think how lucky I was to be able to be here and get a degree. But for OSU, friends and my wife, I don’t know where I would be. Without OSU, I don’t know what we would have done,” says Link. Link was pleasantly surprised when informed that he was going to be recognized in the Spears School Tributes: 100 For 100. “I’m very honored and very grateful. I think it’s an incredible honor,” he says. “It’s a great feeling to know that you’ve been selected to be honored this way, but by the same token I’m not sure that I’m deserving to be honored among the Spears School Tributes: 100 For 100. We’ve done a lot of things for the university, but we don’t do it for recognition. We donate and work for OSU because we don’t want to forget where we came from, and we want to give back to what got us started. Without our OSU education, we may not be where we are today.”

Linda Ann Parrack Livingstone Economics and Management (1982) MBA (1983) Business Administration (Ph.D., 1992)

inda Ann Parrack Livingstone graduated from Oklahoma State University’s business school with a bachelor’s degree in economics and management in 1982. The Perkins, Okla., native earned her MBA in 1983 and a doctorate in business administration in 1992. While at OSU, Livingstone was a member of Omicron Delta Kappa, Beta Gamma Sigma and Phi Kappa Phi. She was a four-year letter winner in varsity basketball, a Big 8 Scholar Athlete, a Top 10 Senior at OSU and the business school and a Top 6 Finalist for the Phoenix Award, given to the outstanding doctoral student at OSU. “The business school had a tremendous impact on my life,” Livingstone says. “As an undergraduate, I had exceptional faculty members who gave me a solid grounding in business and gave me a love for academics. During my MBA, I was inspired by a faculty member to eventually pursue my Ph.D., and during my Ph.D. program, I developed the skills, insight and passion for a successful academic career.” After graduating with her master’s, she spent four years in western Oklahoma. She started as the director of Kids Inc., a countywide recreational program, then spent a year doing financial work for Enid Memorial Hospital. After she completed her doctorate at OSU, she joined the faculty of the Hankamer School of Business at Baylor University. She spent 11 years in Waco, Texas, the last four as associate dean of graduate programs. In 2002, she was appointed dean of the Graziadio School of Business and Management at Pepperdine University in Malibu, Calif., a position she held until earlier this year, when she was named dean of the George Washington University School of Business.

Livingstone has earned various honors and awards since her days at OSU. She is the vice chair/chairelect and a member of the board of the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business. She is a member and chair of the Oaks Christian School board of directors in Westlake Village, Calif., and a judge for the Ernst and Young Los Angeles Entrepreneur of the Year Awards. She also participates in the Fortune Most Powerful Women’s Summit. She’s received several awards from OSU and the Spears School of Business, including being inducted into the Spears School of Business Hall of Fame where she received the first ever Outstanding Ph.D. Alumnus Award in November 2013. She was recognized in 2011 as one of the Top 50 Distinguished MBA alumni during the school’s MBA 50th anniversary celebration. The Los Angeles chapter of the International Association of Business Communicators honored her with an IABC-LA Success Award for outstanding and effective contributions to organizational communications. Her husband, Brad, is also an OSU alumnus (both undergraduate and master’s degrees). He has been teaching history at Oaks Christian School in Malibu. Their daughter, Shelby, will attend Rice University in fall 2014 on a volleyball scholarship. “It is quite humbling to be noted as one of the 100 For 100,” Livingstone says. “The Spears School has a wonderful history that has produced countless numbers of outstanding graduates. To be included among that group is a distinct honor and one that I hope I can continue to represent effectively in the years ahead.”

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TRIBUTES: 100 FOR 100

Lee Manzer MBA (1966) Ph.D. (1974)

klahoma State University’s people are the ones who make its legacy a reality.

Lee Manzer is one of those people. The Hominy, Okla., native first came to OSU in 1959, majoring in chemistry and minoring in mathematics. As a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, Manzer embarked on a twoyear mission trip to Washington, D.C., where his interest in teaching others began. He returned to OSU after the mission trip. Despite deciding he didn’t want to be a chemist, he continued in that field. He then went across campus to earn his MBA from the business school in 1966. “The MBA changed the orientation of my working life,” Manzer says. “It was to set the pattern for my career and for the rest of my life in what I was trying to do in terms of working. It was a great event.” Manzer’s first job was as a chemist at Dow Chemical in Michigan, where he got involved in marketing research and industrial sales. He soon discovered if you have something people are interested in, you can get rewarded from the work you do. He knew that teaching others was his calling. In January 1970, OSU called him to teach a marketing class. Manzer also joined the doctoral program in marketing, which was in its early stages. He went to Memphis State University in 1973, finished up his dissertation in 1974, and began teaching at OSU’s business school in 1975. He has remained in the Business Building for nearly 40 years — and in the same office on the fourth floor since 1996. He has served the business school in a variety of positions, including director of graduate studies, director of the Small Business Institute and head of the Department of Marketing.

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Manzer has become one of the most known professors on campus, and even throughout the state. A nationally sought after speaker, he has presented to hundreds of organizations and businesses, with more than 100,000 participants across the United States. And Manzer isn't done yet. “I like to work,” he says. “I’m the oldest person in this building, and I could retire. But I don’t want to retire. I like being around the students. I like to come to work.” Manzer has received multiple honors and awards from the Spears School of Business and OSU. He’s been named the Outstanding Teacher in the Spears School four times and OSU’s Teacher of the Year three times. Also, he was given the “Loyal and True” award, the highest service award that OSU gives for long-term service. Manzer has won nearly 20 teaching awards. He’s also served as adviser to hundreds of students, including six Outstanding Graduates at OSU. He was one of the Spears School’s Top 50 MBA graduates and inducted into the Oklahoma Higher Education Hall of Fame in 2010. In addition to his legacy, Manzer has guided his family to OSU as well. “Our whole family is OSU,” he says. “My wife went to school here. My three children went to school here, and two even graduated from the Spears School of Business. In fact, they’re all heavily involved at OSU.” Manzer is actually surprised to be honored as a Spears School Tributes: 100 For 100. “If the school really knew what everybody was doing, I probably wouldn’t be involved in this,” he says. “Since OSU means a lot to us, the college has been wonderful and it’s a great honor.”

Greg Massey Finance (1987)

reg Massey graduated from Oklahoma State University’s College of Business Administration with a bachelor’s degree in finance in 1987.

member of the Young Presidents Organization and a member of Victory Life Church.

The native of Durant, Okla., is the president and CEO of First United Bank & Trust Co., a $2.5 billion financial services organization operating in more than 40 locations in Oklahoma and North Texas.

Massey says he chose OSU for the student environment and the business college’s reputation.

As an active community member, Massey has served on numerous boards, including the OSU/A&M Board of Regents, the OSU Alumni Association board, Sigma Chi Housing Corp., the Oklahoma Bankers Association, the Oklahoma Transportation Authority, REI of Oklahoma Inc. and Leadership Oklahoma. Massey is a board member of the Durant Industrial Authority and the Oklahoma State Chamber of Commerce. He is also an active

In 1993, Massey graduated from the Southwestern Graduate School of Banking in Dallas.

On campus, he was involved in Sigma Chi and a treasurer for the OSU DECA program. He also worked through college at Stillwater National Bank. He and his wife, Kay, live in Durant and have three children, Blake, Brooke and Corbin. Massey is proud to be called an OSU business school graduate and to be among the Spears School Tributes: 100 For 100. “I feel humbled to be honored and know there are so many great people that have graduated from our business college and the impact they have made in the world,” Massey says.

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TRIBUTES: 100 FOR 100

Robert A. McCormick Finance/Economics (1981) MBA (1983)

obert A. McCormick remembers sitting in Oklahoma State University professor Gary Simpson’s financial futures class back in 1982, knowing his life would never be the same. Simpson, who retired in 2013 after a 37-year career at OSU, definitely left his mark on McCormick. “I was in his very first class on Financial Futures, which was revolutionary to me,” says McCormick. “At that time, financial futures were in their infancy, but it convinced me that I wanted to have a career in the investment world, and it prepared me for my chartered financial analyst studies.” McCormick got an early start in the investment world by working part time at the Edward Jones Investment branch in Stillwater beginning his junior year. But work was nothing new to the Tulsa native putting himself through college. “There was a period while I was trying to earn my MBA that I was either in class or working one of my three jobs,” says McCormick, who was also a graduate assistant in the MBA program and a maintenance worker at the Colvin Center. In spite of his schedule, “College was an exhilarating, fun time — one I wouldn’t trade for anything.” That hard work helped cover his education costs while he was learning from Simpson and the other business school professors. “The interaction with my professors was tremendous,” he says. “They challenged me to think in a very critical way and encouraged me to excel. Of course, it was not all work. OSU was a great place to experience college life, from the Strip to the early days of Eskimo Joe’s. And when I wasn’t working or experiencing the social life in Stillwater, I was playing ball at the Colvin Center. What a great life!”

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McCormick joined Edward Jones as an internal auditor in St. Louis after earning his MBA in 1983. He moved into the research department as a securities analyst two years later. His return to Oklahoma in 1987 was to serve as vice president of trust investments at First National Bank of Tulsa before joining Trust Co. of Oklahoma in 1992. McCormick joined Trust as a portfolio manager, where he continues today. He added corporate duties as the chief operating officer with a seat on the board of directors in 2008. He holds the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) designation, and in April 2014 earned the Chartered Alternative Investment Analyst designation. McCormick is past president of the Oklahoma Society of Financial Analysts. He has previously been active in the CFA Institute and was an adjunct professor at OSU-Tulsa as well as a founding board member of the San Miguel School of Tulsa. McCormick and his wife, Julia, lived within a few miles of each other growing up but first met in the cafeteria of Willard Hall at OSU. They married in 1981, a week after he earned his undergraduate degree. They have three grown children: Patrick, 29, Sarah, 27, and Eleanor, 20. McCormick is honored to be recognized in the Spears School Tributes: 100 For 100. “It’s an extreme honor for me. It’s very special,” he says. “Given all the strong classmates I interacted with during my six years at OSU, I was humbled when I was informed that I was being honored as one of the 100 graduates for the school’s 100th anniversary. It means a lot to me because I think the Spears School of Business is an excellent business school.”

James C. McElroy Administrative Sciences (Ph.D., 1979)

ames C. McElroy is the Raisbeck Business Professor and University Professor of Management at Iowa State University in Ames, Iowa. Originally from Jamestown, N.D., McElroy received a bachelor’s in business administration from Jamestown College in 1971 and an MBA from the University of South Dakota in 1972 before earning his doctorate in administrative sciences from Oklahoma State University’s College of Business Administration in 1979.

McElroy has progressed through the academic ranks at Iowa State and has held several administrative positions, including director of the Industrial Relations Center and chair of the Departments of Management, Marketing and Transportation/Logistics — managing them all at the same time. He has also served as the associate dean of the College of Business. After his stint as associate dean, he realized that his heart was in research and teaching, so he returned to the faculty full time in 2004.

McElroy was teaching at the University of Wisconsin-Superior after earning his MBA when two colleagues left for Oklahoma State. Dennis Mott was hired as a faculty member in business communications at OSU, and Larry Wall became a doctoral student at OSU, earning his doctorate in 1978. “My wife and I went to Stillwater to visit them, met with faculty, and felt it was a good fit,” McElroy says.

At Iowa State, McElroy holds the titles of University Professor and the Raisbeck Professor of Business. He has also received the ISU Faculty Citation Award from the ISU Alumni Association (1995), the ISU University Outstanding Teacher Award (1984) and the Legislative Teaching Award (1989). He also was a professor for Spears School of Business Dean Ken Eastman and served on his master’s committee.

“The business school had a tremendous effect on me,” McElroy says. “When I was at OSU, it was like the perfect storm in terms of the faculty who were teaching there at the time. H. Kirk Downey, R. Dennis Middlemist, Michael Hitt, R. Duane Ireland and Charles ‘Bob’ Greer were the staff in the Department of Management and they were and are extremely renowned faculty in the management discipline.”

McElroy and his wife, Dionne, have been married for 42 years and have three daughters, Emily McElroy, Heidi Sandate (Andres) and Julie Seery (Rob). They have one granddaughter, Frankie Sandate, and another Sandate child on the way.

Downey and Middlemist, in particular, taught him to ask interesting research questions, and their guidance formed the basis of his successful career at Iowa State University. “They were all great role models and influenced how I approach my research and my profession and how I interact with and treat my own students,” says McElroy, adding he also enjoyed taking economics from Richard Leftwich and Ansel Sharp.

McElroy is honored to be recognized in the Spears School Tributes: 100 For 100. “I am extremely proud of receiving this distinction. My academic training at Oklahoma State University prepared me to take advantage of the opportunities provided to me by Iowa State University,” says McElroy. “As I approach the end of a very successful career in academia, being recognized by Oklahoma State as someone who has made that institution proud kind of brings me back full circle to where I started.”

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Liz Norris McKinley Marketing and Management (1981)

iz Norris McKinley has come a long way since graduating from Oklahoma State University’s business school. The Stillwater, Okla., native earned a business degree in 1981 with a double major in marketing and management. Even while attending OSU, she was ambitious. She worked to put herself through college. As a member of Delta Delta Delta sorority, she held various offices, served as an officer on the OSU Student Government Association and started a radio program called Spotlight SGA. She was a State Assembly page and made either the president or dean’s honor roll every semester. “I did not realize it at the time, but I got a tremendous education from OSU,” McKinley says. “I was given all the tools I needed to navigate a successful career and eventually start my own business. I am very proud of my degree from OSU.” Three days after graduation, she began an oil career at Koch Industries in Wichita, Kan. She was the first woman hired as a trader for Koch Fuels. She was then transferred to Birmingham, Ala., to establish a regional marketing office. She worked her way up at various oil companies as she moved around the United States until she established Pinnacle Petroleum Inc. in 1995. She is president and owner of Pinnacle, based in Huntington Beach, Calif. It is a petroleum and lubricant wholesaler and distributor with sales in 14 states and revenues nearing $200 million. She and her husband are also the proprietors of NorrisMcKinley Vineyards.

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McKinley is an OSU Spears School of Business Hall of Fame inductee and was among the Women Presidents Organization's Fastest Growing 50 in 2012. She has received the WBENC Rising Star Emerging Entrepreneur Award, the National Association of Women Business Owners Entrepreneur Award, the U.S. Congress Certificate of Special Congressional Recognition, California Senate certificate of recognition and a California State Assembly certificate of recognition. Pinnacle Petroleum has been listed among the Top 100 Diversity-Owned Businesses in America, Top 100 Women-Owned Business in America and Top 100 Private Businesses in America. She is a board member for the OSU Spears School of Business Riata Center for Entrepreneurship, as well as the University of Southern California’s Marshall School of Business Lloyd Greif Center for Entrepreneurial Studies. McKinley and her husband, Peter, live in Huntington Beach. They have 23-year-old twins, Robert and Madeline. She plans to attend some of the 100th Anniversary events throughout the year. “I am pleased, honored and humbled to be a part of this prestigious group and to join this select group of recipients, many of whom I have long admired and respected,” McKinley says. “I would like to salute all of this year’s honorees, each of whom has made incredible contributions to the Oklahoma State University legacy.”

John Meinders Accounting/Computer Science (1987)

ohn Meinders grew up feeling like a castaway. Although his family has a long history at Oklahoma State University, and he was raised to be loyal and true to the Cowboys, it was difficult where he grew up — in Norman, just down the street from the University of Oklahoma. “I was wanting to go somewhere different than everyone else when I got out of high school, and with my familiarity with OSU that made it an easy choice,” he says. Meinders became active in the Alpha Tau Omega fraternity and many other campus activities, including OSU’s Blue Key, a student honor and service society. He earned bachelor’s degrees in accounting and computer science in five years on campus, and more than 25 years later still remembers the impact that accounting professors Charlotte Wright, John Wilguess and others had on him. “The impact the business school, and specifically the School of Accounting, had on my life is immeasurable,” Meinders says. “The School of Accounting at OSU has always been outstanding and provided me with an outstanding education. The group of instructors there at the time did a great job of preparing me for public accounting, and the other roles I’ve had over the years.” He spent the first 12 years of his professional life with accounting firm Arthur Andersen in Tulsa. In 1992, Meinders joined a team that spent three months in Romania on a special project shortly after the Communist government was overthrown, and the country was transitioning to a capitalist economy. The group from Arthur Andersen joined engineers, attorneys and other consultants to assist in the transition.

industry, and the group was charged with developing a restructuring strategy for the nation’s oil and gas sector,” says Meinders. “It was a great, once-in-a-lifetime experience.” He joined oil and gas company Lariat Petroleum in early 1999. Two years later, Meinders accepted an offer to become U.S. controller with Vintage Petroleum, another Tulsa energy firm. “The five years that I spent at Vintage were some of the very best of my career,” Meinders says. “I consider it a privilege to have had the opportunity to work with the outstanding people there.” When Vintage was acquired, he was approached by partners at Grant Thornton to return to public accounting. He has been an audit partner and head of the Tulsa energy practice office, continuing to work primarily with energy companies, since joining the firm in September 2006. He serves on the OSU School of Accounting Advisory Board and is active in the Kiwanis Club of Tulsa, United Way and Habitat for Humanity. Meinders is proud to be recognized in the Spears School Tributes: 100 For 100. “I would say that I feel very honored to be considered part of this outstanding group of OSU business school graduates, especially having already seen some of the people who have been selected to be honored,” he says. “I am humbled to be considered in the same category as some of the other recipients. “The Spears School has been very good to me. It certainly gave me great training, and I’m glad to still be involved with the school. It’s a top-notch, first-class group of people now as well as when I was going to school, and I’m proud to be associated with them.”

“The World Bank was preparing to lend the Romanian government money to reinvest in the 2014 engage@spears

TRIBUTES: 100 FOR 100

Connie Newman Mitchell Business Administration (1972)

ot much holds Connie Newman Mitchell back from achieving her goals.

In high school, Mitchell was determined to graduate in three years. Between riding the school bus 20 miles each day and leading the Carrier (Okla.) High School girls’ basketball team, many students wouldn’t have been able to achieve this goal. But Mitchell did — and as a result, she earned a full scholarship to attend a Quaker church college. On graduation day, her coach and superintendent refused to award her the high school diploma because they wanted her to stay another year to play sports. Determined to attend college that fall as planned, she persuaded the college to admit her without her “official” diploma. This was one of many displays of determination and resilience Mitchell demonstrated over the course of her academic and professional career. Within four years, she had transferred to OSU, married her neighbor Joe Mitchell, paid her way through school and graduated from Oklahoma State University with a degree in business administration plus certifications to teach English, history and business on secondary and college levels. Reflecting on lessons learned at OSU, Mitchell notes the importance of learning to account for every penny through proper accounting strategies. She recalls specific advice from OSU business professor and golf coach Labron Harris to dress for the position you want and not the one you have. “Dean Richard Poole’s leadership example was to be available to students,” she says. “He frequented business school common areas where he would introduce himself and offer students advice on a broad range of topics.” After teaching for 15 years, Mitchell and her husband started a company with five friends. Ultimately, Mitchell would serve as chief

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administrative officer, board member and subsidiary president of their multibillion dollar global company with 8,500 employees. Mitchell has retired and assumed the title “Nana.” The Mitchells live on their Ten Triple X Ranch in Glen Rose, Texas. From the 10,000-acre ranch, she contemplates her priorities and her passions. “We have helped over 100 students obtain higher education degrees through philanthropic support and promoting programs in our various businesses,” she says. “We start as mentors and then become so interested in our students’ success that they become like part of our family.” The OSU Academic Enhancement Center for student athletes was named after the Mitchells and provides an academic, personal and career support model at colleges throughout the nation. Despite retiring, Mitchell is still an entrepreneurial strategy consultant involved with her family business investments. The Mitchells are currently working with OSU to develop a herd of cattle for the Wagyu beef industry. Mitchell was named to the Spears School of Business Hall of Fame in 2007. In 2012, she was named an Oklahoma State Alumni Association Distinguished Alumna. She currently serves on the Women For OSU board and is part of the OSU distinguished lecture series. “It is truly humbling to be chosen as one of the Spears Tributes: 100 For 100,” she says. “It boils down to one thing. ... Regardless of accomplishments listed on my résumé, my true trophies are my five children and the dear, fascinating, funny lifelong friends that I’ve made along life’s rocky road. It also helped that I married my best friend, Joe. I am proud to be able to share this tribute with those who call me mom and friend.”

