STATE Magazine, Fall 2008 by Oklahoma State

Taking OSU’s Future to Heart Boone Pickens’ unprecedented gift inspires a flood of generosity to OSU

Homecoming 22

Entrepreneurial spirit 60

Country Music Cowboys 66

STILLWATER NATIONAL BANK

OSU RESEARCHERS DEVELOP A NEW WEAPON AGAINST CANCER

An interdisciplinary team of OSU researchers is

OSU researchers, pictured left to

using a new method to detect prostate cancer.

Jiang; Daqing Piao, electrical and

right, are graduate student Zhen computer engineering; and Gilbert Reed Holyoak, veterinary

The researchersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; noninvasive technique combines

clinical sciences. Other senior

ultrasound to pinpoint lesions and near-infrared

are Kenneth E. Bartels, veterinary

light to determine if tissue is benign or malignant.

researchers involved in the project clinical sciences; Jerry Ritchey, veterinary pathobiology; Gennady Slobodov, OUHSC urology; and

Once fully developed, this innovative method will also provide accurate guidance for prostate biopsy.

Charles Bunting, electrical and computer engineering.

contents

state

Fall 2008, Vol. 4, No. 1 http://magazine.okstate.edu

Welcome to the fall 2008 issue of STATE magazine, your source of information from the OSU

Alumni Association, the OSU Foundation and University Marketing. OSU honors geology alumnus Boone Pickens, whose extraordinary generosity will benefit students, faculty and

alumni for many generations. (Read more beginning on page 52.) As always, we welcome your comments, your memories and your suggestions for future stories.

Alumni Association members can tap into Edmon Low Library’s research databases online.

Orange Olympics 11 OSU cast an orange glow on Beijing ARUP

with outstanding athletic talent and OSU-developed “green” technology.

OSU students set a record this year by winning three national Goldwater scholarships.

Tulsa Commitment SNB Bank of Tulsa establishes President’s Distinguished Scholarship for OSU-Tulsa students.

Students lead Student Union renovation campaign.

School of International Studies celebrates 10 years.

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Building a foundation on these guidelines helps students make the most of their college experiences.

Loyalty Runs Deep

No other university surpasses OSU’s homecoming fanfare. From special anniversaries and philanthropy projects to online coverage of walkaround and the parade, thousands of alumni join the festivities from near and far.

Broadening Horizons

Six Pillar Philosophy Jessell

Building on Tradition

OSU renews Old Central’s place in academia by renovating it to house the Honors College.

Formula for Success

12 Going for the Gold

OSU-Oklahoma City president unites campus and community for Walk to Cure Diabetes fundraiser.

An ‘Honorable’ Home

picnic thanks members for their show of support.

Scholarships from the Hach Scientific Foundation encourage students to become chemistry teachers.

Man on a Mission

Homecoming 2008

Yes! A Free Lunch 30 The OSU Alumni Association’s free

A Click Away

These animal lovers assist “man’s best friend” and OSU’s Small Animal Critical Care Unit.

Outstanding Seniors Top seniors excel in academics and leadership and garner accolades for themselves and OSU.

Lighting the Way

Industry donors replenish costly lab equipment for OSU Institute of Technology.

Invest in the Future

The OSU Foundation’s donor-advised fund can benefit your favorite charities and OSU.

31 32

38 43 46 48 50

Extraordinary Giver Boone Pickens’ $100 million academic gift inspired a gift-giving extravaganza that will triple OSU’s endowed faculty chairs and professorships.

How do they work?

A Lifelong Connection

A Premier Program

If you think endowed faculty positions reward professors with extra money, you’re right. But probably not in the way you’d expect.

Generations of the Harrisons have built their family business into a world leader while remaining close to their alma mater.

OSU’s school psychology model provides quick, life-changing intervention for struggling children.

‘Oklahoma — A Toast’ Long before Melvin Welch sang for the 2007 Oklahoma Centennial Spectacular, he performed with the A&M Glee Club in the 1920s.

excellence in OSU golf, a program that’s nothing short of extraordinary.

Serving Others

Business alum experiences the highest of highs and the lowest of lows as a real estate investor.

Record Execs Turn Nashville Upsidedown

Garth Brooks: A Legend in his Own Time

Ty England: Livin’ the Dream

Keith Anderson: Climbing the Charts

God’s Traveling Songs From Scotland to the Appalachians to Oklahoma, these sacred hymns sung by OSU alumni and others intertwine the past and present and cross cultural boundaries of race, language and nationality.

A Change in Plans 110 The closing of Washington Street caused contention between campus leaders and local businesses.

OSU alumni excel in all genres of music, but they rule in country music. And whether folks around the world know it or not, there’s a little bit of Stillwater in their country CD collection. Red Dirt’s Stillwater Roots

Biard family scholarship honors couple’s dedication to public service and outreach.

Riding the Wave

Country Music Cowboys

Golf: Cowboy Style 86 Labron Harris set the standard for

Entrepreneurial Spirit 60 Inspired by Boone Pickens, alumni Malone and Amy Mitchell donated $57 million to accelerate construction of athletic facilities and establish an entrepreneurial center and program.

Departments President’s Letter

Campus News

STATEment

Crossword

Letters to the Editor

History

10 97 110

Orange Connections Reality: Homecoming

Career Niche: Harrisons

Chapters

Classnotes

Cover photography by Phil Shockley When you see this logo, go to orangeconnection.org to view behind-the-scenes video and extras about the article. This member-only benefit is brought to you by the OSU Alumni Association. 5

President’s letter

It’s a great time to be a Cowboy! We have started the fall semester with tremendous momentum thanks to the generosity of our alumni and friends, as well as more than $850 million in current construction that will make us more competitive in academics and athletics. This summer will be long remembered at Oklahoma State University. Inspired by Boone Pickens’ $100 million academic gift and Amy and Malone Mitchell’s $57.2 million gift to academics and athletics, OSU donors responded in historic fashion. It was the ultimate Cowboy Up! These gifts will allow us to attract and retain the best and brightest faculty as we create a modern land-grant university that cuts across disciplines to better prepare students for a new world and expands outreach across our state and around the globe. Of course, OSU students and faculty are already doing amazing things. This past school year our students captured many of the nation’s premier academic awards, including three Goldwater Scholars. Physics professor Girish Agarwal was elected into the Royal Society, the highest honor a scientist in the U.K. and the Commonwealth can receive. Girish joins Sir Isaac Newton, Albert Einstein and others in this elite society. We are all proud of the remarkable impact OSU alumni have had on our world. One area where OSU Cowboys have really stood tall is country music, which we celebrate in this issue of STATE magazine. I hope you enjoy reading these stories and much more in this issue. Go Cowboys!

Burns Hargis OSU President and System CEO

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“It is plain and simple. The idea of giving to OSU is as natural as taking a breath of fresh air. During my time at OSU I couldn’t afford to pay for my college eduction and associated living expenses without financial assistance. OSU ‘Cowboyed Up’ as my partner along the journey toward completing my two degrees. I look upon financial giving to OSU as a rare opportunity to pass along to future students a chance to experience the personal touch which I experienced 30 to 40 years ago. It’s only fitting, isn’t it? It’s the right thing to do.” • • • Stephen Reel ’70 & ’74

Philanthropists are changing our state and our students through their generosity.

Read their inspiring stories of philanthropy, or submit your own, now at OSUgiving .com/whyigive.

Partnering to build Connections for Life

The OSU Alumni Association wishes to thank its 2008-2009 Corporate Partners For more information about the OSU Alumni Associationâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Corporate Partner program, call us at 800.433.4678 or visit us online at orangeconnection.org.

Platinum Partners

ConocoPhillips Harrison Gypsum OSU Foundation

Gold Partners

BancFirst

S tat e

Dear OSU Alumni and Friends, Amazing things are transpiring at OSU, and it’s only the beginning. Boone Pickens’ gracious and historic $100 million academic gift in May, which he offered as an endowed faculty chair matching gift incentive, inspired more than 900 donors to contribute an unprecedented $68 million in 40 days, increasing the number of professorships and faculty chairs from the current 101 to more than 275. Following Pickens’ lead, Malone and Amy Mitchell announced a $57.2 million gift to support both academics — by endowing chairs and establishing a world-class entrepreneurship program — and athletics. The obvious pride and support of alumni and the new records in giving bode very well for the level of excellence that will be experienced by current and future students. Fall brings the thrill of football season, and we hope to see you at all seven home games. This special year marks the 20th anniversary of Barry Sanders’ monumental run to the Heisman Trophy and a season many consider the greatest in college football history. As OSU’s leading tailback, Sanders broke numerous records, and his achievements led to a distinguished 10-year career with the Detroit Lions. How fitting that this anniversary coincides with the amazing transformation of Boone Pickens Stadium, where the expanded west end will accommodate more fans and generate more enthusiasm. To complement the anticipation and excitement already in the air, Homecoming 2008 promises to be bigger and better than ever. We look forward to welcoming alumni, family and friends back home to celebrate “generation COWBOY” on Oct. 17–18 with special events for the entire family. We’ll also observe the 50th anniversary of OSU’s mascot Pistol Pete, who will be honored as the parade grand marshal. Visit orangeconnection.org/homecoming to learn how you can be part of the celebration.

Kirk A. Jewell President and CEO, OSU Foundation

Larry Shell Interim President and CEO, OSU Alumni Association

Kyle Wray Director, University Marketing

spirit Get your OSU check card and gift card today.