James M. Morris II Business Administration (1973)

ames M. Morris II knew as a young child that he was going to attend Oklahoma State University. The South Bend, Ind., native earned his bachelor’s degree in business administration from OSU’s business school in 1973. Morris was 6 when his family moved to Oklahoma. He quickly went from being a Notre Dame fan to cheering on OSU. Several of his family members attended OSU, which helped solidify his decision to become a Cowboy. Morris cherishes his time at OSU and recalls it as a “great experience.” He was a member of Acacia fraternity, which he says helped him develop good social skills that would prove to be important in all facets of his life. Morris describes his experience in the business school as “well-rounded,” crediting it for pushing him in the right direction for his career path in financial services. One lesson that he definitely took away from OSU and fellow Oklahomans is how important a good work ethic is. In his opinion, a good work ethic trumps intellect as a priority that should come before everything else. He has kept this belief with him in making both professional and personal decisions, and it has helped him succeed. Morris began working for John Hancock Financial Services in 1973, where he built and owned several agencies around the United States. In May 1999, he was named CEO of John Hancock’s

Boston-based distribution system as well as chairman of Signator Investors Inc., Essex Corp. and Essex National Securities Inc. He worked at John Hancock for 31 years before retiring in 2004. He soon decided that retirement wasn’t for him. Morris now owns a private equity company that invests in The Wilds RE, residential real estate development; Buffalo Creek LLC, oil and gas exploration; InforcePro, insurance software; and Choice Capital Partners, assisted living and memory care. Morris also serves on the boards for Bank SNB, the Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation and the South Central MS Society. He received the Maureen Reagan Award from the Alzheimer’s Association in 2012. He and his wife, Lou, have been married for 41 years. They have two grown daughters, Kim and Kelly, and two grandchildren, Hannah and Ford, his “pride and joy.” The couple primarily reside in Henderson, Nev., but they also spend time in Colorado and Oklahoma City. Morris appreciates being chosen as one of the Spears School Tributes: 100 For 100 and is extremely proud of his alma mater. “It’s a great honor,” Morris says. “I’m very thankful for being nominated and really am very appreciative. I couldn’t have more nice things to say about Oklahoma State. Wherever we go, everyone knows where I went to school.”

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Suzanne Carlile Myers Business Administration (1957)

Norman Myers Banking and Finance (1958)

Do not go where the path may lead. Go instead where there is no path and leave a trail.

— Ralph Waldo Emerson

orman and Suzanne Myers began their path at the Oklahoma State University business school: “Our path was one that we could never have imagined we would follow. I do believe we blazed a new trail, and our path has led us right back to the Spears School of Business. Why not finish where we began?” The Myerses’ story includes the value of Norman’s natural sales ability, a shared willingness to take risks and change course, and an ongoing desire to support and invest in OSU. Norman enrolled in Oklahoma A&M College in the fall of 1953 as an engineering major. He pledged Sigma Nu fraternity and involved himself in campus life, which did not necessarily include class attendance, putting his degree at risk. On the last day of finals, at his two roommates’ suggestion, he took a risk and proposed a change of course. He called the professor who taught the course he hadn’t attended since midsemester and told him that he wanted to change his major to banking and finance in the College of Business. In order to do so, he needed to be able to withdraw from the class with a passing grade. His sales skills sealed the deal, and his professor allowed him to withdraw and begin the second semester of his fourth year as a College of Business student. He found his niche, and his transcript showed it. A Kappa Kappa Gamma member and business administration major, Suzanne was involved in many campus activities. She served on the Business Student Council, was a student senator for the College of Business and was invited to join Who’s Who in American Colleges and Universities. She graduated in May 1957 as a member of the last graduating class of Oklahoma A&M; Norman

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was a member of the first graduating class of Oklahoma State University. The two married in August 1957. The two moved to Perry, Okla., and to Virginia as Norman pursued a sales career with Jones and Laughlin Supply Co., then served his six-month obligation in the military reserve. Rejoining Jones and Laughlin in Houston after his service, Myers noted that the economy was booming. He decided to create a new path in the insurance business — and succeeded. A fledgling trash-hauling company being started by a friend caught Norman’s eye, and he invested $10,000. The trash-hauling company, which began as American Refuse Systems Inc., purchased a heavy equipment business in 1969 to become Browning Ferris Industries Inc. Later that year, the company went on the New York Stock Exchange. Over the next 30 years, Myers held a variety of positions, including executive vice president, chief development officer, national sales/marketing director, vice chairman of the board and chief marketing officer. BFI became the second-largest waste disposal company in the world with more than $6 billion in annual revenue before it was sold in 1999 to Allied Waste Industries Inc. Norman’s invitation to be inducted into the College of Business Hall of Fame in 1996 was the beginning of another path of renewed interest and involvement in OSU. In addition to being active in the OSU Foundation and the Business School Associates, the Myerses created the Norman and Suzanne Myers Endowed Chair for Excellence in Business. They also gave $1 million to name the dean’s suite in the new business building. “We are honored to be chosen for this special tribute. We join you in paying tribute to many at OSU who have given so much.”

Duck-Woo Nam Economics (master’s, 1960; Ph.D., 1961)

uck-Woo Nam will forever be linked with a pair of other impressive Oklahoma State University business school graduates as the first people to receive their doctorate in economics from what was then the College of Business Administration. Nam and Dick Poole earned their degrees in 1961, and a year later, Bob Sandmeyer received his doctorate.

Association, the Standing Committee of the Pacific Economic Cooperation Council, the Board of Governors of the East-West Center based in Honolulu, and the Korea-U.S. Wiseman’s Council.

While both Poole (1965-72) and Sandmeyer (197794) would eventually become deans of OSU’s business school, Nam returned to his native Republic of Korea (South Korea) for his distinguished career.

He wrote and published nine books (five in Korean and four in English) on the history of economic thought and is widely regarded as the architect of economic recovery in the Republic of Korea.

Before attending OSU, he earned a bachelor’s degree from Kookmin University in 1950 and a master’s of arts in economics from Seoul National University in 1956. Nam then chose Oklahoma State University to earn his master’s of science and his doctorate in economics. Nam taught economics at Kookmin University and Sogang University before he was named finance minister in 1969. He served as finance minister until 1974, overseeing South Korea’s economic development, and was deputy prime minister from 1974 to 1978. In 1980, he was appointed prime minister of South Korea by then-President Chun Doo-hwan and served until 1982. He remained involved with many international economic organizations after he left government service. He served as chairman of the Korea International Trade Association, the KoreanUnited States Economic Council, the Korean Herald and the Korean Traders Scholarship Foundation. Also, he served as a member of the boards of directors of the World Trade Centers

As recently as March 2013, Nam was in the public eye when he sat next to newly inaugurated South Korean President Park Geun-hye on the advisory council of elder statesmen.

Nam was a man of his word. As a matter of fact, his honesty and high ethical standards almost cost him his doctorate at OSU, according to the Business Administration: Centennial Histories Series by William M. Kincaid Jr. Nam hired a student to make corrections on the final draft of his dissertation, but he didn’t know the Korean student could not type in English. The deadline for submitting his dissertation was nearing and an extension was not possible because of Nam’s flight reservations to Korea. When the supervising professor did not receive the final draft, Nam explained he was honor-bound to let the Korean student type it. The unnamed professor intervened, and despite Nam’s protests, he took the unfinished manuscript and had it completed within 24 hours. Nam would have sacrificed his degree to keep his word. Nam was inducted into the Spears School of Business Hall of Fame in 1985. In 1987, he received the Henry G. Bennett Distinguished Service Award from OSU. He died at the age of 89 on May 18, 2013.

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Jerry R. Nichols General Business (1964)

erry R. Nichols’s decision to attend Oklahoma State University changed his life. The Oklahoma City native earned his bachelor’s degree in general business from OSU’s business school in 1964. He then worked three years before deciding to attend law school at the University of Tulsa from 1967 to 1969.

Robertson for 27 years. He has more than 40 years of experience and focuses on the business transactional, banking and financial services arenas.

In high school, Nichols actually had more connections to the University of Oklahoma as he often worked out with some of the starters on the OU wrestling team. However, Norman, Okla., was just too close, and he wanted to turn over a fresh leaf. That new start, along with the beauty of OSU’s campus, is what ultimately drew him to Stillwater.

Nichols is a member of the Tulsa County Bar Association, Oklahoma Bar Association, American Bar Association and the Bar Association of the District of Columbia. He’s a member of the disbursing committee for the Tulsa Foundation. He also previously served as a member of the OSU-Tulsa President’s Cabinet and a director of the University of Tulsa College of Law’s Alumni Association. He serves on the OSU Foundation Board of Governors and is a past member of the foundation’s board of trustees and the OSU Alumni Association’s executive committee.

While at OSU, he was a member of Sigma Nu fraternity. He made the dean’s honor roll and was a member of the Business Student Council and the Student Government Association. Nichols describes the business school professors as “top drawer” and strong leaders in their subjects. “I was always about 50 percent intimidated by their expertise, knowledge and command of the classroom,” he says. “I really admired that.” “I really enjoyed the business courses and I always wanted to be a ‘business man,’” Nichols says. “I didn’t know what that meant until I went into the business program at OSU. There I learned to think like a businessman. It really helped me a lot to understand what I call ‘the world.’” After graduation, Nichols went to work for a small-insurance holding company, specializing in the acquisition of smaller insurance companies, including hostile takeovers. “I found that really fun,” he says. “That was strong juice for a guy right out of college.” Nichols has been of counsel with Hall Estill since 2006. Prior to that, he was with the law firm Nichols, Wolfe, Stamper, Nally, Fallis and 86

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He was a founding member, co-owner and director of Fintube LP in Tulsa. He has served as a founder and director of numerous banks and savings and loan associations in Oklahoma.

Nichols recently lost his wife of 49 years, Kris, to Alzheimer’s disease. She was active in college and spent two years at OSU, where she was a member of Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority. She received her science foundation at OSU before being accepted into dental school at Baylor University and was a dental hygienist for several years. Nichols is surprised but honored to be recognized in the Spears School Tributes: 100 For 100. “It has to be and is a very humbling recognition that someone has bestowed on me, and I do appreciate it. ... I can assure you that if I had never been recognized that I wouldn’t be surprised or upset,” he says. “To me, it’s a pretty unique honor that I’m not sure I’ve earned over the years, but maybe some people think I have, so I accept.”

Preston Nicholson Management (2004)

reston Nicholson went only 55 miles from his hometown of Hominy, Okla., to attend Oklahoma State University. And Camp Cowboy, just before his freshman year, confirmed that he had made the right choice. “I was blown away by the amount of spirit and pride current students had in their school,” Nicholson says. On campus, he was president of Business Student Council, co-executive director of Camp Cowboy and executive director of the Big Event. He was involved in the Student Government Association for four years and the Homecoming Steering Committee and Orange Peel for three years. He received the Raymond D. Thomas Award from the Spears School of Business and was named an Outstanding Senior by the OSU Alumni Association. He was also named a Top 5 Homecoming King finalist, a Wentz Scholar and a Top 10 Freshman Man. He was also involved in Mortar Board (receiving its inaugural Tracey S. Cox Memorial Leadership Award), Omicron Delta Kappa, President’s Leadership Council and Business Ambassadors. “The business school had a profound impact on me. It taught me how to think critically, how to be an effective leader and manager, and how to be more strategic in my decision making,” Nicholson says. “With the variety of business courses I took at OSU, I was able to leave with knowledge of organizational leadership, business law, and financial and project management, not to mention more self-confidence and a greater appreciation for culture and diversity.” In 2004, Nicholson earned his bachelor’s in management from the Spears School. In May 2007, he graduated from the University of Oklahoma College of Law and was sworn in as a licensed attorney in Kansas in September 2007. He was an assistant director in the Undergraduate Advising

Center and director of pre-law advising for more than six years at the University of Kansas. At KU, he taught undergraduate legal courses for the Humanities and Western Civilization Department. He has maintained his Kansas law license. Today, Nicholson is the associate director of admissions and financial aid at Drake University Law School in Des Moines, Iowa. He helps coordinate the law school’s recruiting efforts, helps oversee the financial aid and scholarship allocation process for law students, and helps execute the law school’s social media strategy. “The skills you gain through business and law are definitely applicable to higher education management,” he says. “Every day of my career, I have drawn upon my business education from OSU when developing marketing and management strategies, supervising employees, analyzing problems and making decisions that require costbenefit analyses.” Nicholson has been on television several times, appearing as a contestant on Jeopardy, Wheel of Fortune and Who Wants to be a Millionaire? Nicholson has volunteered with the Kansas Bar Association and various organizations related to academia, including the Western Association of Pre-Law Advisers and the National Academic Advising Association. In 2012, he was named the National Outstanding Pre-Law Faculty Adviser of the Year by Phi Alpha Delta Law Fraternity. He is honored to be recognized among the Spears School Tributes: 100 For 100. “It means the world to me. I consider my OSU experience to be one of the best experiences of my life, and I am proud to represent OSU whenever and however I can,” Nicholson says. “To be chosen for this prestigious honor is quite humbling. It motivates me to give back even more.” 2014 engage@spears

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Don Nickles Business Administration (1971)

on Nickles’ career actually began during his days at Oklahoma State University.

The Ponca City, Okla., native had a great experience at OSU, earning his bachelor’s degree in business administration from OSU’s business school in 1971. He joined Beta Theta Pi fraternity and married his childhood sweetheart, Linda Morrison. The couple worked for a few months with Bill and Sons Janitor Service before starting their own business, Don Nickles Professional Cleaning Service, which was later sold to a fellow OSU student, Ron Ward. They employed several people; Nickles describes the business as “a very educational and rewarding experience.” Nickles is currently chairman and CEO of the Nickles Group LLC, a consulting and business venture firm in Washington, D.C. He supervises the firm’s government relations and consulting practices and oversees the management of business development and client issues. He was a U.S. senator from Oklahoma from 1980 to 2005. He held numerous leadership positions, including assistant Republican leader. Nickles became the first Oklahoman elected to a fourth Senate term. He chaired the National Republication Senatorial Committee and the Republican Policy Committee. In 2003, Nickles became chair of the Senate Budget Committee, the first Oklahoman to do so. He was elected Republican majority whip in 1996, the second-ranking party member in that

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chamber, retaining the post through 2003, the highest Senate leadership position ever held by an Oklahoman. He also served on the energy and natural resources committee and the finance committee. Before serving in the U.S. Senate, Nickles served in the Oklahoma Senate and worked for Nickles Machine Corp. in Ponca City, becoming vice president and general manager. He also served in the National Guard. Nickles has served as a director of Chesapeake Energy and Valero Energy. He’s a vice chair of the Executive Campaign Committee and a life member of the OSU Alumni Association. He’s received numerous honors and awards from OSU, including induction into the Spears School of Business Hall of Fame and the OSU Alumni Association Hall of Fame. He has received the Distinguished Alumnus Award, the Henry G. Bennett Distinguished Service Award, an OSU Leadership Legacy board and membership on the OSU Centennial Advisory Commission. Edmon Low Library is the permanent home for his senatorial papers. Nickles and his wife, Linda, currently reside in McLean, Va. They have four children: Jenny, Kim, Robyn and Don. Kim and Robyn are also graduates of OSU. The Nickleses have 12 grandchildren. Nickles appreciates being recognized among the Spears School Tributes: 100 For 100. “It is an honor to be associated with such a great group of talented and accomplished alums,” he says.

Shelby Norman Finance (2007)

helby Norman appreciates more than the quality education he received at the Spears School of Business — he can attest to the importance of the connections that OSU students establish with their peers and the alumni who remain engaged after leaving the school. Twice in the seven years since he graduated with a bachelor’s degree in finance (with minors in accounting and economics), his networking with alums and former classmates paid off with new employment opportunities. He began his career in investment banking shortly after graduating with an assist from 1997 OSU graduate Justin Courtney, who passed Norman’s résumé along to a colleague with Stephens Inc., a privately held independent financial services firm in Little Rock, Ark. The company hired Norman. As a Stephens research associate, Norman focused on financial services first. Stephens asked him to help build the telecommunication services research practice. In order to evaluate a company’s stock, he collaborated with executive management teams to understand the relevant macroeconomic factors and to maintain detailed financial models projecting future earnings streams, cash flows, and balance-sheet metrics. An introduction by Norman’s Beta Theta Pi fraternity brother Paul Heerwagen led to Norman becoming the first employee hired by the new owners of Orange Leaf Frozen Yogurt in Oklahoma City. In January 2013, he was promoted to vice president of operations, where he manages a team of 20 in corporate development, operations, franchisee relations and purchasing. “The connections that I have made through the Spears School have helped me get to where I am

today,” says Norman, who was involved in several organizations at OSU. He was treasurer for Beta Theta Pi, the Financial Management Association, Takin’ Care of Business freshman business club and the Iota Kappa sophomore honor society. He was also on the executive committee of Phi Eta Sigma freshman national honor society and a member of the Phi Kappa Phi honor society. Norman was also a ConocoPhillips SPIRIT Scholar, a Wentz Scholar-Leader Award recipient, a regular on the president’s and dean’s honor rolls and a finalist for the OSU Outstanding New Greek member award. “The courses and professors in the School of Business helped equip me with the quantitative and qualitative skills necessary to succeed professionally. Without this solid foundation, I would have never had the opportunity to advance in my career,” he says. “However, in addition to the technical skills I learned, my time in the Spears School of Business taught me to think like a businessman. I learned that in order to solve realworld problems, one must take a holistic approach and consider multiple possibilities. There is rarely one right answer, so you must evaluate the options and select the best option with the information available. “All that said, I would say that the greatest impact from the Spears School was the people that I met and the relationships that the school fostered,” he says. “While the skills I learned have helped me succeed in the various roles I’ve been given, each of my professional opportunities has been the direct result of a relationship cultivated with a fellow member of the Spears School of Business.”

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Matthew J. O’Brien Management (1981) MBA (1983)

atthew J. O’Brien graduated from Oklahoma State University with a bachelor’s degree in management in 1981 and a master’s in business administration in 1983.

“The whole experience of OSU and the business school was broad, specific, quantitative and interpersonal, and so varied for me personally that I grew up 10 years in two years.”

O’Brien initially moved to Stillwater to work for Bradley Mechanical Inc. He had a bachelor’s from the University of Missouri-Columbia.

O’Brien began his career with Martin Marietta Corp. in Denver as a cost estimator for new business proposals in September 1982.

The St. Louis native also relocated to Oklahoma to be closer to family. His sister Pat O’BrienDarlington (OSU doctorate in psychology and newly elected Stillwater city councilwoman) was living in Stillwater, and another sister, Edna O’Brien Schack, was an undergraduate at OSU.

Throughout his 30-year career, O’Brien worked for Martin Marietta (then Lockheed Martin) in almost every area of finance and accounting. He retired in January 2012 and started his own management consulting firm, M.J. O’Brien & Associates LLC, where he is president and chief consultant.