1.888.MIDFIRST â&#x20AC;˘ www.midfirst.com

LETTER S

u niv e rsit y mar k e tin g Kyle Wray / Director of University Marketing Janet Varnum, Eileen Mustain, Matt Elliott & Rachel Sheets / Editorial D. Mark Pennie / Art DIRECTOR Kim Butcher, Paul V. Fleming, Valerie Kisling, Aaron Dickey & Matt Lemmond / Design Phil Shockley & Gary Lawson / Photography

Editor’s Note: Many have inquired about the emblem worn by Ann Hargis on the April 2008 STATE magazine cover. Mrs. Hargis also received many inquiries and graciously explains the mysterious curiosity:

Best regards,

Chris Madison / Web University Marketing Office / 121 Cordell, Stillwater, OK 74078-8031 / 405.744.6262 / www.okstate.edu (web) / editor@okstate.edu (email) / osu.advertising@ okstate.edu (email) O S U A l u mni A ssociation Jerry Winchester / Chairman Rex Horning / Vice Chairman Samuel Combs III / Immediate Past Chairman Paul Cornell / Treasurer Burns Hargis / OSU President, Non-voting Member

Larry Shell / Interim President and CEO, OSU Alumni Association, Non-voting Member

Kirk Jewell / President, OSU Foundation, Non-voting Member

John Allford, Cindy Batt, Larry Briggs, Helen Craig, Dan Gilliam, Ronda McKown, Roger McMillian, Ramona Paul, Gwen Shaw, Nichole Trantham & Ron Ward / board of Directors Deborah Shields / Secretary, Board of Directors Pattie Haga / Vice President and COO Larry Shell / Vice President and CpO Melissa Mourer / Director of COMMUNICATIONS Lora Malone & Melisa Parkerson Communications Committee

201 ConocoPhillips OSU Alumni Center / Stillwater, OK 74078-7043 / 800.433.4678 / (web) orangeconnection.org / (email) info@orangeconnection.org

STATE magazine is first rate in all respects. Your photographer, Phil Shockley, is a real treasure. I think he’s “Ansel Adams good” where you know who the photographer is by just looking at the picture. Keep up the great work.

I hope the inquiries have been as entertaining as some I’ve received! My favorite came from our precious daughter, the minimalist who hasn’t seen the inside of a retail store in years. Kate asked if I were trying to look like I belonged to a sorority or some secret society! (She’s a great “leveler.”) Actually the sweater has the logo of Tori Burch on the front — like a Polo pony or Izod ’gator. Ann Hargis Wife of OSU President Burns Hargis

Dick Terrell ’56, business Richardson, Texas

STATE magazine welcomes your letters. Information will be edited for length, clarity and style. Please include your year of graduation, major and a daytime phone number. Send letters to 121 Cordell, OSU, Stillwater, OK 74078 or editor@okstate. edu.

I really enjoy the magazine — very informative and colorful. Keep up the good work. Sheryl Johnson ’86, political science Oklahoma City

O S U F o u ndation Monty Butts / CHAIRMAN OF THE BOARD Kirk A. Jewell / President and Chief Executive Officer

Debra Engle/ Senior VICE PRESIDENT of DEVELOPMENT

Donna Koeppe / VICE PRESIDENT of Finance & administration

Gene Batchelder, Richard Bogert, Monty Butts, Bryan Close, Ellen Fleming, Ken Greiner Jr., Rex Horning, Judy Johnson, John Linehan, Ross McKnight, Bond Payne, Barry Pollard, Scott Sewell, Larry Shell, William Spears, Jack Stuteville & Dennis White / BOARD OF TRUSTEES Becky Endicott / Senior DIRECTOR of MARKETING & COMMUNICATIONS Lisa Frein, Abby Taylor, Chris Lewis & Leesa Wyzard / COMMUNICATIONS OSU Foundation / 400 South Monroe, P.O. Box 1749 / Stillwater, OK 74076-1749 / 800.622.4678 / OSUgiving. com (web) / Bendicott@osugiving.com (email)

STATE magazine is published three times a year by Oklahoma State University, the OSU Alumni Association and the OSU Foundation, and is mailed to current members of the OSU Alumni Association. Magazine subscriptions available by membership in the OSU Alumni Association only. Membership cost is $45. Postage paid at Stillwater, OK, and additional mailing ofﬁces. 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 of 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, Dr. Carolyn Hernandez, 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 Director of University Marketing, was printed by University Printing Services at a cost of $1.25 per issue. 45.9M/Aug. ’08/#2197. Copyright © 2008, STATE magazine . All rights reserved.

as close as your fingertips

OSU Library

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Students know the Edmon Low Library is an important facet of their university experience. It’s a place to study and locate books, journal articles, online information and other resources.

Once students graduate and move away, however, access to the library’s research references is no longer quick and easy. That situation is changing this year — thanks to a new partnership between the OSU Alumni Association and the Edmon Low Library that will support alumni in their research endeavors. “It’s something alumni have been asking about for awhile, and it’s something graduating seniors have expressed an interest in,” says Bonnie Cain, senior communications specialist with the library. “We’ve always been able to provide a lot of access to the resources here in the building for Oklahoma citizens, but we haven’t been able to provide distant alumni access to our databases until now.” The new partnership grants Alumni Association members computer access to thousands of magazines, newspapers, periodicals, journals and trade publications. Powerful research databases including ProQuest, ABI-INFORM Complete, Research Library, Ethnic News Watch and Factivia will also be accessible from anywhere in the world, 24 hours a day, every day. “This is an outstanding value for Alumni Association members to receive access to the many online services provided by the Edmon Low Library,” says Lora Malone, vice president and chief marketing officer for the Alumni Association. “I encourage all of them to explore the Edmon Low Library services and make use of this great new partnership.” Online library access is a member-only benefit requiring active and current membership in the OSU Alumni Association. To gain access to the library online, members will need to use their nine-digit membership identification number, which is located on their membership card. Visit orangeconnection.org/library to begin using this service today! Shawna Allen and Chase Carter

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Photo / Phil Shockley

Olympics Glow With Orange OSU-based technology keeps Bird’s Nest stadium cool. Beijing has been painted orange. The world got a good look at OSU during the summer Olympics Games — from top alumni competitors to OSU expertise in ground source heat pump technology to a new type of bermudagrass growing on a baseball field. Photo © Arup

Athletes on parade This summer was no exception to OSU’s 84-year tradition of Olympians, with the Games featuring four former OSU athletes. Daniel Cormier and Steve Mocco were selected for the U.S. wrestling team after winning their June Olympic Trials in Las Vegas, Nev. Cormier, unfortunately, was hospitalized from dehydration a day before his first match. It was a sad end to Cormier’s trip to Beijing during a year in which he won the John Smith Award as the top American freestyle wrestler. It follows his fourth-place finish in the 2004 Athens Olympics. Mocco, in his first Games, was the last American wrestler performing when he lost in the bronze-medal bracket on the final day of the sport. Together, these two alumni bring to 34 the number of former OSU wrestlers who’ve made the United States’ team. Joining the wrestlers were Canadian pitcher Lauren Bay Regula, a 2003 OSU graduate, and Australian pitcher Melanie Roche, who graduated in 1993. Canada lost 5-3 in the semifinals to Roche’s Australians, who would go on to win a bronze medal. Last summer marked Roche’s fourth Olympics. She won a bronze medal in 1996 and 2000 as well as a silver medal in 2004. That followed golden years at OSU, where she twice made first-team All-American in 1992 and 1993. She led the Cowgirls to the Women’s College World Series in 1990 and 1993.

Nor were the Olympics anything new to Bay Regula, who made her second appearance for the Canadians after placing fifth in 2004. As a Cowgirl, Bay Regula broke OSU records for single-season and career strikeouts as well as career saves. She was a Big 12 Conference Player of the Year in 2003 and a first-team All-American that year.

Orange is the new green Millions of fans watched their countries’ teams battle it out on the Wukesong Sports Center’s baseball fields. Some of their players performed on Riviera bermudagrass developed by the OSU Division of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources. The grass strain, the brainchild of retired OSU turf breeder Charles Taliaferro, is a quick-growing, hardy plant that can survive cold winters and dry summers with excellent color. Other OSU-developed innovations extend to the National Stadium and Olympic Village, where ground source heat pump technology uses the earth’s temperature to warm and cool the athletes’ housing, spas and office buildings in addition to the stadium. The system, promoted by OSU’s International Ground Source Heat Pump Association, uses less energy to operate than central heating and air conditioning. That means it requires less pollution-generating electricity and uses fewer natural resources.

Two of the world’s most famous mascots met in Beijing this summer when Pistol Pete (history and economics senior Rhys Gay) explored China with a group led by assistant professor of history Yonglin Jiang. Above, Gay adopts the pose of the Tibetan antelope mascot Yingying. Top, The National Stadium, nicknamed the Bird’s Nest for its unique design, relies on ground source heat pump technology developed at OSU for climate control.

An Alumnus in China Beijing is a long way from his hometown of Oklahoma City, but Timothy Ryan, a 1984 journalism and public relations graduate, has been consulting in special events management with the Olympics since 2000. This year, he worked with the sports marketing division of Maritz, a St. Louis, Mo., marketing company that works with the Games’ sponsors. He also worked with two Chinese sponsors to develop staff training guidelines for hospitality programs. He was in Beijing in July and August, consulting for Aggreko, an English electricity generator company, helping it capitalize on its assets as a Games’ sponsor. M att E lliott

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MAN ON A

MISSION OSU-OKC president unites campus and community

hat others saw as impossible, OSU-Oklahoma City President Jerry Carroll saw as a mission. When the director of the Central Oklahoma Chapter of the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation asked Carroll if his campus would host the 2008 Walk to Cure Diabetes, Carroll had many questions and concerns. Would the campus be able to provide ample space for activities, games, food booths, vendors, and 3- and 5-kilometer walks? Would it have the manpower to supply security, parking, restrooms, handicap accessibility and other operational services? Could the small campus with only 300 employees reach the projected goal of raising more than $9,000? Carroll made it his mission to overcome these challenges and agreed to host the 2008 Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation’s Walk to Cure Diabetes on the OSU-Oklahoma City campus. “We had never had an event that large on campus, so we formed a committee and started working on how to successfully host the 2008 walk while still being a committed fundraising

partner with JDRF,” Carroll says. As corporate chairman of the 2008 walk, Carroll knew it was the single largest fundraiser the Central Oklahoma Chapter hosted, and he had seen the fundraiser outgrow previous walk sites during his three years with the organization. Moving the walk to the campus raised logistical issues, but it also accomplished several goals. “OSU-OKC is committed to community outreach, and bringing the JDRF Walk to our campus fits into our strategic plan for community involvement,” Carroll says. “JDRF needed a central location with sufficient space for activities. We accomplished that by partnering with the Oklahoma State Fair and using a portion of the facilities there. It was a good move for everyone.” On May 31, more than 3,000 people attended the 2008 walk led by orangeclad OSU-Oklahoma City students, faculty, staff and employees. Pistol Pete also greeted guests and posed for photographs. Carroll asked Danny Hurst, director of Student Support Services, to lead the corporate team fundraising efforts by forming campus teams to raise $9,000.

Jerry Carroll, far left, prepares to kick off the Walk to Cure Diabetes fundraiser. By walk day, the teams had surpassed their goal by raising $12,500. The event’s success was also a personal goal for Carroll, whose daughter, Jayme, now 29, was diagnosed with juvenile diabetes when she was 9. “I know the effect diabetes had on my family. Jayme’s diagnosis was a total shock to our family,” Carroll says. “It’s so powerful to see so many corporate teams and families come together for this walk. I think everyone, including my family, had a great time.” Carroll says he’s committed to the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation because of the work it does on behalf of families. “Serving as corporate chair for JDRF gives me an opportunity to give back to our community,” Carroll says, “and to be involved with a really worthwhile cause to find a cure for diabetes.” E vely n B ollenbach & Jamie G alloway

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Best ’bones in the world

The OSU Trombone Octet beat a record number of compet-

Steven Warren won the George Roberts bass trombone competition for bass itors from several countries to win the trombonists 18 and younger, and four 2008 International Trombone other OSU trombonists were Association competirecognized in individual tion in May. Director Paul categories. Compton, assistant professor “With two wins and six of trombone, says only one total mentions in the 2008 trombone ensemble wins the ITA competitions, OSU is Emory Remington Trombone one of the most recognized Ensemble Competition each trombone studios in the year. Recent winners include world this year,” Compton Steven Warren the Rotterdam Conservatory says. The octet also won (The Netherlands), the Hochschule the 2008 Down Beat Magazine fur Musik Hannover (Germany), and Student Music Award for Best Classical the University of Texas. In addition to Ensemble. the group recognition, OSU freshman

Name changes to reach more students OSU-Okmulgee’s recent name change to the OSU Institute of Technology showcases the university’s partnership with industry and will appeal to students interested in advanced technologies. Campus President Bob Klabenes says the new name is fitting because prospective students seek hands-on learning, paid internships and techheavy classrooms and labs, as well as industry connections. “We are closely tied to industry partners even though we are not a trade school,” he says, adding that graduates will increasingly become in demand due to a technician shortage facing the state and nation. The OSU Institute of Technology offers degrees in a variety of technical fields from information assurance to automotive technologies to watchmaking.

The OSU Trombone Octet was judged the best in the world for 2008. The group consists of undergraduate music students Isaac Washam, Ted Sonnier, Jason Cash, Steven Warren, Stephen Torbert, Steven Jessup, Noel Seals and Brandon Dyer.

More than 50 OSU women leaders welcomed Ann Hargis during a reception hosted by alumnae Malinda Berry Fischer and Nancy Payne Ellis. From left, Hargis, wife of OSU President Burns Hargis, is greeted by Robin Purdie, director, Seretean Wellness Center; Camille DeYong, associate professor of industrial engineering; and Carolynn MacAllister, associate professor and director of outreach and continuing education for the Center for Veterinary Health Sciences.

For more information, visit www.osu-okmulgee.edu.

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Stillwater National Bank Donates $50,000 for OSU-Tulsa Scholarship Stillwater National Bank, a longstanding supporter of Oklahoma State University, has demonstrated its commitment to Tulsa with a $50,000 gift to OSU-Tulsa. SNB Bank of Tulsa, a division of Stillwater National Bank, provided the gift to establish a permanent scholarship fund to support undergraduates attending OSU-Tulsa. The endowed scholarship will create the Stillwater National Bank President’s Distinguished Scholarship at OSU-Tulsa. The President’s Distinguished Scholarship is the most prestigious undergraduate scholarship at OSU and will be awarded to students with outstanding academic credentials and strong leadership abilities. OSU-Tulsa President Gary Trennepohl accepted the gift from David York, president of SNB Bank of Tulsa, during the President’s Council spring reception in May. “We are delighted with SNB Bank of Tulsa’s support for generations of OSU-Tulsa students,” Trennepohl says. “This gift demonstrates a strong commitment to our students and recognizes the high-quality programs OSU-Tulsa provides our community.”

David York, (second from left) president of SNB Bank of Tulsa, presents a $50,000 gift to OSU-Tulsa to establish a President’s Distinguished Scholarship for OSU-Tulsa undergraduates. From left are Kirk Jewell, OSU Foundation president; York; Gary Trennepohl, OSU-Tulsa president; and Burns Hargis, OSU president. York says the gift is an opportunity to expand educational options for students in the Tulsa area and invest in a highly educated workforce. “We strongly believe in providing unconditional support to the communities we serve and the institutions we believe are going to be essential for the

“We strongly believe in providing unconditional support to the communities we serve and the institutions we believe are going to be essential for the future growth and quality of life for the state.” — David York

future growth and quality of life for the state,” York says. “Having OSU-Tulsa in our community offering a wide variety of educational opportunities is essential. Hopefully, recipients of this scholarship will remain in the area so that their OSU-Tulsa educational experience will benefit Tulsa in future generations.” Trennepohl says the continuing support of local businesses and private donors has resulted in more than $87,000 worth of scholarships being awarded last year. This is the second President’s Distinguished Scholarship established at OSU-Tulsa. TRISH McBEATH

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The Comeback Octogenarian This summer, OSU alumnus Boone Pickens addressed Congress, answered questions on CNN and TV programs such as Larry King Live and even spoke with presidential candidates John McCain and Barack Obama. The ’59 geology graduate also sparked nationwide public interest with TV spots in which he appeals directly to Americans to call on business and government leaders to support a national energy plan. Pickens, who spent 30 years building Mesa Petroleum and now runs energy investment firm

BP Capital, outlines his plan in a new book, The First Billion is the Hardest. The book combines autobiographical details and Pickens’ “reflections on a life of comebacks” with his plan for the U.S. to end its dependence on foreign oil and begin investing in domestic resources. Pickens told Congress he wants to awaken Americans to the approaching crisis that will result if the U.S. continues to pay $700 billion a year for foreign oil. “At this rate, we’ll be broke in 10 years,” he says.

America must turn to its domestic resources, he says, listing everything from natural gas, coal, crude oil, and alternative fuels to nuclear, wind, hydro and solar power. Pickens says America could cut oil imports by 40 percent in 10 years by generating 20 percent of its electricity from wind power and switching to natural gas-powered transportation. “I’m not telling the oil companies to switch from oil production to anything else. I think they should keep doing what they’re doing — except they should do it at home instead of in foreign countries,” he says. “As long as we’re dependent on other countries for oil, the very lifeblood of our nation, our security, is at risk.” At 80, Pickens hopes the book will be inspirational, especially to others entering the “fourth quarter” of their lives, because having lived a life filled with comebacks, he says it’s never too late to find success, strengthen family relationships or enjoy life.

Pickens also writes about the transformation occurring in OSU athletics and academics, his friendships with OSU’s leaders and his desire “to see what good my money can do in my lifetime.” He’s having fun, too. His $100 million donation to the University of Texas system, split between Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas and the M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, comes with the caveat that each institution must grow its $500,000 portion into $1 billion within 25 years. If not, the accrued interest will go to OSU. “That won’t happen,” he says. “The University of Texas is never going to write a check to Oklahoma State for anything. I hope I’m around to see how this plays out.” For more information, visit www. PickensPlan.com

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Mother Nature Promotes Orange Power Cowboys know that the roar of “orange!”

pumpkin apricots carrots oranges cantaloupe sweet potatoes peaches tangerines mango kumquats pandanus yellow apples cape gooseberries lemon nectarines yellow pears persimmons

and “power!” gives an instant advantage on the playing field. And even nature agrees that a diet with “orange power” boosts a body’s line of defense against disease while setting up an offense based on a strong immune system. Fruits and vegetables arrayed in orange, yellow and red (never crimson!) are proven opponents of cancer, heart disease, diabetes, osteoporosis and osteoarthritis because of their antioxidants and anti-inflammatory power. “Even low-grade inflammation can be harmful,” says nutritional sciences professor Brenda Smith, whose research on bone health focuses on the immune and antioxidant systems and the benefits of pineapples phytochemicals. yellow “One of the major factors involved in the watermelon development of cancer, diabetes and other yellow beets chronic conditions is inflammation,” says butternut Smith, who serves as a member of NASA’s squash National Space Biomedical Research Institute yellow peppers bone panel. “And fruits and vegetables go a yellow potatoes long way in reducing inflammation.” yellow figs Diets rich in orange fruits and vegetables grapefruit have even been shown to decrease the incigolden kiwifruit dence of cancer in smokers. While supplerutabagas ments aren’t bad, Smith says fruits and yellow summer vegetables provide additional benefits such as squash helping to balance electrolytes and strengthsweet corn ening collagen in joints and arteries. yellow tomatoes “The message is when you consume orange foods, you’re getting lots of fundayellow winter squash mental nutrients and disease-fighting elements, too.”

Photo / istock

Sugarland Sweetens Orange Peel Country super-group Sugarland will headline Orange Peel on Oct. 3 in Gallagher-Iba Arena, performing with special guests American Idol finalist Kellie Pickler, Ashton Shepherd and Motion City Soundtrack. The concert and pep rally organized by students each year has attracted more than 200,000 fans over the years. Before the concert, football Coach Mike Gundy, team captains, cheerleaders and other spirit groups will fire up the crowd. Tickets are $40 for reserved seats and $55 for floor seats and are available by phone at 1-877-OSU-PEEL and online at www.shopokstate.com. Proceeds from this year’s event will benefit the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. 19

A view of the proposed plaza on the northwest corner of the Student Union

Since it opened in 1951 the OSU Student Union has been hailed as one of the premier student unions in the world for its size and diversity of services. As a place to eat, shop, bank, get a haircut and to “see and be seen,” it’s no wonder the phrase “Meet me at the Union” is uttered often on campus.