While working at Bradley Mechanical, O’Brien helped build National Standard Inc. and the former Mercury Marine plant on Perkins Road. He also worked as a junior project manager for the first OSU classroom building renovation in the late 1970s. And he met his future wife, Debry Monyhan, on campus — she lived near his sister in Murray Hall. O’Brien’s first graduate class was organizational behavior taught by Mike Hitt. “I read and wrote more in that class than in all of my previous undergraduate classes combined,” O’Brien says. Hitt encouraged him to enroll in the MBA program after he earned an A in the class. “His exact words were, ‘I’ve taught this class for 10 years and have given out 5 A’s; you can succeed in graduate school.’” Hitt became O’Brien’s mentor and friend. Once admitted to the MBA program, O’Brien was selected to be the first graduate assistant for Ramesh Sharda, an assistant professor of management science in the early 1980s. O’Brien’s work with Sharda led to his teaching the Management 1103 course. “I taught a section for two semesters and probably learned more than my students,” says O’Brien. 90

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“OSU and the business school have had a hand in the success of my business. Entrepreneurship and venture management was one of the last classes I took in my MBA program, and I made a mental note to one day start my own company,” O’Brien says. “I had no idea at the time what it would be, but it stuck with me all these 30 years.” O’Brien has kept close ties with OSU. In 2009, O’Brien was named an OSU MBA Top 50 of 50. Most recently, he was asked to be on the Watson Graduate School Alumni Advisory Board. He and Debry (bachelor’s degrees in zoology and medical technology from OSU) have been married for 33 years. The O’Briens live in Littleton, Colo. Their children, Nick, a systems engineer at Lockheed Martin, and Lauren, a web designer/ software engineer at Oppenheimer Funds, are both there as well. O’Brien is honored to be recognized among the Spears School Tributes: 100 For 100. “To be counted with this group of successful, accomplished and selfless individuals is rare company indeed,” O’Brien says.

James M. Parker Accounting (1964)

ames M. Parker has many fond memories of his days at Oklahoma State University. The Ponca City, Okla., native earned his bachelor’s degree in accounting from OSU’s School of Business in 1964 and went on to earn his law degree. Both degrees opened professional doors. Family friend James A. McNeese, a lawyer in Ponca City and a founder of Sooner Life Insurance Co., recommended that Parker get his undergraduate degree in accounting. His degree is the foundation for his entire career as a tax lawyer. When he enrolled at OSU, his brother Alfred L. Parker was earning his master’s degree in economics. Parker met with Dean Eugene L. Swearingen and his brother in the dean’s office. Together, they listed the required courses for a combined degree program in accounting and law, with his first year of law school at the University of Oklahoma credited on both degrees. He was only asked two questions during the enrollment process: Did he want to take philosophy or psychology and what history course was he going to take? Parker hails from a great Greek family legacy. His grandfather, M.A. Beeson, founded the Kappa Sigma fraternity chapter in Stillwater as a professor in the College of Agriculture. His father, Robert A. Parker; his uncle, W. Malcolm Beeson; and two brothers, Alfred and Robert A. Parker Jr., were all members of the Gamma Psi chapter. As a lawyer, shareholder and director of Modrall Sperling Law Firm, the largest firm in New Mexico, he focuses on federal taxation, estate planning and employee benefits. Much of his practice is devoted to representing family businesses and professional practice groups. Parker is recognized as a fellow of the American College of Tax Counsel and the American College of Trust and Estate, and a charter fellow of the

American College of Employee Benefits Counsel. He was named Lawyer of the Year in Employee Benefits (ERISA) Law-Albuquerque in 2012 by Best Lawyers of America, where he has been listed each year since 1993. Parker is a director and co-vice president-membership of the Small Business Council of America. He co-founded the New Mexico Family Business Alliance, a nonprofit organization that established a forum to address issues unique to family businesses. It has become the Parker Center for Family Business at University of New Mexico’s Anderson School of Management. Parker and his wife are members of the Committee for the OSU Doel Reed Center for the Arts in Taos, N.M., and have funded the renovation of Doel Reed’s personal studio. Parker also loves coaching baseball, and has done so since 1978. “It has been fun to see kids that I have coached go on to play college baseball,” says Parker, who served as head coach at Albuquerque Academy Middle School for four years after spending the previous 13 as manager of the Albuquerque Academy High School summer program team. Current OSU Cowboys pitcher Tyler Buffett pitched for Parker’s middle school team. Parker is gracious and stunned to be named one of the Spears School 100 For 100 honorees. “It is very humbling,” Parker says. “Given the number of outstanding men and women who have graduated from the business school at OSU, it is very hard to understand why I was selected to be honored. It is important that I acknowledge that whatever I have accomplished in my professional career is the direct result of the foundation given to me by Dean Swearingen and the professors in the OSU Spears School of Business.”

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Neal L. Patterson Finance (1971) MBA (1972)

eal L. Patterson’s vision and strategic thinking in helping build the Cerner Corp. into the world’s largest independent health information technology company with nearly $3 billion in revenue in 2013 are an inspiration to many. Patterson grew up on his family’s farm near Manchester, Okla., a small town in Grant County on the Kansas border. After graduating from high school he moved to Stillwater to attend OSU, where he was a member of the Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity, serving as treasurer. After earning his bachelor’s degree in finance in 1971 and an MBA in 1972 from OSU’s College of Business, his first job was with Arthur Andersen as an information systems consultant and manager. In 1979, he co-founded Cerner with Arthur Andersen colleagues Cliff Illig and Paul Gorup. Starting with a single laboratory information system in ’79, Patterson was investing in creating a suite of fully integrated, clinically focused commercial health care applications by the mid-1980s. Cerner entered the 1990s with a first-of-its-kind application set built on a common platform with real-time interactive decision support. Patterson invested significant resources throughout the mid-1990s in rebuilding the platform on client-server technology using a person-centric data model. During his tenure as co-founder, chairman and chief executive officer, Patterson has led Cerner to invest more than $3 billion in research and development of health IT, and the solutions that Cerner has designed are deployed at more than 3,000 hospitals and used by 60,000 physicians in private practice. In August 2013, Forbes ranked Cerner seventh on its list of the most innovative companies in the United States and 13th in the world. Patterson was

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featured on the cover of Forbes on May 7, 2012, in a feature story on health care changes. The 64-year-old Patterson has been listed five times as one of Modern Healthcare’s “100 Most Powerful People in Health Care.” In 2012, Forbes named him among the top five in its list of “America’s Best CEOs,” and in January 2014, Becker’s Hospital Review listed Patterson among the “50 Most Powerful People in Health Care.” Patterson has been and continues to be a major supporter of OSU, including the Spears School of Business. He was instrumental in the creation of the OSU Center for Health Systems Innovation with gifts totaling $6 million. The Center for Health Systems Innovation, a collaborative effort between the Spears School and the OSU Center for Health Sciences, focuses on creating a comprehensive and coherent vision for health care problem-solving through market-based solutions. The U.S. Government Accountability Office appointed Patterson to a three-year term on the Health Information Technology Policy Committee, a federal advisory committee, in April. Patterson is co-founder and executive board member of the First Hand Foundation, a nonprofit foundation that assists children with critical health care needs. He is a lifetime director for the 115-year-old American Royal Association, celebrating agrarian lifestyles and values, and he supports the development of other entrepreneurs. He and Cerner co-founder Illig, along with others, are co-owners of Kansas City’s Major League Soccer franchise, Sporting KC. Patterson and his wife, Jeanne Lillig Patterson, make their home in Kansas City. He has four grown children, Clay, Lindsey, Cortney and Will.

Tim Petrikin Finance (1990)

ased on his career path, one might think Tim Petrikin earned a degree in entrepreneurship or even hospital administration but in 1990, he graduated from Oklahoma State University’s College of Business with a bachelor’s in finance. Today, Petrikin is the CEO of Ampersand Health, a company with a mission to fundamentally redesign how health care is delivered in the United States. He was recruited by the CEO of the nation’s thirdlargest hospital company, who wanted employees with backgrounds outside health care. Petrikin had no prior experience, but the opportunity intrigued him. Early in his career, he served as the vice president, acquisitions and development at Symbion Healthcare and assistant vice president, acquisitions and development at OrNda HealthCorp. In 2002, Petrikin co-founded and became CEO of e+CancerCare, partnering with hospitals, physicians and investors to build community cancer care facilities. After a decade there, he became e+CancerCare’s vice chairman, moving out of daily executive responsibilities. In early 2012, Petrikin became the executive vice president of ambulatory care services for Vanguard Health Systems, helping to transform the company from an urban hospital management company to an integrated healthcare services company. A little over a year later, Vanguard was acquired by Tenet Healthcare. In 2013, Petrikin and former colleagues at Vanguard and e+CancerCare co-founded

Ampersand Health. As CEO, Petrikin leads the company as it seeks to improve the health of individuals, families and communities by building primary care team clinics. “This idea of the power of teams goes back to my days at OSU,” Petrikin says. At OSU, Petrikin enjoyed student activities and avidly supporting Cowboy athletics. He worked on campus as a statistician and tutor for OSU men’s basketball; he even traveled with the team. “The Business School established an invaluable foundation for my business career,” Petrikin says. “Impressively, it was both academic and practical.” A native of Jenks, Okla., Petrikin transferred to OSU after his sophomore year. “OSU was a very welcoming environment for a transfer,” Petrikin says. “The experience of transferring also gave me valuable perspective on perceived failure, change and opportunity — hallmarks of my business career.” He lives in Nashville, Tenn. In his free time, Petrikin enjoys mentoring entrepreneurs and spending time with his family and friends. He has two sons: Bevan, 19, who attends Texas Christian University and Matthew, 17, a high school senior. Petrikin is honored to be named in the Spears School Tributes: 100 For 100. “Although I’m not an awards or spotlight person, it is quite an honor that they selected an average student that took a nontraditional path as an honoree,” he says. “I thought it must be a mistake. I’m just working to pay it forward to those who invested in me over my career, including the faculty and staff at OSU.”

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Richard (Dick) W. Poole Economics (Ph.D., 1960) Dean Emeritus

ichard (Dick) W. Poole’s meteoric rise from instructor of economics to dean of the College of Business Administration coincided with the college’s growth and expansion. But there was nothing coincidental about it. Poole joined Oklahoma State University as an instructor in the Department of Economics early in 1960, a few months later becoming the first person to earn a doctorate from the business school. He joined longtime friends Duck-Woo Nam and Robert Sandmeyer as the first three participants in the Ph.D. in Economics program. It didn’t take long for Poole to begin moving up the institutional ladder, advancing from instructor to assistant professor to associate professor to full professor to dean in five short years. “My goal had been reached when I was promoted to full professor. My wife and I bought a historic home in Ouray, Colo. I planned to take the summers off and do consulting, research and writing,” Poole says. “I had no desire to be an administrator. “In response to strong encouragement by Dean Eugene Swearingen, Dean Raymond Thomas, Economics Department Head Russell Baugh, OSU Academic Vice President Robert McVicar and faculty colleagues, I reluctantly agreed to submit my name as a candidate for the deanship. It was the best decision I ever made. I loved the job and the opportunity to help create a productive environment for faculty colleagues and students.” Poole served as dean for the business school from 1965 to 1972 before accepting a newly created position of OSU vice president for University Relations, Development and Extension in 1972. In 1988, he relinquished his position as vice president. In recognition of his service, the OSU Board of Regents named him Regents Distinguished Service Professor. He is the only person ever 94

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awarded this title. From 1988 to 1993, he taught Honors Classes and provided leadership for OSU’s International programs, including the creation of the School of International Studies. He grew up in Oklahoma City throwing two paper routes every morning to help support his family. He eventually enlisted in the Army, serving in Japan during World War II, before earning both his bachelor’s degree in business (1951) and MBA (1952) from the University of Oklahoma. “Accepting the job at OSU is the best move I ever made,” Poole says. “I loved it, and I am so grateful and indebted for the opportunity I’ve had to serve. It’s such a corny statement, but I bleed orange. I’m so proud of Oklahoma State University. I’m proud of its accomplishments, and I’m proud of how it reaches out to people, and that ties in with the land-grant mission.” Poole secured approval for a Ph.D. in Business with majors in finance, marketing, management and accounting. He has been honored with numerous awards, including the Oklahoma Higher Education Hall of Fame (1998), the OSU Alumni Association Distinguished Service Award (1995), the Spears School of Business Hall of Fame (1993), and the City of Stillwater Hall of Fame. The 86-year-old Poole is honored to be recognized as one of the Spears School Tributes: 100 For 100. “To be honored by your colleagues where you worked and toiled every day is most significant,” he says. “I said when I was inducted into the College of Business Hall of Fame (in 1993) that I’ve had other honors, but this one is most important to me, because the college is where I worked, I grew and where I developed, and I say the same about this recognition. I am truly honored.”

Mike Pregler Accounting (1975)

ike Pregler graduated from Oklahoma State University’s business school with a bachelor’s degree in accounting in 1975. The Tulsa native was involved with the two-year Army ROTC program and OSU athletic intramurals during his college days. Pregler says the business school made a huge impact on him and helped influence his career. “As a student, the business school provided me the opportunity to be exposed to many different disciplines and led me to select accounting as my profession, which equipped me with the technical skills to compete and succeed in the business world,” he says. “As a professional, I found that the business school provided an outstanding pool of talent to recruit from and a faculty that delivered relevant continuing professional education to the business world.” After graduation, Pregler joined Phillips Petroleum Co. as an accounting trainee. He spent the next 37 years in a variety of financial and operational positions with Phillips and ConocoPhillips before retiring in 2012. He started his career as an entry-level accountant in lease payables and ended as manager of facilities services, overseeing all facility-related services at five different locations. During his career, he served as finance manager in research and development, consolidations, corporate accounting, executive reporting and financial processes and controls. As manager of financial

processes and controls, he was responsible for recruiting and training all new hires in finance and accounting. He also held several positions in internal auditing: staff auditor during the early years; senior audit manager worldwide exploration and production midcareer; and eventually general auditor and chief ethics officer for ConocoPhillips. Pregler was inducted into the Wilton T. Anderson School of Accounting Hall of Fame in 2012, and he was a Spears School of Business Orange Star recipient in 2010. He is a member of the Spears School’s executive board of directors, a past president of the Spears School of Business Associates, a Provost's Advisory Council member, a School of Accounting advisory board member, an OSU Alumni Association life member and an Oklahoma Aquarium Foundation director. He is also an Asbury United Methodist Church finance volunteer. Pregler and his wife of 40 years, Jan, live in Broken Arrow, Okla. “This is so special for our family, and I am truly humbled to be selected as one of the 100 For 100 tribute honorees,” Pregler says. “When I think of all the students that graduated from the College of Business over the last 100 years and what many of them have accomplished, both professionally and personally, I am very honored to be included in such a distinguished group.”

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Dennis H. Reilley Finance (1975)

ennis H. Reilley credits a great start at Oklahoma State University for his successful business career.

“I gained a quality education from OSU that allowed me to be successful,” says Reilley. “I gained not only an education, but the OSU experience helped shape my work ethic and build my value system. The business school in particular gave me an early glimpse of what it meant to be a professional.” And indeed he did become a professional. A member of Sigma Chi fraternity, Reilley graduated with a bachelor’s degree in finance in 1975 and went to work for Conoco as a pipeline engineer in Wyoming. He spent 15 years with the company working in both the upstream and downstream businesses. Reilley transferred to DuPont in 1989, owned by Conoco at the time, to become vice president of one of DuPont’s chemical businesses. Reilley later became an executive vice president and ultimately the chief operating officer of DuPont. In 2000, he joined Praxair as chairman and CEO until his retirement in 2007. Reilley has been recognized for his accomplishments throughout his career and has been inducted into the OSU Hall of Fame. In 2011, Forbes magazine selected him as one of the

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best-performing CEOs of the decade. Fortune magazine named Praxair the best-managed company in America in 2005. Reilley currently serves on the boards of directors of Dow Chemical Co. and Covidien. He is also chairman of Marathon Oil Co. and a former member of the boards of Entergy and H.J. Heinz Co. Reilley is the former chairman of the American Chemistry Council and a former member of the Business Roundtable. He served as the co-chairman of the President’s Energy Council under George W. Bush and has been named a Significant Sig by the Sigma Chi national fraternity. Reilley met his wife, Cindy, at OSU; they have been married 39 years. They have two sons, Jason, 34, and Michael, 30, who received his master’s degree from OSU. Reilley has two daughtersin-law, Keri and May, and a granddaughter, Catherine. Reilley and his wife split their time between their homes in Oklahoma City and Naples, Fla. “I am very humbled to be honored as one of the 100 For 100,” says Reilley. “There have been many great people who have graduated from OSU’s College of Business and it is a unique honor to be recognized as part of this 100-year celebration.”

Thomas F. Riley Jr. Accounting (master’s, 1968)

homas F. Riley Jr. was born in Chelsea, Mass., to Thomas F. and Evelyn Coughlan Riley. He was offered a scholarship to play football for the University of Tulsa after graduating from Bryan Adams High School in Dallas. He happily accepted the scholarship, played well for the school and was eventually inducted into the University of Tulsa Football Hall of Fame. After graduating from TU with a degree in accounting, he pursued his master’s of accounting, obtaining it in 1968 from Oklahoma State University. “He very much enjoyed his time at OSU, and the connections he made in the business school impacted his life for many years,” says Tim Riley, the second of his four sons. During more than 30 years in the telecommunications field, he held positions in finance, accounting, regulatory and operations. He began as a certified public accountant and business executive that included such positions as chairman and CEO of Crossroad Wireless; executive vice president, chief operating officer and director of Chickasaw Telecommunications; CFO of Dobson Communications; CEO of Sure-tel; president and CEO of Southwest PCS Holdings; and on the board of Alamosa Holdings. Riley also maintained a private CPA practice with several hundred clients. He served the community at both the local and state levels. He served many leadership roles in Stillwater, including in the Stillwater Chamber of Commerce and the Stillwater Industrial Foundation. He also served as a board member of the Oklahoma Telephone Association.

Riley was appointed to the Oklahoma Library Board by Gov. David Walters. He was a lifetime member of the University of Tulsa Letterman’s Association. In 2002, Riley was inducted into the Oklahoma Telephone Hall of Fame. In 2007, he was appointed by Gov. Brad Henry as a charter member of the Oklahoma Lottery Commission and worked tirelessly to develop the rules and regulations governing the Oklahoma lottery. Riley considered his greatest accomplishment to be his family. He enjoyed spending time with them at a lake house, on family vacations and at OSU athletic events. The family attended many OSU football bowl games and followed the OSU basketball team to tournaments in Maui, Hawaii; Las Vegas; Orlando, Fla.; Anaheim, Calif.; and the Final Four in San Antonio. His legacy of compassion and excellence will be continued through the lives of his four sons. His wife, Pat, and three of their sons, as well as three daughters-in-law, are graduates of OSU. “This is an exciting honor for Dad, as he was a very passionate advocate for both Oklahoma State University and education in general. He was raised in a loving home with very little means and often credited his education as the foundation for his future successes,” says Tim Riley. “His passion for the university flowed through to all of us. In fact, of the six children [including in-laws], five have degrees from the Spears School of Business.” Riley died Feb. 19, 2011, in Stillwater.