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When President Henry Bennett called for the construction of a student union in 1937, he envisioned a place that would provide programs and services to shape the intellectual, cultural and social environment of the campus. The OSU student body shared Bennett’s vision and helped fund the $4.3 million project through a self-imposed tax. Today’s students are proving they still believe in the mission of the Student Union by once again taxing themselves to provide a lead gift of $43 million to renovate and preserve the historic

building and treasured campus icon. “There is no greater legacy on OSU’s campus than the building that was attained through generations of students’ financial support,” says Claire Carter, co-chair of the Student Union planning committee and former Student Government Association president. “The Student Union encompasses the Cowboy tradition and the essence of what it means to bleed orange.” But the students can’t do it alone. The $43 million the students have pledged through a fee increase is only

half of the $86 million needed to renovate the Student Union to better meet the needs of today’s students. “How the needs of our students are being met is changing,” says Mitchell Kilcrease, director of the Student Union. “But the purpose of the Student Union hasn’t changed — we’re here to provide quality services and programs for our students.” The renovations will include new centers for diversity and inclusion, and leadership and ethics; new Career Services and University Counseling Services areas; additional lounges and open spaces for students; state-of-theart conference and meeting rooms; reorganization of current services to better fit the needs of the students; technology, infrastructure and life safety systems upgrades; and facility upgrades to be compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act. “A student’s college career starts in the Union and ends in the Union,” Kilcrease says. “Every student passes

through the Union doors during orientation and graduation. Our core mission is to support the academic mission, which is why you won’t find another union with the number and diversity of services we offer.” By committing to provide half of the funding for the first major renovation of the Student Union in nearly 60 years, the OSU student body is hoping other members of the OSU family will follow their lead. “Our school needs to remain competitive and serve the needs of the students,” says Angela Vivar, president of the Hispanic Student Association. “I believe we have done our best to put together a plan that will do this.” To help the OSU student body continue to build on the tradition or for more information, please contact Vana Phibbs at 405-744-2305 or vphibbs@ OSUgiving.com.

Student Union Renovation Campaign by the Numbers: • Projected Construction Costs $86 million • Total Funds Raised to Date (through student fee increase and Student Union contributions) $43 million • Private Donor Fundraising Goal $43 million

My Student Union Glen Phibbs, ’64 business grad

In 1955, nothing helped me

Glen Phibbs (right) played saxophone with the Blue Notes band at numerous Student Union dances and later sang in the Four Hits quartet with friends (from left) Robert Hill, Bill Thompson and Walter (Bryan) Duke.

visualize my future or inspired me quite like the grandeur and activity of the Student Union. I remember thinking as I walked into the ballroom to enroll that my life was wide open and anything was possible. At the Union I learned to jitterbug to music from the fourth-floor jukebox. I saw Fats Domino perform live in the ballroom, and movie nights at the Aggie were always followed by a return to the Union to see what was going on and who was around. Some of my deepest, lifelong friendships and experiences were forged around my love of music. As a member of the Blue Notes, I performed at numerous Student Union dances before reuniting with Stillwater High buddies Robert Hill, Walter (Bryan)

Duke and Bill Thompson in the quartet the Four Hits. As entertainers we joined the Army and performed throughout the U.S., which is how I met my beautiful wife, Charlene, who gave me seven children and 26 grandchildren. So was the Union important in my life story? You bet! Because of the Union, I was able to sing professionally. I met important people at the Union, and those early interactions helped shape who I am today. The Union was where we wanted to be, where something was always happening and there was always someone to meet. As we always said, “Meet me at the Union.” Do you have a special memory of the Student Union you would like to share? Please e-mail your stories to debbie.shotwell@okstate.edu.

Homecoming

Amazing Anniversaries

2008 marks significant anniversaries for at least five campus organizations integral to OSU’s history and tradition.

Jill Jobe, Gamma Phi president and accounting junior, says it was great to have 50 classes of Gamma Phi alumnae back in Stillwater. “It was wonderful to hear all their stories and learn how OSU has changed from then to now.” Debby Strickland, a 1961 design, housing and merchandising graduate and one of the 21 founding members of Gamma Phi in 1958, says attendees from the earliest generation to today’s active members appreciated the reunion. “One of my personal goals was to have the undergrads see that the sisterhood goes beyond their four years,” Strickland says. “We talk about it, but during a reunion they can visualize it.” Linda Johnson, the international president of Gamma Phi Beta, also attended the reunion and complimented OSU’s chapter and the 2,200 women it has initiated. “She said our success is due to the quality of women who pledged throughout the years,” Strickland says, “and that Gamma Phi is a quality chapter that fulfills it mission and goals.”

Greek Life

Flying Aggies

Greek Life first appeared on the Oklahoma A&M campus in 1908 with the formation of Delta Sigma, a local group of dancers and singers, which later became Beta Theta Pi. From that first fraternity sprouted a Greek system of 20 fraternities, 11 sororities and three multicultural chapters, supporting nearly 3,000 students. OSU’s Greek system has consistently proven itself as one of the best in the nation. It has received dozens of awards over the past century and continues to accumulate more today. According to Ival Gregory, manager of fraternity and sorority affairs, OSU Greek Life has received the Academic Achievement Award and several other national honors for five consecutive semesters. The organization is tradition-rich, anchored by such events as Greek Week, Freshman Follies, Homecoming, Varsity Revue and Spring Sing. Greek organizations have also been a consistent supporter of philanthropic events on campus and in the community.

While the Greek world was busy celebrating in 2008, several other university organizations were also holding reunions. The Flying Aggies celebrated its 60th anniversary this year. Hoyt Walkup, an aviation enthusiast at Oklahoma A&M, founded the Flying Aggies in 1948. Since then, the Flying Aggies have won the Grover Loening Trophy, a national award presented to the nation’s outstanding aviation club, a record 21 times — more than any other collegiate flying organization. The Flying Aggies reunited in midApril for an alumni mixer, golf games, an air show and a banquet at the ConocoPhillips OSU Alumni Center. “I think the alums were very pleased with the reunion,” says 2007 Flying Aggies President Zach Countryman. “They enjoy staying connected, and it’s gratifying for our alumni to see the tradition they were so much a part of carried on.”

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Gamma Phi Beta alumnae celebrate their chapter’s 50th anniversary.

To celebrate a century of success, OSU and the Greek community plan to construct a sundial on campus in recognition of the 50 fraternities and sororities that call or once called Stillwater home.

Gamma Phi Beta While Greek Life is celebrating 100 years, OSU sorority Gamma Phi Beta celebrated its 50th anniversary on Feb. 8. The sorority held an anniversary weekend in April with a banquet at the ConocoPhillips OSU Alumni Center attended by 180 alumnae.

Veterinary Medicine

The Flying Aggies aren’t the only ones celebrating a diamond anniversary. The OSU Center for Veterinary Health Sciences is also celebrating 60 years of outstanding service and education. Oklahoma Gov. Brad Henry declared March 1-8 as the OSU Center for Veterinary Health Sciences Week. OSU dedicated the Duane R. Peterson Anatomy Learning Center in honor of Dr. Duane Peterson, the first lecturer at the veterinary school. The OSU Center for Veterinary Health

Sciences also dedicated the Presbyterian Animal Research Facility and Laboratory, initiated cardiology service, installed a Helical CT scanner at the teaching hospital and implemented an early admission program. Earlier this year alumnus Harold

On hand to dedicate the Duane R. Peterson Anatomy Learning Center are his wife, Janet; sons Ron, left, and Russell, back row; and Dr. Michael Lorenz, dean.

Ivie, a retired veterinarian who graduated from OSU in 1952, presented $10 million for the creation of endowed chairs and professorships in veterinary medicine.

Pistol Pete One of the most notable anniversaries of 2008 may be the most visible for the university as a whole. In 1958 OSU adopted Pistol Pete as its official mascot — one year after the death of legendary Frank “Pistol Pete” Eaton. Eaton, once a U.S. marshal in Indian Territory, was spotted by a group of students during

the 1923 Armistice Day parade in Stillwater and agreed to represent the university at athletic events, replacing the tiger as the Oklahoma A&M mascot. He strolled the sidelines with his trademark mustache and hat, firing his gun to invigorate the crowd. When Eaton died in 1957, the university wanted to continue his legacy and tradition, and so a likeness of Pistol Pete’s head was constructed and a student was selected to portray Pete at athletic events. A half century later, Pistol Pete is one of the most recognizable athletic mascots in the country. Each spring, more than a dozen students try out for the two coveted spots to portray Pistol Pete for the upcoming school year. Wearing the 45-pound head for hours on end is no easy task, but those who’ve won the role say they’ll cherish their memories forever. “I think what sets Oklahoma State’s mascot apart from every other school in the nation is that Pistol Pete is based on an actual person,” says Steven Sturgeon, an ’04 marketing graduate who portrayed Pistol Pete in 2002-03. “No other school can claim that.” Pistol Pete will serve as the grand marshal for the Homecoming 2008 Sea of Orange Parade and lead a posse of Pete alumni down Main Street. A reunion is scheduled for Friday, Oct. 17, and Sturgeon says he’s excited to reconnect with several generations of Petes. “There are always some good stories that get told at these reunions,” Sturgeon says. “This year I think even more former Pistol Petes will attend because the anniversary is so significant.” These five campus organizations exemplify OSU’s tradition of success and confidence in a bright future. Even as students and alumni set their sights on tomorrow, they continue to celebrate these historic milestones and embrace the traditions of the past. C hase Carter

Homecoming

“A

merica’s Greatest Homecoming Celebration” is a tradition

dedicated to reconnecting members of the OSU family with each other and their alma mater. This year, homecoming includes all members of the family – including our fourlegged, furry friends. The Humane Society is a natural choice for Homecoming 2008’s official philanthropy

Homecoming executives Brady Brewer and Jill Bowman, along with Maddy the beagle and Gus the basset hound, encourage all OSU alumni to join this year’s homecoming philanthropy effort by supporting their local humane society.

Going to the Dogs

considering OSU’s expertise in veterinary medicine, says philanthropy executive Jacqueline Guidry. “We wanted to pick an organization that could be hands-on for students and alumni,” Guidry says. “Philanthropy’s not just about raising money – it’s about giving back to the community and, in this case, helping man’s best friend.” Students will be assigned weekends to visit the Stillwater Humane Society to walk and play with the animals, and students will also walk dogs from the shelter in this year’s homecoming parade. Guidry says this year’s philanthropy gives alumni outside Stillwater and Oklahoma the perfect opportunity to become involved with OSU’s homecoming even if they can’t make it back to campus for the festivities. “Alumni can get involved by volunteering at their local humane societies or by donating money,” Guidry says. “Most humane societies have programs where you can walk or play with the animals. In many cases, the volunteers enjoy the animals as much as the animals enjoy the company.” Melisa Parkerson, director of student programs and awards, says these philanthropies provide OSU alumni and students a chance to work together in the spirit of homecoming. “Each year, the homecoming steering committee provides a wonderful gift to a deserving cause,” Parkerson says. “We applaud this year’s selection of the Humane Society and hope all alumni will support its cause.” To find a Humane Society chapter in your area, visit www.pets911.com. C hase Carter

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photo / Gary Lawson

Tune into Homecoming from Anywhere More than 200,000 OSU alumni live around the world. Unfortunately, not all of them can return for “America’s Greatest Homecoming Celebration.” This signature program of the OSU Alumni Association has been a staple in Stillwater for decades, and this year’s online presence will be bigger and better than ever, providing alumni who can’t return with several opportunities to remain connected for life to OSU and homecoming. “We understand that not all alumni can come back for homecoming, but we know that the pride and spirit of OSU lives in all of them,” says Melisa Parkerson, director of student programs and awards for the OSU Alumni Association. “We wanted to provide as many opportunities as possible to bring them home in spirit even if they have to enjoy Homecoming 2008 from afar.”

There are several ways alumni can maintain their connection to homecoming without setting foot in Stillwater, beginning with the OSU Alumni Association’s redesigned website — orangeconnection.org. Alumni can log on anytime, from anywhere, to look in on Stillwater and Homecoming 2008. For the second consecutive year, the Sea of Orange Homecoming Parade will be streaming live on the website, and members can view a live webcam from one of homecoming’s greatest traditions — walkaround. Members are encouraged to create their own personalized profile and add memories and photos from homecomings gone by or post stories about how they’re celebrating Homecoming 2008 in their own backyards. They can also submit recipes for the chili cook-off and view photo

albums from individual homecoming events. “We’re excited to provide this connection so that members who live across the country and around the world can relive past homecoming memories and create new ones with us even if they can’t physically be here,” Parkerson says. This year’s philanthropy, the Humane Society, is also a great opportunity for alumni to join in the spirit of homecoming while supporting their local communities. Homecoming Philanthropy Executive Jacqueline Guidry encourages alumni to volunteer at their local humane society or animal shelter and join in the spirit of OSU students who are doing the same in Stillwater. Visit orangeconnection.org/ homecoming for information on how to participate in “America’s Greatest Homecoming Celebration” from anywhere in the world. C hase Carter

Reality

Photography by Phil Shockley

Alumni.......... guidance

Shapes

future Leaders

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When today’s business leaders are asked where they acquired the skills to succeed in the workforce, many times the response is, “from leadership positions in collegiate organizations.”

The OSU Alumni Association believes in supporting and serving its members as well as OSU students, faculty, staff and friends. One Alumni Association event has perhaps the largest impact on the university — “America’s Greatest Homecoming Celebration.” This event benefits all Cowboy fans, especially current OSU students. The Alumni Association sponsors homecoming each year and relies on a select group of students to coordinate the many activities of the two-week celebration. This gives students an opportunity to gain hands-on experience conducting business meetings, setting a budget, engaging others, delegating tasks and practicing efficient time management.

“By working together, the Alumni Association and the students who participate in the experience are able to continue the longstanding traditions that make our homecoming celebration so special,” says Melisa Parkerson, director of student programs and awards. “The strength of the partnership is also key to the success of the event. The Association is able to provide resources, while the students manage and oversee the organization and execution of homecoming.” For the nine homecoming executives selected to organize the festivities, the task is almost year-round. They are responsible for choosing the homecoming theme, and each person is in charge of at least two homecoming committees. The executive team also relies on dozens of students who serve on subcommittees to help make Homecoming happen. “While on the homecoming executive team, I realized that big undertakings are a lot easier when you have good teamwork,” says Tony LoPresto, a 2001 accounting graduate. “I learned organization skills and how to run meetings, and that you have to put faith in others to get the job done.”

Photography by Phil Shockley

Homecoming is one of the largest events at OSU and something the students take pride in. The executive team and committee members work endless hours each year to ensure everything runs smoothly. “I was raised a Cowboy and have always been proud of that,” LoPresto says. “But working on a huge project like homecoming made me even more proud.” By taking the initiative to support the OSU family and its future leaders through homecoming, the Alumni Association not only welcomes alumni back to their alma mater but also provides students the opportunity to build self-confidence, develop leadership skills and make lifelong connections. These qualities help the OSU students of today become the alumni leaders of tomorrow. S hawna A llen

An ‘Honorable’ Home

OLD CENTRAL Gets New Use

nly the prairie and temporary wooden buildings came before Old Central on OSU’s Stillwater campus. Old Central, the university’s first permanent structure, was completed in 1896 when Oklahoma A&M College had 144 students. Henderson Ryan of Fort Smith, Ark., constructed the building from 1894 to 1896 at a bid price of $14,948. The site for Old Central was selected after much community debate and was located in the southeastern corner of campus, allowing for easy community access and close walking distance to town. Today, Old Central stands at the heart of campus, an icon for generations of alumni. Although classes were moved to newer facilities in 1969, Old Central’s doors never entirely closed. It continued housing higher education history displays despite structural cracks, lightning strikes and demolition plans. OSU has committed $7 million to restore and renovate the building, which will house the Honors College, a nationally recognized college serving OSU’s top students. Old Central will provide advising offices, computer facilities, small-group study areas, an assembly area, and classrooms for honors courses and seminars, all set among historical exhibits in a turn-of-the-century interior. Renovated and filled with inquisitive, talented students, Old Central will once again be the center of a vibrant academic environment, a “living symbol” of OSU’s enduring tradition of achievement. 28

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Chris Savoie, left, of CMSWillowbrook reviews interior renovation plans with Honors College Assistant Director Jessica Roark and Director Robert Spurrier. The building, perhaps more than any other, stands as a symbol of the university’s traditions and excellence, and its heritage will be invigorated by these students’ achievements. “Old Central will be a wonderful home for the Honors College, where scholars and leaders are educated for the 21st century,” says Robert Spurrier, Honors College director and professor of political science. Spurrier, former president of the National Collegiate Honors Council, says OSU’s Honors College is a model for other collegiate honors programs across the nation. Richard Ayers

Put YOUR NAME in History

campaign is underway inviting alumni and friends to secure naming gifts for various spaces in the Old Central building. Naming a room in honor of families, former professors and alumni is a significant and visible manner of recognition. Offices and rooms are available for naming at $25,000, $50,000 and $100,000. For more information, contact Richard Ayers, associate vice president for development, at 405-744-5914 or rayers@OSUgiving.com. A personal tour of the building is possible.

Photos / Phil Shockley

Honors College Director Robert Spurrier, left, and Assistant Director Jessica Roark say Old Central will be a wonderful new home for OSUâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Honors College. photo / Phil Shockley

BroAdening horizons for 10 years

The School of International Studies

at OSU celebrates its 10-year anniversary.

In today’s increasingly global society, OSU’s School of International Studies gives OSU and the state a significant advantage in educating tomorrow’s leaders. On July 24, 1998, the OSU/A&M board of regents approved the creation of the school, which was begun to reorganize OSU’s international efforts and bring them to global prominence once again. In its short 10 years, those goals are being accomplished. In July of 2008, the School, representing OSU, was chosen as one of 12 in the nation to participate in a national study — Best Practices of International Public Service and Outreach. Other notable schools among the dozen are UCLA, Penn State, Texas A&M, University of Virginia, University of Wisconsin–Madison, University of North Carolina–Chapel Hill and UC-Davis. The study will be published in spring 2009 and unveiled during the School’s 10-year gala on April 9-10, 2009. The school’s unique interdisciplinary nature and its efforts to link programs to OSU academic units are strengthened because the deans and associate deans of OSU’s colleges serve on the administrative, policy oversight and programmatic boards. Also, more than 140 of the colleges’ faculty actively participate in the school’s curriculum. The School of International Studies facilitates, creates and expands interdisciplinary international opportunities in instruction, research and outreach. It also provides an environment that promotes and sustains global engagement. The School of International Studies offers a graduate program with a master’s degree in international studies, a certificate in international studies, the Peace Corps master’s international program and a dual-degree program with universities in Puebla, Mexico. In addition to the graduate program, the School includes the Study Abroad/National Student Exchange Office; English Language Institute; Global Contacts Office; Fulbright Resource Center; Phi Beta Delta International Honor Society; OSU-Mexico Liaison Office; and International Outreach Unit, which supports university, statewide, national and international outreach efforts. 30

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The School of International Studies is housed in the OSU Wes Watkins Center, where a significant renovation is underway to honor and recognize OSU’s international heritage.

In addition to on-campus classes and programs, faculty-led student groups regularly travel abroad to countries such as China, Japan, Thailand, England, France and Italy.

A Decade of Highlights  The Graduate Program graduated its first class of 13 in 2001. The 200th student will graduate this December.  Alumni of the School and the 80 students currently in the Graduate Program

make up a diverse group — 40 percent are international students representing 20 countries, and 60 percent are domestic students who represent 25 states.  The graduate program’s Peace Corps master’s international program has

grown significantly since it was added in 2003. Three students have completed the three-year program, while 11 are on their Peace Corps assignments, and 21 are completing class work. The graduate program continues to grow in popularity and now reviews 20 to 30 applications per semester. Students spend one year studying in a culturally diverse group of students, then complete their twoyear Peace Corps assignments and follow-up courses before receiving their master’s degrees.

 Established in 1970, the English Language Institute has helped more than 10,000 nonnative English speakers from around the world achieve the proficiency required to enter and succeed in an American institution of higher education. The program also provides training for those wishing to learn English for business or personal reasons.  Since its inception after 9/11, International Outreach’s Global Briefing Series has hosted more than 4,000 people at the free, public briefings on current global issues presented by ambassadors and others in national and international business, government, military and media.

 With the OSU/A&M board of regents’ approval of the OSU Faculty Council recommendation that 100 percent of OSU’s graduating seniors have a significant international experience, the Study Abroad/National Student Exchange Office has become a

focus of international activity on campus. In addition to $130,000 in private gifts, the program received $120,000 in scholarship funding from Provost Marlene Strathe to encourage OSU students to gain international experience. Currently, almost 500 students study abroad each year in more than 25 countries, and OSU is one of only two universities in Oklahoma to participate in the National Student Exchange representing more than 200 U.S. and Canadian universities.