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Robert (Bob) L. Sandmeyer Economics (master’s, 1958; Ph.D., 1962) Dean Emeritus

espite being raised in Kansas, Robert (Bob) L. Sandmeyer was a fan of Henry Iba’s Oklahoma A&M Aggies. Bob Kurland was his hero. Sandmeyer earned his master’s degree in economics from Oklahoma State in 1958 and later became one of the first students in the business school’s new doctorate program in economics. After completing the required course work and passing the preliminary examinations, Sandmeyer joined the economics faculty at Arizona State University. In 1962, after earning his doctorate, he returned to Stillwater as a visiting assistant professor of economics. Between 1962 and 1977, Sandmeyer moved through the ranks from visiting assistant professor to assistant professor to associate professor to full professor and then the first director of the Office of Business and Economic Research. Sandmeyer was appointed dean of the College of Business Administration in August 1977 and served until September 1994. Business school enrollments were exploding nationally throughout the 1970s and 1980s, due to a large influx of female enrollees. When Sandmeyer became dean, women accounted for about one-third of undergraduate business enrollment, but 17 years later, female students were more than 50 percent of undergraduates. In the late ’70s and early ’80s, Japan became a manufacturing powerhouse. It became clear that U.S. manufacturers had to incorporate modern techniques to compete. Likewise, business school curricula had to change to include issues related to a global business environment. “At OSU, we accomplished this by introducing international business topics within existing courses, developing specialized international 98

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business courses and creating an international business major,” he says. “We also saw a need to provide our students with an opportunity to gain international experience. The Summer in London was the first of what have become numerous opportunities for our students to study abroad.” Under Sandmeyer’s leadership, new and improved technology also allowed the business school to extend its programs, both credit and non-credit, off campus in a more efficient and cost-effective way. The Spears School now uses the Internet to deliver its nationally ranked distance learning programs to numerous sites. Soon after retiring, Sandmeyer moved to Al Ain, where he advised the United Arab Emirates University in creating a Western-style business college. He also was the founding dean of the College of Business at Zayed University with campuses in Dubai and Abu Dhabi. Sandmeyer received many awards and recognition and has been inducted into the Spears School of Business Hall of Fame and the Oklahoma Higher Education Hall of Fame. He also received the Fort Hays State University Alumni Achievement Award and the Fort Hays State University Alumni Distinguished Service Award. Sandmeyer was appointed a Henry G. Bennett Fellow in the OSU School of International Studies. Sandmeyer and his wife, Loretta, have been married 64 years. They have four grown children, four grandchildren and five great-grandchildren. Their oldest great-grandchild, Jordan Scully, is a student at OSU. “I am incredibly honored to be recognized in the Spears School Tributes for the centennial celebration. I am humbled to know that I was chosen to represent the many outstanding graduates of the Spears School of Business,” he says.

Jenelle S. Schatz Accounting (1975)

enelle S. Schatz attributes much of her success to her Oklahoma State University education. The Tonkawa, Okla., native earned her bachelor’s degree in accounting from OSU’s business school in 1975. At OSU, Schatz was a member of Beta Alpha Psi. She made the President’s Honor Roll every semester, a major accomplishment with her other responsibilities: a Girl Scout leader, homeroom mother for her three children and involvement in church functions. OSU’s business school had a huge impact on Schatz. “It shaped my life,” she says. “The education and counseling I received at the School of Business was a key factor in allowing me, a shy, small-town girl, to become a professional woman with accomplishments beyond anything I could imagine. Also, the financial independence I was able to achieve is directly linked to my OSU education.” In 1976, she joined Haskins & Sells, an international accounting firm that is now a part of Deloitte & Touche, as a tax specialist. She became a partner in 1985. “I was honored to be the first female graduate of OSU to become a partner with one of the major international accounting practices,” Schatz says. “Also, I was the first woman from any school to become a partner with one of the international practices in Oklahoma.” She has held numerous positions in the Tulsa office, including partner in charge of the Tulsa practice, recruiting director, and partner in charge of the Tulsa tax practice. she was also an instructor of national training for Deloitte and served on several national company committees for the firm, including the oil & gas committee and

the committee for the advancement and retention of women. She has retired from Deloitte and now volunteers for numerous organizations. Some of the organizations she works with and her positions held include Citizens’ Crime Commission (president), OSU Foundation Board of Governors, Family & Children’s Services (president), Leadership Tulsa, Tulsa Chamber of Commerce (treasurer), Tulsa Education Foundation (treasurer), OSU Business Associates (president), Tulsa Tax Club, OSU Alumni Association, OSU School of Accounting Advisory Board, Women for OSU Council, International Women’s Forum and the First United Methodist Church Finance Committee. Schatz has also been honored with a variety of awards: OSU School of Accounting Distinguished Alumna Award, 1989; the OSU Spears School of Business Hall of Fame induction, 1995; the OSU Alumni Association Distinguished Alumna Award, 1999; and Tonkawa High School Distinguished Alumna Award, 2010. Schatz resides in Tulsa. She was married to Wayne A. “Tony” Schatz, also an OSU alum, until his death in 2012. She has three children: Jill Schatz Sayre, Janna Schatz Moss and Wayne Andrew “Andy” Schatz. She also has nine grandchildren, ages 9 to 16. Schatz is delighted to be recognized in the Spears School Tributes: 100 For 100 and plans to attend most of the centennial events throughout the year. “I am extremely humbled by this honor and know that I am in the company of many immensely talented people who have contributed much to the business school,” Schatz says. “It is just a thrill to be included in this group and to be a part of the exciting 100th anniversary celebration.”

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Ken Seaman Accounting (bachelor’s and master’s, 1983)

en Seaman, assistant controller at ConocoPhillips, has gone from growing up in Yukon, Okla., to a career that has taken him around the world. Seaman graduated from Oklahoma State University with bachelor’s and master’s degrees in accounting in 1983. At OSU, he dedicated most of his time to his studies while playing intramural sports and working as a graduate assistant. After completing his degrees, he earned state and national recognition for his CPA examination results and became a certified internal auditor. “The Spears School provided the foundation for me to succeed,” says Seaman. “Dr. [Charlotte] Wright’s oil and gas accounting class, and Dr. [Gary] Meek’s international accounting class both sparked an interest that has been a centerpiece of my career.” Seaman joined ConocoPhillips in 1983 and held various accounting, financial analysis, and finance managerial positions with assignments in Oklahoma, Egypt, Texas and Scotland. In 1996, he became vice president of finance, exploration and production operations in the United Arab Emirates. Three years later, Seaman transferred to Malaysia as vice president of finance for the

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company’s Asia Pacific refining and marketing operations. Seaman returned to the United States as manager of tax coordination in Houston before joining ConocoPhillips’ commercial organization in 2002. He was named vice president of finance for ConocoPhillips in Canada two years later and appointed to his current position as assistant controller in 2006. In 2010, Seaman was inducted into the OSU Wilton T. Anderson School of Accounting Hall of Fame. He serves as the vice chair of the API Accounting Committee and was a board member of the Houston-area Boy Scouts for several years. Seaman resides in Houston with his wife, Jane. “It is a tremendous honor to be recognized by the Spears School as it celebrates this great milestone,” Seaman says about being part of the Spears School Tributes: 100 For 100. “My experiences at Oklahoma State University have truly served as the foundation for the accomplishments in my career. I have deep gratitude to the Spears School for this humbling recognition and to ConocoPhillips for such outstanding opportunities during the past 30 years.”

M.B. (Bud) Seretean Marketing (1949)

fter serving as a field artillery officer during World War II, M.B. (Bud) Seretean left New York and enrolled in the Division of Commerce at Oklahoma A&M College as a marketing major. Despite Seretean's being a good student who was active on campus, a fraternity rejected him after discovering he was Jewish. In response, Seretean established the Brandeis Club for Jewish students. Having experienced anti-Semitism, Seretean made a point to educate his fellow students about Judaism by speaking to campus Christian groups. He earned his marketing degree from Oklahoma A&M in 1949 and his master’s degree in retailing from New York University in 1950. In just six years, Seretean went from being assistant floor-covering buyer for Allied Stores in New York to co-founding Coronet Industries Inc. in Georgia. For 30 years, he served as its chairman and chief executive officer. Coronet grew to $400 million in sales and 4,000 employees before it was purchased in 1971 by RCA Corp. He also cofounded Opti World in Atlanta, which was ultimately sold to Lens Crafters, and ABC-TV affiliate WGXA in Macon, Ga. In 1965, Seretean was named one of the Outstanding Small Businessmen in the nation by the National Council for Small Business Management Development. A lifelong love of sports led Seretean to become a co-owner, president and general manager of the NBA Atlanta Hawks in the 1970s. After selling the franchise to Ted Turner, Seretean became a member of the board of directors for Turner Broadcasting Systems (TBS), the Atlanta Hawks and Major League Baseball’s Atlanta Braves. Seretean realized the importance of wellness in his own life and committed himself to promoting

its benefits to others. He demonstrated this commitment in ways that ranged from supporting Oklahoma State University golf to founding and funding the Seretean Wellness Center at OSU. He served for 12 years on the President’s Council for Physical Fitness and Sports. At age 80, he was inspired to write and publish Living Healthy to 100. His dedication to practicing and promoting wellness culminated in his receiving a Lifetime Achievement Award from the President’s Council for Physical Fitness and Sports. Expanding access to the arts and education was also important to Seretean, who provided student scholarships and primary funding for the M.B. Seretean Center for the Performing Arts at OSU. Seretean’s commitment to OSU included serving as president of the OSU Foundation Board of Governors. In 1999, OSU recognized Seretean’s professional achievements and philanthropic activities with an honorary doctorate on the 50th anniversary of his graduation. Seretean died Aug. 13, 2007. His contributions as a carpet industry pioneer, successful entrepreneur, author and philanthropist live on. His recognition as one of the Spears School Tributes: 100 For 100 allows us to reflect upon the life of this generous man who impacted OSU in many profound ways. His friend and OSU First Cowgirl Ann Hargis says, “Bud Seretean was ahead of his time, a forward thinker who, early on, understood the impact he could have at OSU. His love of wellness and the arts, combined with his entrepreneurial spirit, made a lasting impression on our landgrant university. His wellness vision continues to be recognized today, as OSU has been granted the trademark for America’s Healthiest Campus. His legacy lives, and he will forever be a Cowboy.”

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Tiffany Sewell-Howard MBA (1994)

iffany Sewell-Howard has led a successful career since her graduation from Oklahoma State University. The Perry, Okla., native earned a bachelor’s degree in fine arts with a minor in art history in 1990. After completing her degree in fine arts, she spent two years doing graphic design and illustration while starting an industrial scrap recycling company. She learned that she enjoyed business and could apply her creative side in the business world. However, she didn’t have the tools she needed to be successful. So Sewell-Howard returned to OSU and earned an MBA in 1994. At OSU, she developed a passion for business and was exposed to a diverse range of cultures, ideas and perspectives that opened the world for her. “Today, I lead a global family business that continues to flourish in the fifth generation. I wouldn’t have considered my current leadership role without the foundation that OSU provided me,” Sewell-Howard says. Since 2000, Sewell-Howard has been chief operating officer, director of information technology and e-marketing manager at the Charles Machine Works Inc. Before joining CMW, she served on its board for four years while she was the marketing director at PriMedia Inc., a New York publishing company. She has started several companies, including an advertising agency, an industrial waste recycling company and an Internet marketing and

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web development company. She served in executive leadership positions for the Association of Equipment Manufacturers and Association of Equipment Distributors. Sewell-Howard is the chief executive officer of the Charles Machine Works, a family of companies serving the underground construction market including Ditch Witch, American Augers, Subsite, HammerHead, DW/TXS, MTI and Radius. She was inducted into the OSU Spears School Hall of Fame in 2012 and is one of 50 MBA alums featured in the MBA Preferred book several years ago. She has served on the OSU MBA advisory board and the Riata Center for Entrepreneurship Advisory Board. She also served as president for the Oklahoma City Chapter of Young Presidents’ Organization. She’s a member of the Association of Equipment Distributors and director of the Oklahoma State Chamber of Commerce. She resides in Edmond, Okla., with her husband, Dan Howard, who practices law. The couple met in the MBA program at OSU. They have 4-year-old twins, Morgan and Hayden, and a 6-month-old, Leyton. Sewell-Howard is honored to be recognized in the Spears School Tributes: 100 For 100. “I am honored to be selected,” Sewell-Howard says. “There are so many successful graduates from the OSU business school, and I am humbled to have been included on this list.”

Alicia Ogrin Smales Business Administration (1981)

licia Ogrin Smales graduated from Oklahoma State University’s School of Business with a bachelor’s degree in business administration in 1981 and completed her MBA at Dominican University in 1990. Today, she is vice president and chief marketing officer for Snap-on Inc., a $3 billion publicly traded corporation that makes tools and equipment. During her days at OSU, the Waukegan, Ill., native split her time between the classroom and the golf course, leaving little time for anything else. As a member of the OSU Cowgirls golf team, Smales received an athletic scholarship, won four collegiate individual titles and competed in four U.S. Women’s Open Golf Championships as an amateur. She found time to help charter the Phi Mu sorority at the Stillwater campus, and served as its treasurer. “When I was a student, I experienced a dual focus of athletics and academics. I chose OSU because of the prominent golf program, but I soon discovered the rigor of the business curriculum. The instructors and professors I had were intellectually provocative with an eye toward real-world application,” Smales says. “I left OSU with a deep understanding of business fundamentals, and it was this strong foundation that allowed me to grow and expand into areas I never dreamed possible. OSU gave me the jumpstart I needed to begin what has been a rewarding career thus far, and I am eternally grateful.” As chief marketing officer for Snap-on, Smales is responsible for guiding marketing, brand management, innovation and customer connection efforts. She joined Snap-on in April 2007 as vice president marketing for the tools group, where she was responsible for advancing Snap-on brands across

the global Snap-on Tools organization and leading the marketing communications strategy. Prior to joining Snap-on, Smales worked for Hilti Inc., a global manufacturer and marketer of tools and fasteners for construction and industrial markets, where she held roles in product management, services marketing and customer loyalty management. Smales began her career in the sporting goods industry working on such brands as Wilson Sporting Goods, Brunswick Corp., Coleman Camping Products and Adams Golf, holding roles of increasing responsibility in product and brand management. Smales remains heavily involved with OSU. She is a member of the Spears School Associates and participates in the Spears School mentoring program. She is on the Foundation Board of SkillsUSA, a partnership involving more than 300,000 students, teachers and industry that helps prepare students for careers in trade, technical and skilled service occupations, including health occupations. She also serves on the advisory board for the College of Business Economics and Commuting at the University of Wisconsin-Parkside. “I’d like to congratulate the Spears School of Business on its 100th anniversary. The Spears School has a fascinating past, an inspiring present and an encouraging future. I’m honored and humbled to be a part of the 100th celebration,” Smales says. Smales and her husband, Richard, reside in Lake Forest, Ill., a suburb of Chicago, and have three children: Sean, who graduated from Oklahoma State in 2012; Shannon, a 2014 Clemson University graduate, and Shealyn, a senior at Lake Forest High School.

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William S. Spears Marketing (1962)

klahoma State University’s business school — the Spears School of Business — is named in honor of William S. Spears, who graduated from OSU in 1962 with a bachelor’s degree in marketing. The school’s name was changed from the College of Business Administration to the William S. Spears School of Business in 2004, and updated to the Spears School of Business in 2009. Spears grew up in Lubbock, Texas, before attending OSU, where he was a member of the Sigma Nu fraternity. He credits his education with inspiring him to pursue a successful career in business and establish his own company. “Oklahoma State played a pivotal role in laying a solid educational foundation for me to succeed in the marketplace. The business school challenged me and taught me how to think,” says Spears, who earned an MBA from the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania and a doctorate in business administration from Wayne Huizenga Graduate School of Business and Entrepreneurship, Nova Southeastern University. Spears is the chairman and founder of Cenergistic, a Dallas-based energy conservation company founded in 1986 that helps clients reduce their consumption of electricity, natural gas, fuel oil and water. It has more than 1,350 clients in 48 states. “I have devoted my business life to education and providing the resources to help more than 1,350 school districts, institutions of higher education and health care organizations across this great country of ours save more than $3.4 billion in energy costs over the past 28 years,” he says. “I am proud our innovative approach has helped clients better manage their resources and divert money channeled for energy costs to the classrooms to hire more faculty members and buy more

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computers and textbooks. I receive great satisfaction knowing the good we at Cenergistic are doing for education in America.” Spears continues to devote his time and energy to his alma mater, serving as a trustee for the OSU Foundation. He was inducted into the Spears School Hall of Fame in 2005 and the OSU Alumni Association Hall of Fame in 2007. In addition to the success of Cenergistic, Spears has long been a supporter of local educational, civic and cultural activities. He serves as a board member for the University of Texas Medical School, is on the Board of Overseers at the Wharton School and is a board member for the Lincoln Forum in Gettysburg, Pa. He also has been active with the American Cancer Society, served as founder and chair of the Christian Businessman’s Committee, is a former director of City National Bank, chairman of the finance committee for Interfaith Ministries, board member of the North Texas Boy Scouts of America, and president of North Texas Easter Seals Rehabilitation Center. Spears and his wife, Candye, reside in Highland Park, Texas. They have four children, Jimmy, John, Amy and Meghan, and eight grandchildren, with an addition expected later this year. Spears is proud to be recognized in the Spears School Tributes: 100 For 100. “I am incredibly humbled to receive this honor,” Spears says. “I credit OSU’s influence with much of my success. I found myself intellectually at OSU — the school energized me and showed me intellectual capabilities I had not been aware of. As one of the 100 For 100, I am in truly stellar company. I very much appreciate this incredible honor.”

Glenn Stinchcomb Management (1952) Accounting (master’s, 1961)

lenn Stinchcomb doesn’t remember the year and doesn’t recall how old he was at the time but even today, at age 87, he does remember his first meeting with Oklahoma A&M College President Henry G. Bennett.

Co., where he was named a vice president and a member of the board of directors. He also was the chief financial officer and treasurer for Gaylord Entertainment Co. from 1974 to 1991 and its vice president from 1986 to 1991.

Stinchcomb and some of his classmates had traveled to Stillwater to compete in a 4-H cattlejudging competition. Afterward, Stinchcomb says, “Dr. Bennett had us all in his office and he said to us, ‘Now you boys will be out of high school soon. If you need to, you come see me when you get here for college, and I’ll show you around.’”

He retired in 1996 after 38 years at Oklahoma Publishing and has been an investor, adviser and board member for numerous companies. He is a director of Vision Bank Texas in Richardson, Texas.

That’s what Stinchcomb did after graduating from Colcord High School a few years later. He arrived via bus in Stillwater not knowing a single person and eventually found his way to campus. Bennett’s secretary escorted the teenager into the president’s office, and the two visited. “Before the day was over I was enrolled in the engineering school, I had a place to stay at night, and the next day I had a job working at Simpson Pontiac. Dr. Bennett did exactly what he said he was going to do,” Stinchcomb says.

Stinchcomb has been a major supporter of Oklahoma State University since arriving in Stillwater in the early 1940s. Two of his four children are OSU graduates, daughter Zoe (bachelor’s in microbiology, 1980) and son Paul (bachelor’s in mechanical engineering, 1982). Four of his grandchildren are attending his alma mater. Stinchcomb Hall, one of the campus residence halls, was named after Glenn and his wife, Hilda, to thank the family for their support. Stinchcomb Hall, dedicated in 2005, is home to the Wellness House and the TEACH House Living Learning Communities.

He spent his freshman year studying engineering in 1945 before serving the next four years in the U.S. Navy in the aftermath of World War II. He served in the Naval Reserves for 23 more years.

He was presented in 1988 with the OSU Alumni Association Distinguished Alumni Award and a year later he was inducted into the Spears School of Business Hall of Fame.

Stinchcomb changed to the business school after returning to Oklahoma A&M, becoming a member of the Beta Alpha Psi honors business fraternity for accounting, finance and information systems students, and graduating with a bachelor’s degree in management in 1952. He would return to earn his master’s degree in accounting in 1961.

Stinchcomb is honored to be recognized in the Spears School Tributes: 100 For 100.

Stinchcomb’s first five years of employment were spent as an accountant with Peat, Marwick, Mitchell & Co. (now known as KPMG), before eventually joining the Oklahoma Publishing

“I can’t just give myself credit for this recognition. I think my parents get credit for raising me and teaching me to do the right things,” he says. “My father and my mother taught us that you were to always do the right things. We grew up under their guidance, understanding that we were expected to do the best we could in everything we did. I think they would be proud.”