 OSU opened the OSU-Mexico Liaison Office in early 2006 with international studies alumnus José Sagarnaga as manager of offices in two cities in Mexico and at OSU. The office fosters relationships between OSU and Mexico to provide students with opportunities to study or work in each country. In just two years, the office has coordinated or assisted with programs for more than 200 students and faculty. In addition, OSU houses an office for Mexico’s Universidad Popular Autónoma del Estado de Puebla.

 Begun in 2003, the OSU Chapter of Phi Beta Delta international honor society has

inducted more than 100 faculty, students and business men and women.  The School of International Studies now houses the Fulbright Resource Center. Though well represented in the past by faculty and students, efforts have been stepped up for OSU to become a premier institution for Fulbright scholars. In 2007, one student received the prestigious grant, and in 2008 three more students were selected.

 The Global Contacts Office

actively solicits funds to provide opportunities to students to study in the program as well as to fund internships. To date, individuals and businesses such as Spirit Aerosystems have funded nearly $400,000 in graduate, intern and faculty fellowships for the School.

 The School’s Bennett Fellows Program, begun to increase the intellectual capital available to students, has inducted internationally renowned individuals such as Colin Powell, Mexico President Vicente Fox, South Korean Prime Minister Duck Woo Nam and the Fulbright program’s Harriet M. Fulbright, above left, shown with OSU Provost Marlene Strathe.  The School’s director, James Hromas, serves on the international board of the acclaimed Sister Cities International

The School of International Studies in conjunction with OSU’s academic units will host many activities to celebrate its 10th anniversary. Some examples include hosting the International Kids Fair in November with the College of Education and hosting Simmons CEO Charles Eitel’s visit to OSU in October with the Spears School of Business. All events will culminate April 9-10, 2009, with the school’s 10-year anniversary gala.

organization. In 2008, he was appointed as secretary. Also, School donor and OSU alumnus Mike Hyatt will serve as the organization’s president through 2010.

For more information, call 405.744.6606 or visit sois.okstate.edu.

Alumni

OSU alums who returned for the annual Orange/White football game on March 12 were treated to a “first” in the history of the OSU Alumni Association. All active members were invited to participate in the Association Member Picnic, which supplied each member with a Freddie Paul’s hot dog, brat or burger, chips and a drink — for free. One hundred members chowed down on their pregame meals on the south terrace of the ConocoPhillips OSU Alumni Center. OSU fans of every age filled up and reminisced in preparation for Coach Gundy and the Cowboys’ 2008 debut. Lora Malone, vice president and chief marketing officer for the Alumni Association, says alumni can expect to see more member-only events like this one in the future. “We felt like this was a great opportunity to partner with the football program and to show our appreciation to our loyal Cowboys, knowing that membership in the Alumni Association makes for a stronger university,” Malone says. 32

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There are many benefits that accompany membership in the OSU Alumni Association, including STATE magazine, and the Association is always looking for fresh ideas on how to better connect its members with their alma mater. The Association Member Picnic gave the Association a new way to show its gratitude toward the members who sustain it. “Membership is the lifeblood of the OSU Alumni Association,” she says. C hase Carter

“… membership in the Alumni Association makes for a stronger university.”

If you would like more information on the benefits associated with being an active member of the OSU Alumni Association, visit orangeconnection.org/benefits.

hen businesses find the customer they strive to serve and discover how best to serve that customer, success is theirs. The same holds true for donors.

photo / Gary Lawson

There is one thing the Hach Scientific Foundation, based in Fort Collins, Colo., has always known — it has a strong respect for and desire to help future chemists. And three years ago the 26-year-old foundation found the best way to show it. Clifford and Kitty Hach established the Hach Scientific Foundation in 1982 as a result of their concern for the lack of support and appreciation for future chemists. The small, internally operated foundation of the Hach Company was contributing to the industry, upon which their water analysis company was built, by awarding six undergraduate chemistry scholarships annually in Iowa, Colorado and Wyoming. With the passing of Clifford in 1990 and the sale of the company in 1999, the Hach Scientific Foundation became fully funded. Bryce Hach dedicated himself to his grandfather’s mission, joining the foundation as director of scholarship and university relations and began meeting scholarship recipients to discover why they chose to pursue chemistry degrees. “More than 90 percent of the scholarship recipients said their number-one influence in the field of chemistry was a really good high school chemistry teacher,” Bryce says. “What an incredibly influential role they play in this industry.” With only one-fourth of all high school chemistry teachers holding an undergraduate degree in chemistry and a shortage of available chemistry teachers, Bryce found a new way for the Hach Scientific Foundation to serve future chemists.

photo / Gary Lawson

Because of her Hach Scientific Foundation scholarship, chemistry senior Amanda Miller plans to teach chemistry and hopes to inspire students to become teachers also. By providing scholarships to future chemistry teachers, as well as financial support throughout their careers, the foundation focuses on fostering and supporting science and science education. Now that the foundation is fully funded and can support more than six annual scholarships, Bryce is leading efforts to partner with every land-grant university in the U.S. to award two $6,000 scholarships to chemistry majors pursuing careers in education. “This scholarship program is the backbone of the foundation,” says Bryce, now executive director of the Hach Scientific Foundation. “We want to provide support to future chemistry teachers and outreach programs to every chemistry teacher across the country.” While the foundation wants to create a pipeline of incoming chemistry teachers, it also wants to ensure those entering the profession receive the highest quality education, which is why the scholarships are awarded through landgrant universities.

“Land-grant universities have a good background in research and the hard sciences,” Bryce says. “We wanted to tap into that knowledge pool, get hard science majors to consider teaching and create from that environment.” In addition to being renewable, Hach scholarships can be applied toward the cost of teaching certifications required after graduation. Amanda Miller is a senior chemistry major from Edmond, Okla., and a second-year scholarship recipient. “I decided to be a chemistry teacher because I know our country is lacking in science teachers and because I love chemistry so much — I want to help,” she says. “I’ve always been a teacher at heart, helping my fellow classmates and younger sisters whenever they needed it. With this scholarship, I will finish my degree and go on to help as many students as I can, hopefully sparking a passion for teaching in some of them.”

OSU’s 14th, 15th and 16th Goldwater Scholars set a record in 2008. For the first time in OSU history, three students, Ilya “Eli” Sluch, Renee Hale and Paul Egan, simultaneously received one of the nation’s most distinguished scholarships. Goldwater scholarships are awarded to outstanding undergraduates pursuing degrees in mathematics, engineering or the natural sciences.

by Matt Elliott

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How hard can it be? Renee Hale She dances. She sings. She plays classical music on the piano and violin. And in between, Renee Hale is a 17-year-old chemical engineering sophomore who learned to drive a backhoe this summer. Oh, then there’s the internship at IBM. At the historic technology firm, Hale learned what an environmental engineer does — through being one. Before the internship, she let the Hale family motto, “How hard can it be?” guide her. “It’s gotten us quite a few places. So I’ve never been an environmental engineer, never tried that, but hey — I’m up for it.” She was home-schooled along with her sister, OSU graduate and 2006 Goldwater Scholar Melinda Hale, while growing up in a small New York town, Fishkill. The Hales have been Cowboys for four generations: her parents, paternal grandparents and paternal greatgrandparents earned their undergraduate degrees from OSU. Her grandfather, Jerry Hale, played basketball for Coach Henry Iba and later coached at ORU in the 1970s. Her mother, with a master’s degree from Boston University, taught her how to approach learning. Her dad, Michael Hale, has master’s and doctoral degrees in mechanical engineering from MIT. After Renee had completed a couple years in community college, her father convinced her to try OSU. She at first balked

at engineering because she thought she’d end up working with heavy machinery. The engineering college’s dean, Karl Reid, debunked her misconceptions, and she enrolled in 2006. She’s been a dedicated engineering student ever since. Last year, Hale won the Freshman Research Scholars Award for her work with her mentor, Heather Fahlenkamp, studying how to better grow human dendritic cells. The cells have shown promise for use in vaccines and fighting cancer. She presented her findings at the National Conference on Undergraduate Research in Salisbury, Md., in April. Working with Hale may have spoiled Fahlenkamp, a chemical engineering professor who joined OSU in 2006 from the biotech company, VaxDesign. She calls Hale an amazing talent. “What really amazed me was how quickly she was able to adapt to working in a research lab,” Fahlenkamp says. The two are working on a journal article, and Fahlenkamp says her protégé’s work could end up helping others lead healthier, longer lives.

“What really amazed me was how quickly she was able to adapt to working in a research lab.” — Heather Fahlenkamp

Searching for the cure Ilya ‘Eli’ Sluch Associate professor of chemistry LeGrande Slaughter wishes more students worked as hard as his star sophomore pupil, Ilya “Eli” Sluch, who’s earning double majors in biochemistry and chemistry. (continues on next page)

Photo / Gary Lawson

OSU’s newest Goldwater Scholars Renee Hale, Ilya “Eli” Sluch and Paul Egan

Photo / Phil Shockley

Goldwater Scholar Ilya “Eli” Sluch, a biochemistry and chemistry senior, conducts molecular modeling of proteins in OSU’s X-ray crystallography research facility. His work is part of a lifelong goal to cure cancer.