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Melinda Middlemist Stinnett Accounting (1989)

elinda Middlemist Stinnett, a certified public accountant and a certified internal auditor, graduated from Oklahoma State University’s College of Business with a bachelor’s degree in accounting in 1989. She followed an older sibling to OSU. But upon arriving on campus, the Stillwater native found she fit in perfectly and OSU became her own. “It seemed a very natural fit to head to OSU and the business school. I never thought about going anywhere else — my sole focus and thought was OSU,” Stinnett says. “I really grew up within the School of Business,” she says. Her father, Dennis Middlemist, was a professor in management and finished his time at OSU as the head of that department. Her mother, Melanie Middlemist, earned her master’s and doctorate in accounting from OSU. Her brother, George Middlemist, also earned his bachelor’s in accounting from OSU. Stinnett was a member of the Student Government Association, Beta Alpha Psi, and various School of Business and campus organizations. She became a member of the Delta Delta Delta sorority and involved with the Panhellenic Council. Stinnett was named a Top 10 Senior and the university’s Outstanding Woman Graduate. “My time in the business school had a profound impact on my career trajectory. So many of the relationships I made — with professors, peers and companies that were recruiting — were integral to the professional opportunities that have been afforded me throughout my career,” Stinnett says. “As an example, when my husband and I moved back to Tulsa in 1992, Dr. T. Sterling Wetzel helped connect me to my future employer, Arthur Andersen.”

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In the fall of 2001, Stinnett left Andersen to spend more time with her family and launch what would become Stinnett & Associates. Today, she is the managing director of Stinnett & Associates. With offices in Tulsa, Oklahoma City, San Antonio, Houston and Dallas, the firm provides business advisory services to companies around the world. Stinnett is involved with the Boy Scouts of America, receiving the Silver Beaver award in 2013 for her volunteer work with and long-term commitment to the Boy Scouts. She is also a trustee for the Philbrook Museum of Art in Tulsa. In the spring of 2011, she was inducted into the Wilton T. Anderson School of Accounting Hall of Fame as a Distinguished Alumna. Later that year, she also received the OSU Spears School of Business Orange Star Award. Melinda met her husband of 25 years, Joel Stinnett, during her freshman year at OSU. He is an instructor pilot for the U.S. Air Force Reserves, based in Enid. He also supports various functions at Stinnett & Associates. They have four children — Amanda is on active duty with the Air Force; Nate and Josh will be seniors in high school this fall, and Sarah will be a freshman in high school. Stinnett is honored to be among the Spears School Tributes: 100 For 100. “This is truly the most humbling award I could ever receive. The time I spent at OSU and within the walls of the business school were some of the most fun and developing years of my life,” Stinnett says. “I cherish those memories fondly and have maintained many of the friendships that were fostered during my years on campus. Certainly that makes this recognition even more special to me.”

Steve Tatum Marketing (1983)

hough Steve Tatum’s career has taken him to nearly every part of the world and exposed him to numerous cultures, he still proclaims that there aren’t many places he would rather be than Stillwater. Tatum is president of Koch Minerals LLC and senior vice president of Koch Industries — Minerals and Trading. Tatum began his career with Koch Industries after he earned his degree in marketing from the Oklahoma State University’s business school. After working for Koch in a number of marketing positions, Tatum was ultimately promoted to vice president of refinery services for the Koch Carbon division. He transferred to the natural gas liquids business and was named president in 2002. He later was named president of Koch Minerals and recently added responsibility for Koch’s Supply and Trading business. While in high school in Kansas City, Tatum chose to attend OSU after visiting his brother who was already at OSU. Though Tatum’s parents covered most of his college expenses, he worked in bars on the Strip and washed dishes at restaurants and a couple of sororities to help with expenses. “That was the extent of my skill set,” he says. Tatum participated in various business school organizations and says his fraternity, Delta Tau Delta, was central to his college experience. “The OSU business school experience helped me gain the necessary understanding of the overall business process and how vitally important it is for each segment — marketing, management, accounting, operations, information systems and business law — to be integrated with the others,” he says. “Those lessons are still with me today.” He adds, “The late Jim Jackman warrants special acknowledgment for his impact as a business law

professor. The most influential professor at OSU for me was Dr. Lee Manzer. Dr. Manzer’s class inspired me to pursue a marketing degree, and it’s a thrill to see that he is still going strong.” Tatum remains connected with many current Spears School faculty and staff. “I am amazed at all of the ways each of them contributes to learning above and beyond their in-classroom responsibilities. From community outreach and education to research, fundraising and other student or alumni projects, I really don’t know where they find the time.” Tatum supports numerous organizations, including Youth Entrepreneurs, Special Olympics, Big Brothers/Big Sisters and the Child Advocacy Center. He also supports OSU sports. Tatum is an enthusiastic recruiter for OSU. He notes proudly that he’s help persuade several of his friends', co-workers' and neighbors' children who were legacies of other schools to choose OSU. “OSU is the closest Big 12 campus to Wichita. OSU really has it going on. The kids and parents see that when they visit the campus.” Tatum lives in Wichita, Kan., but lately he is spending more time in the Arizona desert. Tatum’s two children also graduated from OSU. He is proud that his children have grown into outstanding young adults and gives their mother, Connie Burnett (another honoree in the Spears School Tributes: 100 For 100), the credit. Tatum makes his way back to Stillwater frequently. He serves on the OSU Board of Governors and is on the OSU Foundation budget committee. He has spoken to several OSU groups and classes over the years, and says he is humbled at being included in the Spears School Tributes: 100 For 100. “I look forward to contributing to OSU in any way possible for the rest of my life,” he says. 2014 engage@spears

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Clayton Taylor Business Administration (1974)

layton Taylor is thankful for parents who wouldn’t let him stay home. Just a few days after arriving at Oklahoma State University in 1970, the freshman, who grew up near Oktaha, Okla., decided OSU was much too big. “There was a whole other way of life out there that I really didn’t know much about,” says Taylor, who chose OSU after he was elected state 4-H Club president in 1970. “For us growing up, going to a big town was going to Muskogee. To be around young men and women who had grown up in Tulsa and Oklahoma City, and be involved with the college professors and the administration of the university, and to see people wearing neckties, acting gentlemanly and conducting themselves as businesspeople, that really got my attention very quickly.” And it caused him to rethink his decision. He decided to move back home during his first week, but his parents nixed his plan. By Thanksgiving, Taylor had settled into college and no longer wanted to return home. He was president of the President’s Leadership Class his freshman year, president of the Phi Delta Theta fraternity as a sophomore and president of Business Student Council as a senior. Taylor also was honored as a Top 10 Senior, Outstanding Greek Man and Big Man on Campus, and received the Raymond D. Thomas Award, given annually to the top senior in the business school. “The things I learned at the College of Business got me started and allowed me to go to places like Washington, Chicago and all over the world. If it had not been for OSU, the College of Business and 4-H Club, I probably would have gone back to the ranch and had a very different lifestyle,” says Taylor, who became the first male member of his family to graduate from high school and the first member to graduate from college. 108

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Today, the 62-year-old Taylor serves as the principal of the Taylor Group, a lobbying and consulting firm focusing on the Oklahoma Capitol that he established in 1994. He began his career in Washington, D.C., working on the staffs of five members of the U.S. House of Representatives. After leaving Washington, Taylor spent 15 years in corporate management, government relations and public affairs positions. Before founding the Taylor Group, he was corporate vice president for government and corporate affairs for the Coastal Corp. He remains active at OSU, formerly serving as president/chairman of the OSU Alumni Association board of directors and chairing the site selection and building design committee for the $14 million ConocoPhillips OSU Alumni Center. The OSU Alumni Association named him a Distinguished Alumnus in 2012. He has served on the OSU Foundation’s Board of Governors. Taylor is honored to be recognized among the “Spears School Tributes: 100 For 100.” “I’m overwhelmed because I know the kind of folks that this outstanding business school has produced. I learned so much from my days at the College of Business and then went to Washington, D.C., and learned the political side. Then I spent 15 years in the corporate world and was able to refine those things I learned at the College of Business. All of these experiences have allowed me to have an exciting career. For me to be included is such an honor,” says Taylor. He met his wife, Marnie, in Chicago; she is president of the Oklahoma Center for Nonprofits and an adjunct professor at OSU-OKC. Both of their sons are OSU graduates, Clay (political science, 2009) and Clark (hotel and restaurant administration, 2012).

James R. Taylor Accounting (1969)

fter 44 years in accounting, James R. Taylor looks back on his life with the utmost satisfaction. He didn’t always know what he wanted to do with his life or where it was headed, but he had the drive to keep pursuing a career he could be proud of. Taylor grew up in Okmulgee, Okla., and chose to attend Oklahoma State University. He became an avid sports fan, attending football and basketball games and wrestling matches. He was also a member of Lambda Chi Alpha, eventually serving as chapter president. Growing up in the Sputnik generation, Taylor thought becoming an engineer was the way to go. It took a few semesters before he found his true calling in accounting and changed to the School of Business, where he excelled. Taylor became a member of the Beta Alpha Psi accounting chapter and was on the dean’s honor roll for most of his semesters in college. Taylor graduated with his bachelor’s degree in accounting and became a certified public accountant. He spent 20 years at a Big 8 accounting firm before branching out and beginning an accounting firm with a partner. The firm is known today as HoganTaylor LLP. “When we first started, clients weren’t as easy to get as we thought they might be,” says Taylor. “At the end of the month, it wasn’t about how much we could pay ourselves but rather if we were going to be paid at all. It was a humble beginning.” After 24 years in business, HoganTaylor is the largest CPA firm in its market area. It has offices in Tulsa, Oklahoma City and Fayetteville, Ark. HoganTaylor has a long-standing tradition of hiring OSU accounting graduates and has developed a great relationship with the School of

Accounting and the Spears School of Business. “As you can tell, orange is my favorite color. I am very proud of my OSU heritage, and I am proud to be an alumnus,” says Taylor. In 2009, Taylor was inducted into the Wilton T. Anderson Accounting Hall of Fame alongside OSU President Burns Hargis. During his last two years as a HoganTaylor partner in 2012 and 2013, he served as an adviser to the Financial Accounting Standards Board as a member of the financial accounting standards advisory council in Norwalk, Conn. The FASB develops the rules for financial accounting and reporting for the nation. He says the OSU business school trained him well for his career. “I have been lucky and made a few good decisions along the way,” says Taylor. “My advice is to continually surround yourself with good people. They’ll raise you up and you can raise them up. That’s my recipe for success.” Taylor volunteers with the Tulsa Housing Authority and is a member of the advisory board for the University of Tulsa Conference of Accountants. He and his wife, Johnna, are also active at Asbury Methodist Church in Tulsa. As one of the Spears School Tributes: 100 For 100, Taylor says he couldn’t be prouder of the recognition. “This recognition is an extreme honor to me,” says Taylor. “It is like a storybook ending to my 44 years in business. I couldn’t think of a better way to end my professional career. I consider being one of only 100 graduates selected for this tribute the highest honor I have ever received in my entire career.”

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Russell W. Teubner Management Science Computer Systems (1978)

ussell W. Teubner earned a bachelor’s degree in management science computer systems from Oklahoma State University’s College of Business in 1978.

it with Esker, an international software company. He stepped out of active management of Esker in 1999, and in 2000, he started HostBridge Technology, a boutique software company.

For the last 30-plus years, Teubner has been a serial entrepreneur and software product inventor, developing solutions that integrate existing and emerging technology.

Today, Teubner spends the majority of his time as the CEO of HostBridge. Recently, he has spent a fair amount of time overseeing the renovation of another historical property in downtown Stillwater. The challenge of infusing century-old buildings with art, architecture and design elements from around the world became his hobby, as well as a concrete example of what he enjoys in the software world.

Even though his customers have always been outside Oklahoma, his family chose to stay in Stillwater and become part of the community. Teubner’s love of the city and fascination with solving complex integration problems underlies his 20-year commitment to restoring a collection of historical buildings in downtown Stillwater. As the Tulsa native planned for college, he couldn’t decide on a major. Engineering, architecture, computer science and business all interested him. With a little guidance from his father (an open-minded University of Oklahoma graduate), he chose to major in business. “Because of OSU’s excellent business and engineering programs, it was the natural choice,” Teubner says. Teubner was on the dean’s honor roll at OSU but didn’t have much time for many extracurricular activities. Beginning after his freshman year, he worked for the OSU Computer Center. OSU’s largest impact on Teubner was through the faculty. His adviser, Billy Thornton, helped him create a plan of study that covered his various business interests. “I still remember Dr. Thornton telling me that I needed to stop taking so many computer science classes and start taking more business classes if I ever wanted to graduate,” Teubner says. “I took his advice.” In the early 1980s, Teubner started his first software company, Teubner & Associates. He built the company for 17 years and ultimately merged 110

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Teubner also serves as chairman of the board for Southwest Bancorp, the public holding company of Bank SNB, a director for the OSU Center for Innovation and Economic Development, and an advisory council member for the OSU Museum of Art. Teubner is also a supporter of the Oklahoma WONDERtorium. Teubner is a member of both the OSU Alumni Association Hall of Fame and the Spears School of Business Hall of Fame. Recently, he was named an honorary member of the National Academy of Inventors by OSU. Teubner is also a certified private pilot. Teubner met his wife, Julie, at OSU, and their three children, Ryan, Jonathan and Jennifer, are all graduates of Oklahoma State. Teubner is honored to be recognized in the Spears School Tributes: 100 For 100. “First and foremost, it’s very humbling,” Teubner says. “Given the group of outstanding graduates that the business school has produced over the century this honor is unexpected and surreal. Seriously, the OSU business school could easily produce a 1,000 For 100 list!”

Patricia Anne Tilford Secretarial Administration (1960) Business Education (master’s, 1978)

atricia Anne Tilford has a strong bond with Oklahoma State University. The Tulsa native earned her bachelor’s degree in secretarial administration in 1960 and her master’s in business education in 1978 from OSU’s business school. Tilford first came to OSU, then Oklahoma A&M, in 1956 soon after it was integrated. She lived and worked in Murray Hall. As an African-American student, she faced many hardships and often felt like quitting and going home, but her mother wouldn’t allow it. However, Tilford was driven to prove everyone who doubted her wrong, which motivated her to stay and graduate. The business school made a huge impact on Tilford. She describes it as “amazing,” citing the outstanding faculty. A few people she names as particularly meaningful to her were James Silverthorn, Dean Eugene Swearingen and Edward Burris, who all encouraged her to stay at OSU. Silverthorn also helped her land her first job at Tinker Air Force Base in Midwest City, Okla. Tilford left Tinker to become a stay-at-home mother from 1962 until 1976. She then taught business education for 22 years for the Sapulpa,

Okla., school district. Now retired, she lives in Sugarland, Texas, with her husband. She met her college sweetheart, Kermit Tilford, in 1957 and married him in 1961. All three of their children — Kermit Jr., Bernadette and Melissa — earned engineering degrees from OSU. The Tilfords also have four grandchildren: Kermit III, a senior finance major at Baylor University; Jazmyn and Alexis, who are track and field athletes; and baby Hannah. The couple spend much of their time attending their grandchildren’s track and field meets. Tilford remains active with yoga and jazzercize four days a week. She is also assisting her husband in writing a book about life in Oklahoma. Tilford says she is overwhelmed to be selected for the Spears School Tributes: 100 For 100. “This honor means the world to me, to be recognized by OSU in 2014, when 54 years ago, I wanted to quit and go home,” Tilford says. “It’s really amazing. There’s a silver lining to my story: I met my husband, our three children are OSU grads, and I’m the first in my family to earn a college degree. None of that would have happened if I had gone home. I’m so glad I stayed.”

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Roy E. Townsdin Accounting (1959; master’s, 1961)

oy E. Townsdin grew up working on his family farm in Ripley, Okla. In addition to playing baseball and basketball for Ripley High School, he was the drum major in the Ripley High School marching band. One of four children, he envisioned being a high school coach one day. Following his military service and as a result of the GI Bill, he considered a change of course and enrolled at OSU as an accounting major. While at OSU, Townsdin married the love of his life, Norma Anderson. Both worked full time while he earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in accounting. Balancing the responsibilities of being a full-time student, a graduate assistant, a husband and an employee of Stillwater Telephone Co. left little time for watching many of the OSU sports he would enjoy supporting later in his life. Townsdin felt that his OSU business education prepared him well for his career as a CPA at Peat, Marwick, Mitchell and for the leadership positions he held in the many companies he acquired. He enjoyed being able to provide employment to the men and women in his companies, as well as the challenge of seeking the next opportunity to pursue. He became president of United Transports in 1975 and later president and CEO of Woods Corp., the parent company of United Transports, Woods Petroleum, Star Manufacturing and MAC Corp. Townsdin was a partner in WDS Inc., which acquired Woods Corp. in a private equity buyout. In 1985, he acquired Granutech-Saturn Corp. in Grand Prairie, Texas, and Southwest Electric Co.

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in Oklahoma City. He had many varied business interests, from owning and operating successful long-term businesses to participating in real estate investments and ranching. The couple supported the growth of Westridge Hills Church in Oklahoma City, which would become Crossings Community Church. Townsdin served as an elder and a mentor to many. He served on many boards and committees at both his church and in the community, including Heritage Hall School in Oklahoma City and the Water4 Project. Townsdin was committed to Water4Project’s mission to provide clean water to remote villages around the world. A proud Cowboy fan, he loved attending OSU sporting events, especially football and basketball games. Townsdin lost his battle with pancreatic cancer on Dec. 3, 2010. His love for OSU lives on through his widow, Norma, and his children, Kim and Ron, and their families. Two grandchildren, Tyler Grubbs (2010 bachelor’s in finance) and Jessica Townsdin (2014 bachelor’s in psychology) followed in his footsteps to OSU. “Grandpa always had a passion for Oklahoma State,” Grubbs says. “You could see it and hear it. And, it wasn’t just a passion for a football game, but a love for the university and everything it stood for. That’s how I am now. I love my school. Grandpa drew no attention to himself, didn’t need it or want it. He knew he loved OSU. He gave back to the school without needing recognition. He was a humble Cowboy.”

Steve Tuttle Marketing (1973)

teve Tuttle was like many other teenagers growing up in Oklahoma during the 1960s. Life was good and getting better when he decided to attend Oklahoma State University. And for two years it was exactly what he wanted. Until he received his draft card. The Vietnam War draft interrupted the college education of many young American males. Tuttle had completed his first two years toward a marketing degree when he was drafted into the Army. He served from 1969 to 1971 as a military police officer in Vietnam. Tuttle survived the Vietnam War — but just barely. Although he did not suffer any injuries from combat, the Tulsa native did end up hospitalized with a kidney disease. Doctors ended up removing his right kidney. “They couldn’t figure out what I had. I was in the hospital for three weeks and almost died before they figured out that I had a severe infection of the kidney and they removed my right kidney,” Tuttle says. “My infection would not have taken so long to find [later with] CAT scans. But in 1971, it hadn’t been invented yet, so they were just trying to find it the old-fashioned way, and they finally found it after three weeks. CAT scans and MRIs are so routine now, but they weren’t back then.” It took six months for Tuttle to recover and delayed his return to Stillwater. But he had a renewed enthusiasm for school when he re-enrolled at Oklahoma State. “My first two years, my grades weren’t very good, and my last two years I think my grade-point average was around 3.5. The maturity of going overseas really helped me when I came back, and,

of course, I was 26 when I graduated,” says Tuttle, who earned his bachelor’s degree in marketing in 1973. Tuttle began his long career in the energy sector when he took a job with Mapco in Tulsa as a distribution representative after graduating from OSU. He joined a small natural gas liquids company, NGL Supply Inc., in 1979. He and a couple of partners bought the company six years later. In 2000, NGL executives, including Tuttle, had a decision to make: sell the company or dedicate themselves to growing it. “We decided to grow it and started acquiring companies,” says Tuttle, whose company was one of the first sponsors of the Tulsa Business Forums speaker series sponsored by OSU’s business school for nearly 30 years. Tuttle and his partners dedicated themselves to NGL and in May 2011, the company went public. They changed the name to NGL Energy Partners, and saw it expand from 120 employees to nearly 3,000 over the next 2½ years. Tuttle stayed on for a year as president-midstream to oversee the transition and retired in 2012. “It makes me proud to have been a part of that,” he says. The longtime Tulsan has been an avid supporter of Oklahoma State athletics and participates in the Spears School of Business mentoring program. “I’m extremely humbled to be selected for this honor,” Tuttle says. “There are so many OSU business graduates that came before me and after me that also deserve this honor. Toward the end of my career, there wasn’t a day that went by where I didn’t interact with an OSU business graduate that didn't make me proud.”