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“He gets more done in two hours than some of my Ph.D. students get done in four hours,” says Slaughter, adding it’s not unusual to see Sluch working late hours in the lab while his peers are out having fun. “To see that in a freshman is rare.” When Sluch graduated in 2006 from the Oklahoma School for Science and Mathematics, he’d already decided to attend OSU, passing over offers to Rice and other universities “because I can do a lot more research at OSU,” he says. By the time he enrolled, he’d been working in Slaughter’s lab since he was 17, thanks to one of his teachers who emailed a request to OSU’s chemistry department asking if someone could give Sluch a spot in one of their labs. Slaughter was impressed with Sluch and acquired a grant through a National Science Foundation program to make it possible. He says he hasn’t been disappointed. “Intellectually, he’s one of the top students at OSU,” says Slaughter of his 20-year-old pupil. “But we’ve got a lot of smart students. What really sets him apart is he’s not scared of anything.” Sluch’s family came from Moscow to the United States when he was 11, when his physicist father, Mikhail Sluch, accepted a post-doctoral position at the University of South Carolina in Columbia. They later moved to Stillwater, and his father teaches nanomaterials at the OSU Institute of Technology in Okmulgee. In 2007, Sluch won the freshman research symposium’s best physical science presentation for his work with Slaughter using X-ray crystallography to study metals that are possible explosive detectors. He presented that research in March at the American Chemical Society meeting in New Orleans. He also studies that technique to analyze proteins in Junpeng Deng’s biochemistry lab at OSU. There, he has worked on proteins associated with Parkinson’s disease and the vaccinia virus through a Howard Hughes Medical Institute grant. Sluch is applying for graduate school at universities including Harvard and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He says his goal is to cure cancer, perhaps by working for a pharmaceutical company and designing new drugs through research into the makeup of chemicals from the atoms up. That could lead to the development of better and safer drugs.

“We’ve got a lot of smart students. What really sets him apart is he’s not scared of anything.” — LeGrande Slaughter

A classical scientist Paul Egan When Paul Egan tells people he’s an engineering major, no one bats an eye. Nor do they when the goateed son of a pharmacist and homemaker from Broken Arrow, Okla., says he’s also an applied physics major. But heads turn when the Goldwater Scholar reveals his triple major includes philosophy.

“In my experience, either people really love philosophy,” Egan says, “or they seem to wonder, ‘Why are you wasting your time doing that?’” The reason is Egan’s thirst for knowledge beyond the equations and theorems of hard science. Physics explains how the world works. Engineering teaches him how to make the world do what he wants. Adding philosophy to the mix helps him understand the nature of thought. Egan wants to eventually apply his philosophical understanding to groundbreaking artificial intelligence research. Also, it’s fun. “I got into physics because I read a lot of Stephen Hawking’s books,” he says. “And then I read Einstein and eventually moved into more abstract works. If it’s just technical work, I get kind of bored with it because really it’s only looking at the world from one of many useful perspectives.” Egan has also made time for off-campus endeavors related to all three of his majors. Besides a physics internship at Los Alamos National Laboratory and mechanical engineering work in Los Angeles, Egan also participated in two summer programs at Cambridge through OSU’s scholar development office. This fall, he heads to New Zealand’s University of Canterbury for further philosophy research. Egan’s mentor, philosophy professor Doren Recker, says Egan chose to work on metaphor in science for his team-taught course on 17th century philosophers. The paper’s due date approached, and Recker hadn’t heard from his student. But out of the blue a week ahead of schedule, Egan turned in his paper needing only minimal direction from his impressed professor. “Paul works very well independently,” Recker says. “He can go read and interpret on his own. But at the same time he collaborates very well, too.” Egan showed his leadership skills last April while heading up the first-place OSU-Black team that won the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics’ Design/Build/Fly Competition. His team’s creative approach to aircraft design helped beat the competition, including MIT and Purdue, and will help future OSU teams remain strong competitors. Egan plans to graduate in 2009, pursue a doctorate in mechanical engineering and then go into education. A recent job interview with an oil company lessened his interest in private industry. “They told me, ‘You don’t wear the engineering tie. You don’t wear the engineering shoes. We want to hire somebody like us. You need to join the student council or lead AIAA.’” But, Egan has different plans. “I’m not interested in that. I like to do science and figure things out. I’m happy with my accomplishments because I took an unconventional approach and surpassed the expectations of those who favored a more commonly accepted path.”

“In my experience, either people really love philosophy or they seem to wonder, ‘Why are you wasting your time doing that?’” — Paul Egan

Members of the Heritage Society are among the most visionary supporters of Oklahoma State University. Choosing to give in order to build a better life for the next generation, their influence on OSU will never be forgotten. Alumni and f riends of the university giving any amount through will, revocable living trust, life insurance, life-income gifts, beneficiary designation or other deferred gift arrangements are recognized through this prestigious society. These donors are essential to the future of our university, and we are proud to have their support.

Everyone can leave a legacy. Become a member of the Heritage Society today, and leave an indelible mark on future generations of Cowboys. For more information, visit OSUgiving.com/heritagesociety/.

1.800.622.4678 | info@OSUgiving.com 400 S. Monroe | PO Box 1749 | Stillwater, OK 74076-1749

Elevate Your Expectations

Joyce Reed Griffin Communications, LLC Vice President - Strategy

David F. Griffin Griffin Communications, LLC President

John Moore Coordinator of Alumni Center Services

From set up to tear down, our experienced alumni center staff will exceed your expectations as you plan your next event.

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Visit osualumnicenter.org to Book Your Event Today! 405.744.8015 â&#x20AC;˘ 800.433.4678 alumni.center@okstate.edu

What Makes an OSU Student Great? illustration / tim jessell

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OSU’s “six pillar” philosophy enables students to build a strong foundation for success.

he OSU Alumni Association is proud to welcome campus visitors to the OSU Visitors Center in the ConocoPhillips OSU Alumni Center. Members of the Alumni Association enjoy greeting visitors and informing them of the many positive distinctions of a land-grant university. Parents and prospective students often ask what makes OSU so successful in producing exceptional alumni. OSU believes a strong foundation is crucial for students to attain while in college. In order to give students every chance to build the base for the future, the university has developed a number of opportunities to help young Cowboys and Cowgirls achieve greatness. In a joint effort, the university and the division of student affairs has developed a six-pillar philosophy to help students make the most of their OSU education. The six-pillar concept focuses on academic excellence, leadership development, service, finding a passion or purpose, broadening horizons and wellness. “The elements that make a ‘student experience’ and change lives are the things students can get right here,” says Lee Bird, vice president for the Office of Student Affairs. “The six pillars are a guideline students can apply to their own lives to build a foundation and achieve great things.” OSU assists students with meeting the first pillar, academic excellence, by providing academic advisers, learning centers and research programs. Robert Graalman, director of scholar development and recognition, says resources available for students are remarkable, and the university is fortunate to have faculty who are so

opportunities out there,” Bird says. highly involved and take an interest in OSU provides guest speakers, their students’ futures. Their investment intramural sports, musicals and plays, of time and energy has helped OSU students excel on a national level as well and special interest clubs to encourage students to become well-rounded indias in the classroom. “Our students are highly competitive viduals with an excitement for life. In addition to campus opportuniwith other college students for presties, OSU offers study abroad trips tigious scholarships, graduate school acceptances and employment positions,” that help students connect to the world. Graalman says students need to take Graalman says. “In fact, OSU is welltime to learn about other people and known nationally for its innovative programming and record in these areas.” their cultures. The last of the six pillars is wellness. OSU was named Oklahoma’s first According to Bird, mental well-being Truman Honor Institution in 2000 for and good physical health are important its record of excellence in this program. for students to perform at their best. To date, the university has a total of 15 OSU meets these needs by providing the recipients of the Truman scholarship. In Colvin Recreation Center, University recent years, OSU scholars have won Counseling Services and Seretean several other prestigious honors includWellness Center. ing the Rhodes, Marshall, Fulbright, Remodeled in 2004, the Colvin Mitchell, Gates, Goldwater and Udall Recreation Center includes basketscholarships. ball, volleyball and racquetball courts, Not only do OSU students have indoor and outdoor swimming pools, wonderful resources academically but an indoor track, a 9,000-square-foot also when they are working toward the weight area, a 6,000-square-foot fitness next two pillars of success, leadership equipment area, a rock-climbing wall development and service. Campus Life houses more than 400 student organiza- and dance studios. It even has golf simulators, practice nets and a putting tions, giving students a way to connect green. No matter what students’ athletic with one another as well as teaching interests might be, there’s plenty to do them leadership skills and instilling a at the Colvin. mindset of service. By taking advantage of the opportuAccording to Kent Sampson, direcnities OSU provides and by developing tor of campus activities, students all six pillars of success, students have continually say they have developed or the tools to establish a firm foundation are developing skills and confidence and prepare themselves for the next step beyond what they would gain in the in life — graduating and transitioning classroom by participating in campus from student to alumnus. organizations. “We have a variety of elite compa“It is important for students to get nies that recruit OSU students,” says involved, find a way to make a differPam Ehlers, director of career services. ence and develop skills in leadership, “Our graduates have a strong work ethic, time management, conflict resolution leadership experience and a heart of and task delegation,” Sampson says. service that businesses seek.” By participating in leadership OSU is a large university with a and service roles, students have the small-town environment, where the opportunity to learn about who they possibilities are endless. Whether are and what they want to become as students want to continue encounterindividuals. ing new experiences or pursue a career These life experiences can help them as an engineer, teacher, veterinarian achieve the next two pillars of success or journalist, OSU helps them take the — finding a passion and broadening right steps to build a foundation on their horizons. which to base their futures. “We want students to find a major, minor, part-time job or hobby that S hawna A llen gets them excited about the endless

Office of Annual Giving 1.800.622.4678 | AnnualGiving@OSUgiving.com 400 S. Monroe | PO Box 1749 | Stillwater, OK 74076-1749

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OSU Alumni Association

Corral Connections for Life Day Sept. 06 vs. Houston

Athletic Adventure Sept. 13 vs. Missouri State

Distinguished Alumni Awards Sept. 27 vs. Troy

Legacy Day

Oct. 04 vs. Texas A&M

Homecoming Oct. 18 vs. Baylor

OSU Ring Day

Nov. 01 vs. Iowa State

Online Store Clearance Sale Nov. 29 vs. Oklahoma

Located at the corner of University and Hester, the Cowboy Corral is your connection to all things ORANGE on Gamedays. The doors open 31/2 hours prior to kickoff. The event is open to Cowboy fans of all ages and is a free event. Come by for a slice of hot Hideaway pizza in Click Alumni Hall or Freddie Paulâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s mouthwatering BBQ, bratwurst and hamburgers outside on the patio.