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Chuck Watson Economics (1972)

huck Watson has had an extremely successful career since his days at Oklahoma State University. The Great Lakes, Ill., native earned his bachelor’s degree in economics from OSU’s business school in 1972.

Watson has been governor, trustee and chairman of the OSU Foundation, chairman of the Sigma Chi Foundation, inducted into the OSU Alumni Association Hall of Fame in 1997, and inducted into the Spears School Hall of Fame in 1996.

Watson is chairman and co-founder of Twin Eagle Resource Management, a Houston-based midstream service provider and energy marketer established in 2010.

In 2001, following his commencement address, he received OSU’s highest honor, the Henry G. Bennett Award. He was also inducted into the Texas Business Hall of Fame and was named a Master Entrepreneur by Ernst & Young in 2001.

He worked at Conoco from 1972 until 1985. He established NGC Corp., Dynegy Inc.’s predecessor, in 1985 and served as chairman and CEO until his departure in 2002. Watson was chairman of Eagle Energy Partners, co-founding it in 2003 and selling it to Lehman Brothers in 2007. In 2008, he engineered the purchase of Eagle Energy Partners from Lehman Brothers, then sold it to Électricité de France. He is chairman of AltsDirect, an alternative investment firm, and CollegiateZone, whose programs strive to improve education. He serves on the boards of Baker Hughes Inc., the Baylor College of Medicine and Mainstream Renewable Power. He is on the advisory council for DocuSign and a member of the Angeleno Group’s board of advisers. Watson co-founded Caldwell Watson Real Estate Group in 1996 and was a minority owner in the Houston Aeros, a professional hockey team. Watson and his wife, Kim, have given generously to both OSU and the Spears School of Business. Their $2 million gift provided for the Watson Trading Floor in the current Business Building.

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In 2012, the Watsons’ gift of cash, pledges and an estate commitment, when combined with matching gifts, will have a total impact of $36 million. The gift established the Watson Graduate School of Management and will help build the new home for the Spears School.

In November 2002, Watson was named an Exemplary Leader by the American Leadership Forum. He served as chairman of the Alexis de Tocqueville Society 1997-1999 campaigns for the United Way of the Texas Gulf Coast and as a citywide chairman of the United Way’s 1999-2000 fundraising campaign. He is currently on the boards of Theater Under the Stars, the Houston Livestock Show & Rodeo, and the Hobby Center for the Performing Arts. Watson and his wife, Kim, have been married for more than 41 years and reside in Houston. They have three grown children, Brian, Keri and Carly, and seven grandchildren. They have an ongoing commitment to the arts and community service. In 1998, Child Advocates of Houston named the Watsons “Family of the Year.” In 2001, the Watsons were honored for their community service by both the Houston Chapter of the Texas Society of Certified Public Accountants and the Family Service Center. In 2007, they were honored by Crisis Intervention of Houston. Watson appreciates being among those recognized in the Spears School Tributes: 100 For 100. “I am humbled to be included in the top 100 and equally grateful for the foundation for life that I received at OSU’s College of Business,” he says.

Brandon Weeden Marketing (2011)

here are more than 400,000 NCAA student-athletes, and most of them will go pro in something other than sports,” says the NCAA. Brandon Weeden, on the other hand, has gone pro in two different sports yet he still possesses a degree that he has found useful in his professional career in both baseball and football. Currently, he is a backup quarterback with the NFL’s Dallas Cowboys. Weeden started out with the hope of pitching for the New York Yankees. A two-sport star at Santa Fe High School in Edmond, Okla., Weeden helped direct the Wolves to the Class 6A state championship game in football where they lost to powerhouse Jenks. In baseball, the Wolves also were championship contenders, and Weeden was one of the top high school pitching prospects in the nation, getting drafted in the second round (with the first pick for the Yankees) in the 2002 Major League Baseball draft. Weeden remembers the thrill of putting on the pinstripes and the pressure of being a top investment of Yankees' owner George S. Steinbrenner. “He was the boss,” Weeden says. “You did not want to let him down and he made it clear that he had expectations of you and he expected you to fulfill them. He was a tough guy.” A couple of trades later, arm troubles prompted Weeden to begin thinking about heading home and considering a return to football. The day after he left spring training in Arizona, he was in Stillwater talking to head coach Mike Gundy and offensive coordinator Larry Fedora. By the end of that day, Weeden was committed to the Cowboys. Weeden decided to enroll in the Spears School of Business, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in marketing with a minor in sports management. Weeden says he found the classes enjoyable.

“I felt getting my degree in business gave me the best opportunity to explore several options when I was finished,” he says. “Going into school, I wasn’t exactly sure what I wanted to do when I graduated, so the business program offered several classes that would benefit me regardless of the career path I chose. I was fortunate to have some great professors who prepared me and gave me every opportunity to learn and succeed in those classes.” On Saturdays starting in the fall of 2010, all OSU students came to know Weeden, who became one of the most famous football players and student athletes at OSU. Weeden’s Cowboys played two tremendous seasons in 2010 and 2011, including wins over Arizona in the Valero Alamo Bowl in 2010 and the Big 12 Championship and a No. 3 national ranking with an overtime win over Stanford in the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl in 2011. Weeden set OSU records with 4,277 passing yards in a season and total yards in a season with 4,625 as well as 408 complete passes, 72.3 percent of his attempts. He was named All-Big 12 quarterback and was a finalist for the Manning Award. He became the 22nd pick in the first round of the NFL draft by the Cleveland Browns. Weeden has several endorsements, and he has a foundation that successfully brought Oklahoma City’s first pediatric heart surgeon to the area. “This means a lot,” Weeden says of his recognition in the Spears School Tributes: 100 For 100. “Congratulations to the Spears School of Business and its 100th anniversary. I can tell you I am proud of my accomplishments and work there just as I am proud of those at Boone Pickens Stadium. It is all about winning, and Oklahoma State is a winner in both areas.”

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Dail C. West Marketing (1940)

proud Oklahoman, Dail C. West was known by family, friends and colleagues to embody author John W. Gardner’s words: “Some people strengthen the society just by being the kind of people they are.” West touched the lives of many people in Oklahoma and around the world.

enter business for themselves. West was inducted into the OSU College of Business Hall of Fame in 1971, and received the OSU Alumni Association’s Distinguished Service Award in 1983. An active supporter of higher education, he served as a member of the OSU Foundation’s Board of Governors.

He was born Jan. 26, 1918, in Holdenville, Okla., to Chet and Osa West. After graduating from Holdenville High School, he attended the Oklahoma Military Academy in Claremore before moving to Stillwater to attend Oklahoma A&M, where he was a member of Kappa Sigma.

In Miami, he was a member of the First United Methodist Church, Miami Industrial Development Corp., Chamber of Commerce and the Miami Rotary Club, where he was honored as a Paul Harris Fellow in Rotary International.

In 1940, West graduated with a bachelor’s degree in marketing from Oklahoma A&M College’s Division of Business. He and his wife, Frances, moved to Miami, Okla., where he began a career in retailing, wholesale distributing, and oil and gas. During his career, he also served as a director with the Security Bank & Trust Co. West served on boards of numerous civic and charitable organizations, including the Oklahoma Chamber of Commerce and the Oklahoma Heritage Association. He also dedicated much of his time and resources to the Oklahoma United Methodist Foundation and World Neighbors, a global nonprofit organization helping communities solve problems of hunger, poverty and disease. In 1961, he received a citation from Mu Kappa Tau national marketing fraternity for his outstanding contribution to the American free enterprise system for encouraging young men to

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West, whose favorite quote was, “The harder I work, the luckier I get,” mentored many young people. Tom Forbes was one in particular, and the OSU graduate wrote to West’s family about his influence throughout his career. West gave Forbes a job in high school, guided him as he attended OSU and even gave him his first job after he obtained his degree. “The gesture [West] extended to me so graciously has grown exponentially over the years, and I can’t imagine how many lives have been touched by [his] kindness,” Forbes wrote. Dail C. West died May 28, 2005. “My father was a very humble man and would have felt greatly honored to be recognized by OSU as the Spears School Tributes: 100 For 100,” says his son Gary West, who will join his sons John and Corbin in honoring his father by attending the 100th Anniversary Reception and Dinner in November.

Rod Whitson Economics (1981) MBA (1983)

od Whitson might be considered a “selfmade man” — with a great deal of help from the Spears School of Business.

Growing up in Miami, Okla., he learned the value of a good work ethic from his parents. Dad Rod Sr. was an electrician at the B.F. Goodrich tire plant. His mother, Jean, took care of the kids at home. Although he had entrepreneurial leanings, Whitson had little business background when he arrived at Oklahoma State University. “Miami was something like 20,000 people at the time, and I hadn’t really been anywhere else in my life, so coming to Oklahoma State literally opened my eyes to what was possible,” he says. “I think OSU really expanded my horizons and my belief of what’s possible. “I am a living example of how much value the Spears school can add to a kid who grew up in a rural area with a strong work ethic. I feel my story is the story of so many successful people who graduate from the Spears School, whether they started out in rural Oklahoma or rural India,” Whitson says. Enrolling in the business school, he eventually decided to pursue a degree in economics. “I knew basically nothing about business when I arrived at OSU and didn’t have any type of business background from growing up in Miami. But my education at OSU prepared me for a career in business. My professors challenged me, and they challenged me to work hard,” Whitson says. That hard work paid off. He earned his bachelor’s degree in economics in 1981 and his MBA in 1983 before heading out into the real world. Whitson found his niche in banking with a job at Fidelity Bank in Oklahoma City, and even though the ’80s were very difficult times for Oklahoma

banks he quickly showed his abilities, earning several promotions. He also held management positions with Bank of Oklahoma (1982-85), Oklahoma National Bank and Trust (1985-86) and First Interstate Bank of Oklahoma (1986-87). He spent seven years as vice president and director of management services for Innovative Resources in Oklahoma City before joining Vistage International in 1995. He eventually moved to San Diego as the vice president of marketing for Vistage, then joined the Townsend Agency, where he was promoted from chief operations officer to president during a seven-year run (2000-07). Whitson returned to the banking industry — and Oklahoma City — when he became president at Bank2, helping put together a growth strategy that focused on Native American ventures and mortgage loans. “We ended up doing home loans for Native Americans all over the United States, including Alaska, Hawaii and every reservation you can imagine,” he says. “We really grew that business and became the market share leader in that category. In the process, the bank became one of the most profitable banks in the nation for banks of its size. “Many of the loans Bank2 does no other lender will do. It’s a perfect example of a business doing well and doing good at the same time, and that’s an important value I can link directly to my time at OSU.” In January 2014, he was named executive vice president for the Bankers Bank in Oklahoma City. Whitson believes none of his success would have been possible if not for his decision to attend Oklahoma State and the support he received from his professors in the business school. “Without a doubt, the decision to attend Oklahoma State was one of the best decisions of my career,” he says. 2014 engage@spears

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Jon Wiese Finance (1978) MBA (1983)

on Wiese graduated from Oklahoma State University’s College of Business with a bachelor’s degree in finance in 1978 and an MBA in 1983. Following a 25-year career in the telecommunication and technology industry, Wiese returned to Stillwater to fulfill his passion for teaching and mentoring students at OSU as a Riata Distinguished Professor of Entrepreneurial Practice in the Spears School of Business. The Chandler, Okla., native loved Stillwater and believed that OSU would give him the best opportunity to enjoy a successful career in business. “Jon always recognized the importance of the education he received in the College of Business at OSU,” says Suzanne Wiese, his wife of 31 years. “He often mentioned specific faculty members who nurtured Jon’s love of marketing, which lasted a lifetime. He took great pride in revealing to colleagues all over the world that he indeed was a graduate of Oklahoma State University.” Wiese began his career with Texas Instruments in 1980. In 1989, he joined AT&T as a vice president of marketing and served in numerous roles until helping create one of the industry’s largest IPOs with Lucent Technologies in 1996. Wiese held several senior executive positions, including president of the international division, where he created new businesses in more than 30 countries. In 1999, he was named president of Xeta Technologies and later served as a senior vice president with Bell Canada, the largest telecom provider in Canada. There he created and launched three subsidiaries, helping Bell Canada deliver double-digit profit growth for the first time in nearly a decade. Wiese served on the OSU Foundation Board of Governors and the OSU-Tulsa Presidents’ 118

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Council. He was inducted into the Spears School of Business Hall of Fame in 2006, and named an Outstanding Entrepreneur Educator in the School of Entrepreneurship. Wiese also served as a board member of Cancer Care of New Jersey, the Dallas Urban League, the Greater Dallas Chamber of Commerce and the Indian Nations Boy Scouts. After many corporate moves in the U.S., Belgium and Canada, the Wieses moved their family back to Stillwater, where it had begun with a marriage proposal at Theta Pond. “He ended his career by returning to Stillwater to educate business students so they would be awarded the same opportunities he was offered as a graduate,” daughter Paige Wiese says. “Most importantly, as with the rest of the Wiese family, my dad bled orange.” The entire Wiese family has degrees from OSU: wife, Suzanne, bachelor’s in speech education and master’s in curriculum and instruction and children; daughter Sara Wiese Hedgcoth, general business, 2008; daughter Paige, accounting, 2009; and son Michael, general business, 2012. “OSU meant so much to him and his admiration for the school was contagious,” Sara says. “He taught me as a student and son about what it means to be a leader and a good man,” Michael says. “I’ve never seen someone so dedicated to OSU up until the very end. Even when he was facing down death, he made OSU events a priority.” “We are proud of our husband and father, and we know he would be honored to be included in this group of individuals who are an awesome representation of some of the business school’s most distinguished graduates,” says Suzanne. Wiese was 56 when he died March 22, 2013, in Stillwater after a battle with cancer.

Brad Williams Agricultural Economics (1977) Accounting (master’s, 1979)

rad Williams’ life could have been completely different if it weren’t for Oklahoma State University’s business school. The Ponca City, Okla., native earned his bachelor’s degree in agricultural economics in 1977 and his master’s degree in accounting in 1979.

tax managing partner of the Gulf Coast area (upon moving to Houston in 1993), national director of the REIT practice, lead partner for the MLP practice, and CFO of the Americas Tax Practice. He also served as coordinating partner for several global accounts. He retired in April 2013.

During his days at OSU, Williams was active in Sigma Nu fraternity, living in the house all four years and serving as treasurer, then commander. He had plans to become a veterinarian, but after earning his bachelor’s degree, he decided to pursue an MBA. Professor Milton Usry persuaded him to consider a master’s in accounting. Once he started, he never looked back. He went on to spend 34 years as a tax CPA with Ernst & Young.

Williams is also a founding member of the School of Accounting Advisory Board, ultimately serving as chairman. He was named a School of Accounting Outstanding Alumni and inducted into the Spears School of Business Hall of Fame. With Ernst & Young, he served as the lead campus partner for OSU for several years.

Williams credits OSU’s business school for leading him in the right direction for his career. “All of my career opportunities began with the fine faculty of the business school,” Williams says. “Without them, I would have been tending to sick dogs, cats, cows and the like.” He joined the tax department in the Dallas office of Ernst & Ernst upon graduation from OSU in 1979. He was admitted to partnership in 1987, and the firm merged to become Ernst & Young in 1989. He served in a number of regional and national roles in his 34 years with the company, including regional director of real estate services,

He married his high school sweetheart, Denise Gordon, in 1977. They will soon celebrate 37 years of marriage. They have two daughters: Jennifer is in her eighth year with the U.S. State Department in Washington, D.C., having spent the past few years coordinating U.S. aid to Syrian refugees, and Kelsey is a second-grade teacher at the Kinkaid School in Houston. The two split their time between Houston and Watercolor (Santa Rosa Beach), Fla. Williams is honored to be selected for the Spears School Tributes: 100 For 100. “I am very humbled to be considered in the same company as my fellow honorees,” Williams says.

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Paul Wise Accounting (1931)

aul Wise accomplished many things during his 70-year career in banking. The longtime Stillwater National Bank employee is credited with establishing the first automobile loan department in Oklahoma and the state’s first drive-up banking window. Wise was born April 15, 1905, to James Leonard and Matilda Wise, and he grew up in Braman, Okla. He began his banking career as a 15-yearold bookkeeper and assistant cashier at the First National Bank of Braman, working there from 1920 to 1928. He was hired in 1928 by Stillwater National Bank President Jim Berry, who heard him deliver a moving speech at the Oklahoma Bankers Association’s Public Speaking Contest. Entitled “Give Us a Chance,” Wise’s speech asked the bankers there to help the younger generation learn, work and grow in the banking profession. He won and Berry offered him a job. Wise joined Stillwater National Bank on Sept. 1, 1928. While working three jobs — earning $35 a month at the bank, $10 a month as a member of the Oklahoma National Guard and another $5 a month as the personal bookkeeper for Berry, who was also Oklahoma’s lieutenant governor — he attended Oklahoma A&M College, earning his bachelor’s degree in accounting in three years. In all, Wise was employed for nearly 70 years at Stillwater National Bank; he was promoted to executive vice president and cashier in 1958. The bank enrolled him in the Graduate School of Banking at the University of Wisconsin (and for two years, he worked as a national bank examiner). In addition, Wise was appointed director and corporate secretary of the Stillwater Milling Co. in 1937. 120

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Active in the community and civic causes, he helped organize the Stillwater Industrial Foundation and the United Fund of Stillwater, known today as the Stillwater Area United Way. He also served as president of the Stillwater Chamber of Commerce, Toastmasters Club, Stillwater Lion’s Club, the Third District of the Oklahoma Banking Association three times, and as deacon at First Christian Church. “I still think of myself as a bookkeeper and cashier — two areas I’ve enjoyed so much,” the 92-year-old Wise told The Oklahoman in 1997. Wise gave back to his community and wanted to give back to his alma mater. In November 1997, his $1 million donation was the largest gift ever made until then to the OSU College of Business, and matched dollar-for-dollar with state funds, making the total gift $2 million. The funds established the Paul Wise Endowed Chair in Finance as part of OSU’s $206 million “Bringing Dreams to Life” fundraising campaign. “I wanted to do something helpful,” Wise said of his gift. Wise was inducted into the Spears School of Business Hall of Fame in 1996 and the Stillwater Hall of Fame in 1995. His four children and eight grandchildren were very proud of him. His wife, Geneva, died in 1992. He died Feb. 19, 1998, at the age of 92. His son, longtime Oklahoma City eye surgeon and glaucoma specialist Dr. James Wise, says his father would have been honored to be recognized in the Spears School Tributes: 100 For 100.

David Woods Management (1980)

avid Woods learned early that it takes hard work to succeed in life. But that never scared the 58-year-old who was born in Germany and lived in Virginia, California, Arizona, Texas and Oklahoma as the son of a two-star general in the Air Force and a supportive mother. Woods’ dad was commander of Vance Air Force Base in Enid, Okla., when his son decided to bypass the Air Force Academy for Oklahoma State University. His parents were willing to help but Woods worked throughout his years in Stillwater to do his part, especially after he married his high school sweetheart, Myra Hughes, in 1977. Woods worked several jobs, including some at the same time, to help pay for his college education. Some of those jobs: washing dishes in the basement of the Willham dorm complex, getting out of bed at 3 a.m. to throw newspapers, working as a roughneck on an oil well, selling clothes at Stillwater’s Katz Department store, serving as night manager with his wife at a beer distributorship, hauling hay, and managing an apartment complex. “It was these experiences that definitely added to my education and prepared me to enter the business world. What I learned is you’d better do everything in your power to get that degree. That was probably the biggest lesson I learned,” Woods says with a laugh. “None of those jobs were glamorous or pretty but all of them convinced me that getting a degree was that much more important, and inspired me to make sure I completed my degree.” Woods is CEO and co-owner of GiANT Partners and co-owner of several other companies in the leadership, capital and publishing industries.

Woods serves on the President’s Board of OSU-OKC, as chairman of the executive board of the Spears School’s Associates, on the board of governors for the OSU Foundation, on the council of advisors to the president of the University of Central Oklahoma, and on the advisory council for Oklahoma City University’s Meinders School of Business. In addition, he serves on the boards for Able Manufacturing, Leadership Oklahoma, the State Chamber of Commerce, Water 4, Economic Club of Oklahoma and Allied Arts of Oklahoma. Woods has served in many other leadership roles as well: CEO of Ditch Witch and EXIM Group, chairman of the Association of Equipment Manufacturers, Leadership Oklahoma, associate membership for the Association of Equipment Manufacturers, Perry Hospital Foundation Board, Perry City Planning Commission, on the board of directors of the Distribution Contractors Association, and as a Boy Scout leader of Troop 12 in Perry. He is an Eagle Scout. Woods is proud of his two sons, J.D. Woods and Ian Woods, both with thriving careers in the film industry. He gives much credit to his wife of 37 years, Myra, an artist, for her constant love and support. Woods is pleased to be recognized in the Spears School Tributes: 100 For 100. “To be honored by the Spears School of Business is, well, quite overwhelming,” he says. “I am sure that there are many others that deserve this recognition more than me. And I’m sure that I have not done all that I could have or should have to give back to OSU. It’s a cherished moment to receive any sort of award or honor, and having it come from my alma mater, the Spears School of Business, makes it even more special.” 2014 engage@spears

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John M. Yeaman Human Resources Management (1963)

ohn M. Yeaman has spent his life seeking challenges. A native of Ponca City, Okla., and one of five boys, Yeaman followed his two older brothers to Stillwater to take on the challenges of Oklahoma State University.

1998, Tyler had divested itself of most of those operations and was seeking to become a leading provider of web-based e-government and backend information management solutions to local government.

Yeaman graduated from OSU’s School of Business with a bachelor’s degree in human resources management in 1963.

As president, then chief executive officer and now chairman of the board, Yeaman has guided Tyler into a company that has more than $417 million in annual revenue (from $23 million in 1998) and employs more than 2,600 people. Today, Tyler partners with more than 11,000 government offices to make local government more accessible to the public, more responsive to the needs of residents and more efficient.

“At OSU, I acquired the technical tools to complement the traits instilled in me during my Oklahoma upbringing: hard work, loyalty, and commitment — traits I strive to meet every day,” Yeaman says. After graduation, Yeaman and his wife, Karen, his high school sweetheart, moved to Dallas, where he joined the Eastman Kodak Co. Several years later, Yeaman launched his first entrepreneurial endeavor with the Business Records Corp., a computer output microfilm service bureau serving the Dallas area. Eventually, he sold the business and, looking for a new challenge, founded the Yeaman Cos., a real estate brokerage and services business. As president and chief executive officer of the Yeaman Cos., he cultivated a relationship with Electronic Data Systems Corp. that would last 17 years. Initially, Yeaman managed EDS’ real estate transactions in the United States, Canada, Mexico and South America. EDS later asked Yeaman to sell his business and join EDS full time to assume responsibility for the company’s $2 billion in real estate assets. He accepted the challenge. In 1998, at the age of 57, Yeaman left EDS to take on yet another challenge: Tyler Technologies Inc., a publicly traded company listed on the New York Stock Exchange. Tyler was founded in the late 1960s as an industrial conglomerate. By

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In 2004, Yeaman was inducted into the Spears School of Business Hall of Fame. Yeaman served on the board of directors of the Dallas Country Club and is the founding chairman of the Park Cities Bank, which serves the University Park and Highland Park areas of Dallas. He is very active in the Salesmanship Club of Dallas, an 84-year-old community service organization that raises money for children’s causes and sponsors the HP Byron Nelson Championship each spring. He has established the Karen Rider Yeaman Memorial Scholarship Fund to assist qualified OSU students in memory of his late wife. “I’ve always been proud of my roots. I’ve always been proud of my alma mater. To receive this [100 For 100] honor, I’ve never been quite so proud as now,” Yeaman says. Yeaman’s family includes his wife, Kathy, a daughter, two sons, three stepdaughters and seven grandchildren, with whom he spends a lot of his free time.

B U SI N ESS S E SS

B UI L D I

The Spears School of Business 100th Anniversary T-shirt is now available at Eskimo Joe’s Clothes World Headquarters in Stillwater and at its Woodland Hills Mall store in Tulsa. It may also be ordered by phone at 1-800-256-JOES or online at shop.eskimojoes.com.

Celebrating 100 YEARS With Spears Celebrate 100 years of the Spears School of Business in style with this specially designed Eskimo Joe’s T-shirt. You’ll be ready for all the anniversary events. For more information and a list of events, visit spears100.okstate.edu. GOLD SPONSORS

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BRONZE SPONSORS 2014 engage@spears PA RTN E R S O F TH E S P E A R S S C H O O L O F B U S I N E S S

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Education for Life Banker continues learning with Watsonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Ph.D. in Business for Executives program

STORY BY BEVERLY BRYANT PHOTOS BY GARY LAWSON/UNIVERSITY MARKETING

Standing in front of the campus statue of his grandfather, former OSU President Henry Bennett, Tom Bennett Jr. poses with his father, Tom Bennett.

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ifelong learning is a passion for Tom Bennett Jr.

The chairman and co-CEO of First Oklahoma Bank in Tulsa is among the first cohort of students enrolled in the Ph.D. in Business for Executives in the Watson Graduate School of Management.

“I think pursuing a Ph.D. was something I always wanted to do,” Bennett says. “I found it very exciting when OSU offered this program. I wanted to set an example for my children and grandchildren about lifelong learning.” In December, he will become one of the first graduates of the executive program. The banker earned a bachelor’s degree in sociology at OSU in 1973, then started his career with Stillwater National Bank and Trust Co. In 1985, he served as a White House fellow and special assistant to the comptroller of the currency in Washington, D.C. He continued his education, earning a master’s degree in public administration with honors from Harvard University in 1987. “I thought it was very logical to combine sociology with public administration,” Bennett says, adding that his 40 years in banking has shown it to be a good combination, giving him a background both in understanding people and in understanding the regulations governing banking. “I think community banks play a role that is unique,” Bennett says. “We gather the deposits of one generation and promise to pay that back, with interest. And then we lend that money to the next generation, for the building of businesses and homes. We manage the transfer of wealth from one generation to the next.” Bennett says the Spears School Ph.D. in Business for Executives program focuses on helping current executives become more effective in the 21st century. Participating in it has held a variety of surprises, he says. “The first is the practical one. In this era, everyone carries a laptop to class. That wasn’t the case when I was an undergraduate. That was a new world. I had to learn computer skills, but even old people can learn computer skills.” On the technical side, he wasn’t sure what a structural equation model was when he started. “Now I can almost do one,” he says, explaining: “That’s looking at various factors that impact outcomes. If you look at a structural equation model, one example

is asking what determines the economic prosperity of a state. To what extent does culture affect education, and likewise, how does education impact prosperity? The more educated people are, the more money there is to be made. What about culture? What are the components of culture that contribute to support of education? You can analyze those questions in a structural equation model.” Bennett says the fun thing about doing the research is, “There are so many ideas you have to narrow it down to a topic you can finish in one year.” He recently had his research proposal approved on “The Business Model: What Is a Business Model and How Does It Work? Case Studies in Community Banking” and will defend his dissertation by fall. “Everyone uses the term ‘business model.’ I am interviewing bank CEOs to come up with a practitioner’s definition of ‘business model’ and how it works and changes over time,” Bennett says. “I am using banking because it is something I know about, and all the financial information is public, so you have the outcomes, and you can go back up the ladder to see where business models affected the results,” he says. He says the people he has interviewed as part of his research have been very receptive. “I haven’t had anyone say no. In many respects, it is people of my generation, and some younger, who have been able to put together a shared knowledge of our banks in the last 25 to 40 years,” Bennett says. “Everyone has enjoyed being part of that discussion. Everyone is having fun doing it.” The vast majority of banking research is quantitative in nature, he says. “That is one reason I wanted to do a qualitative project.” “All the financial information is on FDIC.gov. In this study, we get a unique insight from the point of view of the practitioners,” he says. Bennett says without a doubt, he would do the doctoral program again. Still, there are a couple of things he would change beforehand. “If I were to start over again, I would have done more advanced preparation,” he says. “I would have had better computer skills. I would have taken some refresher courses in the language of research.” He says he believes the doctoral program has the potential to advance banking. “I perceive a communications gap between the academics and the practitioners of this world. I hope [the program] builds bridges and creates a better dialogue,” he says. continues fall 2014 engage@spears

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Bennett says he and his fellow students are unique for the faculty. “Unlike recent graduates, we bring decades of experience. We don’t have to test the theories in unknown business environments,” he says. “The faculty working with us is not just preparing future business practitioners, but improving current practitioners.” Bennett says his academic work already has had a positive effect on his bank.

“I wanted to set an example for my children and grandchildren about lifelong learning.” — Tom Bennett Jr.

“It has helped me to ask better questions,” he says. “My staff tells me I write better memos than I did before. They are more concise, and I make better presentations. The classes have had an immediate application and made me a better executive. I believe my classmates would say the same thing about their work.” His advice to anyone considering the program is more personal.

“Be absolutely sure your spouse and co-workers completely buy into the idea. It’s not just something you’re going to knock out on Saturday afternoons,” he says. “If they see it as beneficial, it can be a good and growing project.” Bennett made some personal sacrifices to return to school. “I had taught Sunday school every Sunday since 1976. Now I fill in on a periodic basis because I don’t have time to prepare a proper class. But I will return to teaching once this is over,” he says. “Outside professional life, there are all kinds of activities — sports, programs, travel — where I take my backpack with my computer with me, because I still have a full-time job that still requires my energy.”

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Bennett says his wife has been very patient and amazingly supportive. “From time to time, I thought of quitting. My wife has said, ‘No, take your books and go in your room and study,’ ” he says. “Having these classmates is one of the best parts of it. These classmates are as good as the ones I had at Harvard. I would not have made it through this program without my wife and classmates — and also a lot of prayer.” Bennett has a long history with OSU, beginning with the ties both sets of grandparents had. His grandfather, Oklahoma A&M College President Henry Bennett, helped guide OSU agriculture beyond the U.S. into Ethiopia during his 1928-1951 tenure, he says. “In the same way, this doctoral program is a 21stcentury vision of the land-grant mission, and needs to reach into businesses around the world. My grandfather would be very proud of this program and see it as a logical extension of what OSU has been doing for generations. “What I would hope is that each of the colleges at OSU would create doctoral programs that reach into the world’s business, nonprofit and government service sectors. That would be very useful in moving our society forward,” he says. Although he will be 64 when he graduates, Bennett says he has no plans to slow down — either at work or in learning. “My father retired at 90,” he says. “I am not sure I will work as long as my dad did. I look at work as a journey. I have had a wonderful opportunity to be involved in banking for over 40 years. “My role may change. My older son is co-CEO. One day I will be the chairman and not the CEO. I hope to make a contribution even after I’m not CEO.” Some people ask him if he is through studying. “Probably not,” he replies. “I am setting an example that learning is a lifelong adventure. My grandchildren see me as a student just like they are. You never finish. It may not be in a formal program, but you should never feel like you have arrived.” He says he’s learned two important things in the program. “First is how little I know,” he says. There are so many topics I have not thought of pursuing. Second is how much I thought to be true was wrong. I’ve had to spend time unlearning and relearning. I hope that sets an example for generations to follow.” @

W A T S O N

G R A D U A T E

S C H O O L

O F

M A N A G E M E N T

Impacting organizations through evidence-based management The Ph.D. in Business for Executives is a true doctoral program that bridges the gap between research and practice for executives. The program is attracting national and international acclaim with 47 students from the first three cohorts representing 19 states and four countries.

Class of 2016

“The OSU Ph.D. in Business for Executives program has given me the tools and knowledge to answer the challenges from some of the most demanding business leaders in the industry. The curriculum is demanding, but the professors are supportive and they will encourage you to succeed. My only regret is not having started this program sooner.”

“The OSU Ph.D. in Business for Executives is the most relevant doctoral program offered today. I’m a much better critical thinker and business leader today because of the rich learning from world-class academics as well as the interaction with my cohort members challenging the norm in the business world.”

Lina George

Fred Cleveland

Vice President, Human Resources Walmart, Latin America Bentonville, Ark. Class of 2016

Executive Vice President, Operations WestJet Airlines Calgary, Canada Class of 2014

ADM ISSIONS DEADLINES:

2014 INFORM ATION SESSIONS:

Sept. 1, 2014 2015 Cohort

• • • •

May 1 & Sept. 1, 2015 2016 Cohort

Chicago Dallas Nashville Oklahoma City

• • • •

Inquiries 405.744.9000 | phdexec@okstate.edu phdexec.okstate.edu

San Francisco Tampa Tulsa Washington, D.C.

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PHOTOS BY RYAN JENSEN

Patti Jordan and Craig Wallace of the Ph.D. in Business for Executives program in the Watson Graduate School of Management shake hands after Jordan defended her dissertation.

Upping Her Game Executive will soon check ‘get Ph.D.’ off her career bucket list STORY BY BEVERLY BRYANT

or Patti Jordan, the Ph.D. in Business for Executives program in the Watson Graduate School of Management was a game changer.

The former vice president at a Tulsa-area manufacturer says getting her doctorate was high on the list of things she wanted to accomplish. “When this program was offered, I thought: ‘Finally, I don’t have to quit my job and move my family to go back to school. I could do this in Tulsa,’ ” she says. She jumped into the program with both feet. “I’ve wanted to do this for many reasons,” she says. “First is to open some doors and options in furthering

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my career; I'm looking at the possibility of moving into academia. And secondly, it is for self-fulfillment. “The program is fascinating and has provided an indepth knowledge of the many aspects of business,” she says. A longtime Cowgirl, Jordan has a bachelor’s degree in industrial engineering and management from OSU as well as an MBA. She was the first in her family to go to OSU; a brother transferred to follow her. “I have a lot of loyalty to OSU right now. This is my home and the school that I root for and support,” she says. “This program has been nothing like my MBA,” Jordan says. “The amount of research and

evidence-based study makes you a more well-rounded leader. It has made me look at things differently, seeking to understand the facts behind problems and opportunities to investigate solutions from a different vantage point.” She has applied her doctoral research to her work and praises the faculty and guest lecturers, who have substantial expertise in their fields. “The cohort itself makes it very interesting,” she adds. “The students are from all walks of life and different industries, which gives us the added benefit to learn from each other as well.” Jordan was the first student in the first cohort to defend her dissertation, at the end of May, and thus is scheduled to be the first to complete the program. Her dissertation examines innovation and citizenship performance, showing that perceived organizational support could contribute to improved team results. It also examines the organizational climate (work environment) and team motivation behavior. “It looks at how perceived organizational support can motivate or stimulate performance,” she says.

Assistant director Jose Sagarnga and program coordinator Donna Lamson have been very important supporters, Jordan says. “They understand our busy schedules and our busy lives, and they keep us on track and informed. They have taken a lot of heat off us by remembering all the deadlines for completing the program on time. They have done a phenomenal job of keeping us on track, helping manage the administrative side of the program,” Jordan says. “Working full time in executive positions, time management is critical, and it is easy to miss something in the schedule. They make sure we don’t have all that on our shoulders.” Jordan also says program directors Dr. Ramesh Sharda and Dr. Craig Wallace have created a one-ofa-kind program for executives. “Their vision and innovative approach have provided a unique opportunity for executives like me to obtain our Ph.D.,” she says. Jordan says she sees the doctorate as an opportunity for further options in her career. She has always had a passion for teaching and research and can’t wait to apply her new degree in her career. @

“Accountants are motivated differently than engineers,” she says. “Dr. Craig Wallace was very helpful in helping me find a topic that I wanted to research and at the same time I could apply to my work. “A lot of my focus has been on applying what I am learning back to my job. I am always looking for things I can take from the research so my company can win as well as myself. It creates a win-win situation,” she says. “In manufacturing, it is important to understand the dynamics of each work environment from the administrative level to the shop floor level.” Still, she says being the first graduate was not her goal. “I feel very honored to be the first and very humbled,” she says. “I feel a tremendous sense of self-accomplishment. I started out really focused and keeping my eye on the end game. I feel very proud and thrilled I was able to do it in such a short time period. “It’s kind of a nice feeling to know you were the first,” she adds. “It wasn’t initially something I set out to do. I can now go out and help build the program even more as an alumnus, not as a student.” Even though she will complete all the requirements for the degree by July, she’s not planning to walk at graduation until December with her fellow cohort class of 2014. “Any time in 2014 is fine enough for me,” she says. Patti Jordan defended her doctoral dissertation in May.

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OSU STUDY ABROAD & TR AV EL SPE AR S SCHOOL OF BUSINES S The CAGLE Study Abroad and Travel office provides a number of short-term programs for Spears School of Business students and those from other institutions. Course work is designed specifically for each of the diverse locations our programs offer. Some programs include in-country stays of 3-4 weeks while other programs include on-campus class work followed by 8-10 days of foreign travel. All courses are taught by Spears School faculty and directly apply to degree programs at OSU and other institutions.

WINTER BREAK - SPRING BREAK - SUMMER BREAK EARN 3-6 HOURS OF CREDIT - SCHOLARSHIPS AVAILABLE

For exciting travel options visit http://spears.okstate.edu/studyabroad or call 405.744.5210

Engaging Students in Study Abroad and Travel

SPEARS SCHOOL OF BUSINESS

MENTORING PROGRAM Making a Difference in the Life of a Student

WHAT IS THE MENTORING PROGRAM? The Spears School of Business Mentoring Program provides an opportunity for Spears School alumni and friends to interact with Spears School graduate and undergraduate students (protégés). Protégés develop professionally from the mentors’ skills, support, experience and coaching. The Mentoring Program runs concurrently with the fall and spring semesters. At least two receptions are held each semester which allow for face-to-face communication between mentors and protégés. Other program communication is anticipated to be largely by phone, text or email. It is suggested that mentors and protégés communicate at least bi-weekly during the four-month Mentoring Program.

Join and complete a profile at: OKSTATE.CHRONUS.COM

If you have questions, please contact:: Elizabeth M. Payne, J.D. Strategic Relationship Manager, SSB elizabeth.payne@okstate.edu

To Our Distinguished Guests

We Extend A First-Class Welcome

To sign up as a speaker or request a speaker visit, spears.okstate.edu/sssb. Elizabeth M. Payne, J.D. Spears School Speakers Bureau sssb@okstate.edu | spears.okstate.edu/sssb

Professional relationships between external constituents and the faculty and administration in the Spears School of Business are important to the school’s mission. The Spears School Speakers Bureau provides Spears School of Business faculty and students with an opportunity to merge business and academics by hosting distinguished alumni and friends as speakers.

PHOTO BY GARY LAWON, UNIVERSITY PHOTOGRAPHY

“If the best you can hope for is to get your money back, why do people give? How do they choose one entrepreneur over another?” — Blakely Davis

Appealing to the Heart Oklahoma research turns up different motivations in microlending

STORY BY BEVERLY BRYANT

hile business plans and predictions of cash flow, profits and losses may be at the heart of most business lending practices, that’s not the case with microlending, Oklahoma scholars have determined. A leader in microlending is Kiva, an online nonprofit site that allows people to shop around for a project they find appealing. They can lend as little as $25 to an entrepreneur. Since 2005, more than a million people have used Kiva to send more than $548 million to impoverished entrepreneurs around the world.

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Potential microlenders browse through thousands of solicitations, reading narratives written by the entrepreneurs, describing themselves, their venture, details about how a loan would be used and other personal information. Oklahoma researchers wanted to know how those narratives influenced potential lenders. What makes a particular project attractive to a world full of people willing to contribute to the greater good? In particular, researchers wondered if it is the chance of making a return on the investment or the satisfaction of helping someone without a reward in return. Their answer finds that more small lenders invest in Kiva in order to help others, and not as a means of making money.

OSU doctoral student Blakley Davis and Dr. Justin Webb, working with doctoral student Tom Allison and Dr. Jeremy Short at the University of Oklahoma, published their findings in the journal Entrepreneurship Theory & Practice. Their manuscript is titled, “Crowdfunding in a Prosocial Microlending Environment: Examining the Role of Intrinsic Versus Extrinsic Cues.” Davis says the team started with the underlying question of how the narrative influences a lender. “If the best you can hope for is to get your money back, why do people give?” Davis asks. “How do they choose one entrepreneur over another?” Those narratives give the lenders an impression of the borrower. “We found some very interesting information,” Davis says. “Whenever you go out and seek a traditional loan, we talk about the business plan. We talk about risk and reward. In traditional lending, the investor wants to know what the risk is and how great is the reward. You want to make sure there is a reward there.” He says the team found this approach had a negative effect on microlenders. Using a cause and evaluation theory, Davis says, they found that people provided with a task are more motivated to complete it if there are no strings attached.

“We found the narratives framed in terms of helping somebody were funded much faster than those which talked about risk and reward,” he says. “In general, the majority of entrepreneurial requests are funded eventually. But impoverished entrepreneurs need a rapid response. They could starve to death while they are waiting for a loan,” Davis says. “We looked at the time element.” Webb says the researchers looked at the narratives in terms of language and found both approaches had significant success, but those who appealed to intrinsic values were funded five times faster and stronger than those who promised rewards. Webb says it was easy to work with the OU team. “They do great work, too. We have less of the rivalry than the sports program has. They are good people. Tom Allison had actually applied at OSU but chose OU. He had been working on some similar issues,” Webb says. “Every project I’ve done has been with someone at another university,” Webb says. “It is difficult to get everyone with the same interests at the same university.” @

“Maybe you have a coach who tells you to go take a lap around the track. You’ll go run it because the coach told you to,” Davis says. “If they add a time limit, you’ll do it because you’re trying to beat the time limit.” “If you add a gold medal for beating the time limit, then you’re doing it for recognition,” he says. “People become more extrinsically rewarded for the task rather than intrinsically.” Likewise, microlenders are less likely to give money when the narrative does include a business model, Davis says. “They are more likely to lend money to help somebody from intrinsic motivation,” he says. “It is very counterintuitive from a business perspective.”

Justin Webb

The Oklahoma team analyzed a sample of 36,635 solicitations on Kiva from 51 different countries. “We got the samples directly from Kiva,” Davis says. “We used a computer-aided textual analysis. It has its drawbacks, but we used pre-defined dictionaries that picked up on risk and reward language as well as terms for those more interested in helping people, doing the right thing, sharing common values.” Davis says they analyzed the word count for both types of language. fall 2014 engage@spears

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RETIREMENTS

McCubbins retires after 28 years at OSU

Tipton McCubbins

Tipton McCubbins, an associate professor in the Department of Economics and Legal Studies in Business in the Spears School, retired in May after serving 28 years at Oklahoma State University.

Committee, Scholarship Committee, Undergraduate Studies Committee and Goal Setting Committee. He also was a member of the Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education Articulation Committee in Business Law.

McCubbins taught business law, commercial transactions, legal and regulatory environmental business, and real estate law to more than 10,000 students during his tenure.

McCubbins was in the same office (Business Building 204) for his entire OSU teaching career. He says teaching students with integrity was what he enjoyed most about his career. “I’ve tried to treat my students fairly and give them a good education, keeping the academic integrity in terms of quality,” McCubbins says. “I’ve found that our students are pretty honest. If you don’t make it easy for them, they usually don’t take an unfair advantage.”

A native of Enid, Okla., McCubbins graduated from OSU with a bachelor’s degree in economics in 1967. In 1974, he earned a master’s degree in primary and kindergarten education from Phillips University. In 1980, he received his law degree from the University of Oklahoma. After practicing law for three years, McCubbins decided to move back to Enid to pursue his passion of teaching kindergarteners. In 1986, he was invited to join OSU as an assistant professor of business law. He was promoted to associate professor in 1991 and asked to join the graduate faculty. In 2011 and 1996, McCubbins won the Richard W. Poole Research Excellence Award. He has also received other honors including the Alpha Kappa Psi Faculty of the Semester, 2003; a nomination for Kenneth D. and Leitner Greiner Undergraduate Teaching Award, 2000 and 2002; College of Business Administration finalist for Regents’ Distinguished Teaching Award, 1995; nominee for AMOCO Award, 1994; faculty nominee for AMOCO Award, 1993, and Business Student Council Faculty of the Month, February 1990. McCubbins’ extensive list of contributions to legal studies include publishing 15 journal articles and numerous proceedings and presentations. He participated in many committees within the Department of Legal Studies including the College Curriculum Committee, Business Personnel

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Laurie Lucas says the Spears School will miss McCubbins. “Tip was always a wonderful colleague and an outstanding teacher. My enduring memories of him will probably be the time he was willing to spend with his students outside of class helping them understand course material,” says Lucas, associate professor of legal studies in the Department of Economics and Legal Studies in Business. “I recall numerous instances of heading off to class, passing by his door, and seeing six or eight students jammed into his office. Frequently, they would all still be there when I returned three hours later. Tip is an excellent scholar, but always a professor first. His retirement is a loss for the Spears School and our students.” After retirement he plans to remain active as he recovers from knee surgery. He hopes to fully recover to enjoy his favorite hobbies, studying anthropology and history and backpacking in the Pecos Wilderness in northern New Mexico. He and his wife, Stephanie, a financial consultant, reside in Tulsa. @

NEWS BRIEFS

Spears School extends accreditation The Spears School of Business has had its accreditation with the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business International extended for a full five years through 2019. The accreditation is for all of the Spears School’s academic programs, except the master’s and doctoral programs in economics, which are not subject to accreditation. In a separate process, the School of Accounting also had its accreditation renewed for the next five years. There are only 182 institutions worldwide that have received AACSB accreditation for both the business school and the accounting program; there are only two such institutions in Oklahoma. AACSB accreditation is considered a standard for quality in business education, and it is earned by fewer than 5 percent of the world’s business programs.

“We are extremely pleased to have our accreditation renewed as it reinforces our commitment to high quality business education and the many wonderful programs offered by the Spears School of Business,” says Ken Eastman, dean of the Spears School. “All the credit goes to our faculty, staff, students, alumni and donors who have worked diligently over the past five years to help the Spears School to this level of excellence. “A special thanks goes to Associate Dean Carol Johnson, who is responsible for managing our assessment and accreditation process, including compiling our final report. I also thank President Burns Hargis and Interim Provost Pam Fry for their support of the Spears School, as we could not have attained our goals without their assistance,” Eastman says.

Following a January campus visit by a peer review team from the accrediting body, the AACSB’s Continuous Improvement Review Committee and board of directors approved the accreditation extension in March. “AACSB accreditation requires highquality programs and a great deal of teamwork,” says Johnson, who oversaw the accreditation process as associate dean of strategic management and measurement. “This accreditation attests to the quality of our faculty and staff, our planning processes, and our systems for assuring student learning. It would not be possible, however, without significant assistance from our leadership team, our employees and a generous and loyal group of alumni, recruiters, and other supporters.” @

International conference set for Tulsa Oklahoma State University’s Ph.D. in Business for Executives program and the Watson Graduate School of Management will host the Fourth Annual International Conference on Engaged Management Scholarship from Sept. 11-14 in Tulsa. The conference is organized by the Executive Doctorate in Business Administration Council, which has broad international representation of executive doctoral providers. Ramesh Sharda, interim vice dean of the Watson Graduate School and director of OSU’s Ph.D. in Business for Executives program, successfully campaigned in June 2012 to bring this year’s conference to Oklahoma State. Previous conferences have been in Cleveland, England and Atlanta. “We are proud to host this conference here at Oklahoma State. EDBAC’s decision to let us host the conference speaks well about our young and growing executive doctorate program,” Sharda says.

The International Conference on Engaged Management Scholarship has been established as a central venue for the advancement and sharing of research bridging the knowing-doing gap in business. The conference will draw around 200 faculty, administrators and students from many executive doctorate programs around the world. It will feature keynote speakers from industry as well as academia, panel sessions and research presentations and posters. The conference will begin with a doctoral student consortium on Sept. 11. A social event at the Gilcrease Museum in Tulsa will showcase Oklahoma history and art.

The conference is open to all scholars and practitioners who are actively involved in practicing engaged management scholarship, but preference will be given to participants from executive doctorate programs. It is the premier international meeting place for students, alumni, faculty and managers involved in professional business doctorate programs around the world. @

For more information on the conference, visit www.executivedba.org/ conferences/ems2014. For information on the EDBAC, go to www.executivedba.org/edbac.

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NEWS BRIEFS

Eastin Center to help prepare students for workplaces The new Eastin Center for Talent Development will help students in the Spears School of Business refine their professional skillsets to obtain their highest level of career readiness.

Eastin has helped build ISNetworld from three employees in 2001 to

PHOTO: SPEARS SCHOOL

The Eastin Center will provide the leadership and administrative support for the Spears School’s Career Readiness Initiative, which will focus on practical interpersonal business skills to help students meet hiring requirements of the business community and recruiters.

“As my career progresses and business practices evolve, I continue to learn and develop new skills. My wife, Monica, and I hope the Eastin Center for Talent Development will equip OSU students with a skillset that will contribute to success in today’s competitive business world,” says Eastin, who earned a 1992 bachelor’s degree in business administration and was inducted into the Spears School Hall of Fame in 2012.

offered by the Spears School’s Career Services Center. • Extracurricular experiences: Students will be encouraged to participate in clubs, activities, organizations, travel programs, speakers series, debates, community service, alumni networking activities and more. Each year, up to 10 students who have excelled in the program will be honored as Eastin Fellows. Each will receive a scholarship for one of the Spears School’s travel programs and have the opportunity to network with business leaders in New York, Chicago, Dallas and elsewhere. The Eastin Center leadership applauds the Eastins’ commitment to business education. “This is a great opportunity for our students, made possible by an individual who loves Oklahoma State University,” says Andrew Urich, associate director for student development for the Eastin Center. “Joe has been very generous with his time as well as his resources and will be a valuable partner as we work to realize the goals of the Eastin Center.”

Students will be able to improve their interpersonal business skills with the help of the Eastin Center.

“We believe the Eastin Center will become a leader nationally in innovative programs that improve the career readiness of students, thereby improving their quality of life,” says Ken Eastman, dean of the Spears School. “The Eastin Center programs will view students in a holistic manner and will give them opportunities to expand their skills in all facets of their lives.” Joseph Eastin, an OSU alumnus who is president and principal of ISNetworld, has been instrumental in the creation of the new center with a generous gift totaling $3 million. Eastin and his wife, Monica, were in Stillwater when the Eastin Center was announced in February.

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nearly 400 employees in 2014. He is a board member for OSU’s Riata Center for Entrepreneurship and the OSU Foundation’s Board of Governors. Spears School students will receive hands-on instruction in four areas in the Eastin Center program: • Course work: Career readiness skills will be introduced to freshmen and offered in several business elective courses. • Mentoring: Students will be encouraged to participate in the Spears School’s Mentoring Program. • Career services: Students will take advantage of all opportunities

Eastin Center Executive Director Bryan Edwards believes the program will lead to better employment opportunities for current and future students. “Through the Eastin Center, we will help students enhance their professionalism through skills necessary for success such as etiquette, good judgment, confidence in business settings and a self-awareness of how they present themselves,” says Edwards, associate professor and Joe Synar Chair in the Department of Management. “Graduates eventually gain these skills with job experience but the Eastin Center will provide opportunities to jumpstart the learning process.” @ For more information, visit the Eastin Center website: spears.okstate.edu/ eastin.

PHOTO: SPEARS SCHOOL

Did you see the Spears School presence on ESPN’s ‘College GameDay’? The Spears School of Business received nationwide exposure on ESPN television’s widely acclaimed College GameDay broadcast from Stillwater prior to the Oklahoma State-Baylor football game on Nov. 23, 2013. The Spears School’s marketing and communications team and members of the Business Student Council collaborated to get the school television exposure during the three-hour show, broadcast live from in front of OSU’s Edmon Low Library. Giant-sized cardboard cutouts were made of show hosts Chris Fowler, Lee Corso, Kirk Herbstreit and Desmond Howard wearing orange bow ties, a favorite of Ken Eastman, dean at the Spears School. A cutout of Eastman also was posted to a 4-foot pole with a message reading, “We (heart) ESPN & (orange bow ties). Happy 100th Anniversary Spears School of Business.”

Business Student Council members Lynley Fox, Callie Herrwagen, Brett Humphrey, Cooper Jones, Erin Scanlan and Nick Staples braved the cold, windy weather for several hours while attempting to get the signs noticed over hundreds of others from OSU and Baylor fans. It worked. The television cameras showed a close-up of the cutouts of Eastman and the four ESPN personalities as the show returned from a commercial. Fowler said, “Orange bow ties,” and then playfully checked Howard and Corso to see if they were wearing one. ESPN’s College GameDay averaged 1.83 million viewers on Nov. 23, 2013. And the OSU Cowboys defeated the Baylor Bears 49-17. A video is on the Spears School’s website: spears.okstate.edu/news/videos/ orange-bow-ties-on-collge-game-dayosu-vs-baylor. @

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NEWS BRIEFS

3 join Anderson Hall of Fame Three exceptional graduates from the School of Accounting were honored as Distinguished Alumni at the 2014 Wilton T. Anderson Hall of Fame and Awards Banquet in April. This year’s inductees were Vickie Carr, partner with Deloitte’s tax practice in Dallas; Mike Keys, partner with KPMG’s audit practice in Denver; and Alan Tye, a retired ExxonMobil executive. The Hall of Fame was established in 1979 to recognize Oklahoma State University School of Accounting graduates who have achieved exceptional success in professional and academic accounting. The Hall of Fame is dedicated to Wilton T. Anderson, who is considered the founding father of OSU’s School of Accounting. It is the highest honor the School of Accounting can bestow on alumni. Vickie Carr is a tax partner at Deloitte in Dallas. She has worked with Deloitte since 1985 serving public and private companies, primarily multinational consumer product corporations. In August 2013, she became the national competency leader of the financial reporting of taxes. She previously served as the national consumer products tax sector leader and is currently on the Deloitte Tax CEO’s Advisory Group. Carr is a frequent speaker at conferences on tax topics and has been a speaker in the School of Accounting’s Practicum course several times. She is also an active donor to the OSU School of Accounting, including the Jeff & Vickie Carr Endowed Scholarship in Accounting, and has arranged visits to Deloitte University on behalf of the Spears School. She received her bachelor’s degree in accounting from OSU in 1985 and her master’s degree in federal taxation from the University of Tulsa in 1988. Mike Keys is the partner in charge of the Denver business unit for KPMG. He has 32 years of experience advising public and privately held entities in real estate,

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engineering, construction, technology, communications and media. He also has extensive experience with public companies. Keys has been designated an SEC reviewing partner and completed a rotation in KPMG’s national department of professional practice. As the Denver partner in charge for audit services, he is responsible for the audit resources for KPMG in Colorado and New Mexico, financial statements and market activities. He is also a member of KPMG’s national audit leadership team, which includes 18 business units in the U.S., and he is an independent member of KPMG’s board of directors nominating committee.

Vickie Carr

Keys earned his bachelor’s degree in business administration and accounting from OSU in 1982. He is an active donor to the KPMG LLP Accounting Scholarship at OSU. Alan Tye is retired from ExxonMobil and is a contributing member to the ExxonMobil Controllers Alumni Scholarship. Upon graduation from OSU, Tye joined ExxonMobil Corporation as an internal auditor. During his career, he served as accounting manager of Exxon Chemical’s U.S. operations, controller of Exxon’s downstream affiliates in Africa, and area audit manager in Europe and the Far East. He has worked in more than 50 countries.

Mike Keys

Tye recently gave a major gift to fund the study and application of ethics in business. He is a board member for TexARTS, a nonprofit performing arts organization, and teaches on a volunteer basis for the Institute of Internal Auditors. He is involved in a number of civic organizations and is an active supporter of the Patriots Fund and the Help Our Wounded Warriors Project. Tye received his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in accounting at OSU in 1962 and 1963. @

Alan Tye

Fox receives 2014 Thomas Award Lynley Fox was recognized as the recipient of the prestigious 2014 Raymond D. Thomas Award, given annually to the top senior in the Spears School of Business. Each Lynley Fox year, a faculty committee in the business school decides who will receive the award and a $750 lifetime membership to the OSU Alumni Association. “I am so honored to receive this award,” Fox says. “I’ve had the privilege of knowing or working with most of the students recognized as outstanding seniors, and they are all truly deserving. I’ve always felt like I had the most stellar peers on campus. I’m so grateful for an amazing group of faculty, staff and

students who have made a difference in the Spears School and in my own life.” A Tulsa native, Fox grew up coming to Stillwater with her parents, Scott and Britton Fox, for games and to visit family. Her grandfather is longtime OSU marketing professor Lee Manzer. “I always felt like Stillwater was a second home,” she says. “The campus was extremely friendly and welcoming,” she says. “I felt like I could really be happy here, and I am. I am so glad I ended up choosing OSU,” says Fox. The 22-year-old was a member of the OSU Phi Kappa Phi honor society, Business Student Council, Spears School Ambassadors, Beta Gamma Sigma, Beta Alpha Psi, Latter Day Saints Student Association and the Mortar Board Honor Society. Last summer, Fox was selected by the Public Company Accounting Oversight

Board for one of 43 $10,000 scholarships awarded nationwide. She plans to use the scholarship on her graduate school tuition. “The Spears School has changed my life. I can’t imagine what I would’ve been like had I not chosen the Spears School,” Fox says. “I have had the most amazing professors who really teach and care about students. All of the opportunities that the business school offers like career services, advising, and student organizations have provided ways for me to get involved, get internships, and get prepared to be a full-fledged adult. I feel my experience here has prepared me academically, professionally and emotionally to take on the world.” Fox earned her accounting undergraduate degree in May. She plans to complete her master’s degree in accounting in the spring of 2015 at OSU. @

OSU student wins Fox News Channel College Challenge Seth Paxton, an economics/pre-law major at Oklahoma State University, was featured on a national television news show this summer after winning the Fox News Channel College Challenge. Paxton, a sophomore from Tuttle, Okla., appeared on Fox & Friends. He also won $10,000 and an internship in the contest designed to find the next generation of journalists and broadcast their skills. Paxton appeared with show hosts Steve Doocy and Anna Kooiman in early June. “When I did my segment in the studio, I felt so comfortable,” Paxton says. “It was truly like sitting and having a conversation with my dad or mom.” He also received an all-access tour of Fox News on the all-expenses-paid trip to New York City. He spent time sitting in the green room with country star Charlie Daniels before his TV appearance.

Paxton’s report centered on the recent construction of wind turbines in western Oklahoma and whether they created enough wealth, in the form of jobs and payments to landowners, to justify the large tax subsidies they receive. “I chose this story because I believe that it is important for the taxpayers to know exactly what their dollars are being spent on and whether they are being spent in an efficient manner,” he says. Paxton did all the reporting, camerawork and editing for the report. Paxton says a class he took in the Spears School his freshman year with Bill McLean, lecturer in the Department of Economics and Legal Studies in Business, got him interested in how the government spends taxpayers’ money. “He had a huge influence on me to look into the actual cost of what our government does and how the actions it takes,

Seth Paxton (right) with Fox & Friends hosts Steve Doocy and Anna Kooiman.

often with good intentions, can actually lead to more harm than good. Learning these concepts in Dr. McLean’s class really gave inspiration to this story.” Paxton and his family had to promise Fox News that they would keep his win a secret. It was tough to do, especially for his mother. “Fox News wanted to keep the winner under wraps so that they could make the reveal on air. This was extremely difficult for my mother, who was finally allowed to tell everyone on Facebook the day before I appeared on Fox & Friends.” @ fall 2014 engage@spears

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