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F o r me r O S U S t u d e n t D o n ate s $ 1 M illi o n to O S U Ve te r ina r y C e n te r

a half at OSU before transferring to another college closer to his hometown of Chickasha, Okla. However, his loyalty to OSU is as strong as ever. It is that loyalty and one of two passions that brings a $1 million gift to OSU’s Center for Veterinary Health Sciences. “My wife, Sallie, and I have two passions — defenseless children and defenseless animals,” Morris says. “We decided the best way to help animals was to give to the Small Animal Critical Care Unit at OSU’s Veterinary Teaching Hospital.” The couple looked at various ways to fund the project. Instrumental in putting all the pieces in place to complete the gift was longtime friend and Chickasha attorney Phil Gordon. “We considered giving land and other options to OSU before deciding the life insurance policy was the best avenue,” Morris says. “Phil, an OSU graduate, made the necessary contacts to establish this gift. He played a major role in making this happen for us.” Through an endowment agreement, the Morrises established a $1 million life insurance gift that will be used exclusively for small-animal critical care. “What is nice about the Morris gift is that we can use the funds for whatever

is needed,” says Dr. Michael Lorenz, professor and dean of the veterinary center. “If we need equipment, a new building, renovations to current structures or laboratory upgrades, we can do it as long as the end product helps advance critical care for small animals at the Center for Veterinary Health Sciences. Thanks to Bill and Sallie Morris, we will have the resources to make that happen.” The Morrises live in Lubbock, Texas. They bought a dog in 2001 and the next thing they knew, they had eight dogs — one adopted greyhound and six others rescued off the streets. “We are sincere about our passions. We work in both areas,” Morris says. “Sallie serves on the board of Community Partners of Lubbock working with foster children, and we made a major gift pledge to the CASA Voices for Children of Chickasha to support their staff.” Most recently, Bill and Sallie began developing plans for a dog rescue facility on their farm in Lubbock. Plans include facilities that will house between 300 and 350 animals. “We heard the number of animals being euthanized each year, and we wanted to try to make some kind of difference,” he says. “We currently have 55 dogs ranging from 7 weeks old to 6 years old, all having a full range of tests and shots and ready for adoption.”

Photo courtesy Levelland News

ill Morris spent a year and

Sallie Morris and her husband, Bill, care for more than 50 abandoned dogs at their own expense, ensuring all receive vaccines and are spayed or neutered in preparation for adoption. The Morrises are developing plans for a rescue facility at their farm in Lubbock, Texas. The Morrises have also established a $1,000 scholarship for an incoming veterinary student at the Center for Veterinary Health Sciences and a $1,000 scholarship for the OSU Spears School of Business, as well as a scholarship for Texas Tech’s School of Business. These gifts, along with the work they do every day and the endowed gift to the Veterinary Teaching Hospital, will positively impact the lives of many people and animals for years to come. D erinda L owe

For more information, contact the veterinary center development office at 405-744-5630 or visit www.OSUgiving.com.

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Office of Annual Giving 1.800.622.4678 | AnnualGiving@OSUgiving.com 400 S. Monroe | PO Box 1749 | Stillwater, OK 74076-1749

Outstanding Seniors Award

The Outstanding Seniors Award recognizes students who have excelled in scholarship, leadership and service

to campus and community and have brought distinction to Oklahoma State University. The Alumni Association is honored to present these awards to the students who symbolize OSU’s mission of achieving greatness.

Heather Beem, ’08, mechanical engineering. German Club president, Symphony Orchestra co-section leader, Best Floor President in Hall Government; member of OSU NASA Mars Plane Team and OSU’s Design, Build, Fly Team; Honors College ambassador, top engineering student in the W.W. Allen Scholars Program; study abroad at the Technical University Munich in Germany, internships in Taiwan and with the NASA Ames Academy; Lew Wentz Research Scholar, OSU Women’s Faculty Council, OSU Research Symposium; accepted to MIT’s Ph.D. program as a MIT Presidential Fellow and recipient of the Department of Defense NDSEG Fellowship.

Matthew Beier, ’08, chemical engineering with minors in English and political science. American Institute of Chemical Engineers, Student Judicial Affairs Committee, Mortar Board, Cowboy crisis response team; research presenter, AIChE regional conferences in 2005 and 2007; study abroad at Cambridge University; American Red Cross board of directors, Emergency Operations Center student representative, Student Government Association, American Institute of Chemical Engineers and Student Judicial Affairs Committee.

Matthew Carter, ’08, economics with a minor in finance. Student Government Association vice-president, Business Student Council external relations executive, Blue Key Honor Society president, Sigma Nu, Order of Omega, Phi Eta Sigma, Iota Kappa; participant in the Engalitcheff Institute on Comparative Political and Economic Systems, internship with U.S. Small Business Administration; Lew Wentz Scholar, ConocoPhillips SPIRIT Scholar, Truman Scholar finalist and Raymond D. Thomas Award for the Spears School of Business top graduating senior.

Whitney Danker, ’08, agricultural communications with a minor in agricultural economics. College of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources agricultural ambassador, Top 5 CASNR senior, top agricultural communications senior, Blue Key Honor Society, Oklahoma FFA president, facilitator for National FFA’s Washington Leadership Conference, CASNR ag legislative intern, U.S. Sen. Don Nickles Fellow, Top 5 homecoming royalty candidate in 2007 and Truman Scholar nominee.

Nicholas C. Eschner, Dec. ’07, fire protection and safety technology. Society of Fire Protection Engineers president, Fire Protection Society vice president, American Society of Safety Engineers, Phi Kappa Phi; four internships with various fire departments and Rolf Jensen & Associates; certified as an open-water scuba diver, water safety instructor, American Red Cross instructor and OSHA haz-mat technician.

Ebonie Hill, ’08, public relations with a minor in marketing. Student Conduct Board, Association for Women in Communications president, Zeta Phi Beta, Big 12 Conference on Black Student Government committee chair, OSU’s National Pan-Hellenic Council, Greek Week council member, Kappa Tau Alpha, Phi Kappa Phi, National Society of Collegiate Scholars, Honors College ambassador, Noble Scholar; and recipient of the Oklahoma Press Association Endowment, Association for Women in Communications scholarship and the Black Alumni Academic/Leadership Award.

Travis Jett, ’08, agribusiness. College of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources Student Council president, Blue Key Honor Society secretary, Oklahoma Secretary of Agriculture’s advisory committee of beginning farmers and ranchers, Campus Life advisory committee, SGA speakers board, Alpha Gamma Rho, Wentz Scholar, Top 5 CASNR senior, Oklahoma FFA 2004-2005 state president, National FFA 2005-2006 president and internships with Congressman Frank Lucas and the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Office of Congressional Relations. 46

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“OSU provides a supportive environment full of rich opportunities to grow and succeed. The academic setting and extra curricular options have allowed me to broaden myself intellectually and provided international experiences that have prepared me for the next step.”

“OSU is unique in its ability to provide world-class faculty, staff and resources all while creating an unparalleled community atmosphere. The resulting student experience has forever changed the way I view the world.”

“OSU has allowed me to grow in so many ways. It has challenged me to pursue my biggest dreams and given me the strength to know I can accomplish anything.”

“Some people say that college is about finding yourself. However, my experience at OSU has been about creating myself as a student, servant leader and friend. At OSU it is impossible to become complacent.”

“OSU will always mean success and opportunity to me. At no time will I ever forget the once-in-a-lifetime opportunities granted to me at OSU. The lessons from these opportunities have led to and will continue to lead to success.”

“OSU has been my family and my life for the past four years. It has been an honor and a privilege to be part of such an amazing family. OSU means more to me than I can put into words. OSU is home and always will be … I will cherish all the wonderful memories.”

“OSU has provided me the opportunity to grow exponentially. Initially I believed college was four years for me, but my time became much more fulfilling when I made it about serving others.”

Eunice Menja, ’08, child and family services. African Student Organization, Golden Key International, Phi Kappa Phi, Phi Upsilon Omicron, community development marketing intern for OSU’s Family Resource Center, recipient of the Oklahoma Tuition Aid Grant and HES faculty/staff scholarship, recognized in 2007 as an excellent student for the MultiCultural Center and outstanding student for the College of Human Environmental Sciences.

Christy Milliken, ’08, English and economics with a minor in psychology. Arts and Sciences Student Council president, Student Government Association, University Honors Council, Order of Omega, Phi Kappa Phi, Mortar Board, Top 15 homecoming royalty in 2007, Don Nickels Fellow, Top 10 senior in College of Arts and Sciences, Junior Fellow for American Society of Political and Social Sciences, OSU delegate to the Young Global Leaders Summit and the National Education for Women’s Leadership, Supreme Court chief justice for Oklahoma Intercollegiate Legislature; study abroad to Spain, Morocco, England and France; 2008-2009 Fulbright grant to Indonesia; Foreign Teacher Merit Award in Itebei, China; and scholarships to three law schools.

Sara-Jane Smallwood, ’08, agricultural communications with a minor in American Indian studies. Mortar Board, Native American Student Association, College of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources ambassador, intern for the National Association of Conservation Districts and Congressman Dan Boren, Student Government Association, Agricultural Communicators of Tomorrow, Student Alumni Board, Phi Mu, Wentz Research Scholar, Public Policy and International Affairs Fellowship, OSU Multicultural Student Center Academic Excellence Award, Woodrow Wilson School of Public Affairs and Udall Scholar.

Ashley Spess, ’08, human development and family science with a minor in English. College of Human Environmental Sciences special programs chair, Mortar Board, Kappa Omicron Nu, Phi Kappa Phi, Kappa Alpha Theta president, Top 15 homecoming royalty candidate in 2007, internship with Pathways Behavioral Health Services, Wentz Research Scholar, Taylor Research Scholar and a Truman Scholar nominee.

Patrick Stein, ’08, agribusiness.

“OSU has provided me with a family and individuals who have been my mentors. I love OSU because through it I have realized my ability.”

“I can’t believe how much I’ve grown and learned since coming to OSU. This university has prepared me for success academically, professionally and personally. I look forward to what the future holds.”

“OSU means family to me. I became a third generation graduate on May 3, 2008. OSU has also come to represent family in another way. The campus community is a family of peers, faculty, staff and advisers who have helped me each step of the way.”

“I am thankful for this university and the people here who have shaped my academic experience. OSU is where I have grown, not only in scholarship, but also in leadership and public service. It is here that I discovered my true passion and was inspired to serve. Most of all, it is where I began to find my place in the world.” “OSU is all about family.”

FarmHouse president, Mortar Board secretary, Student Alumni Board vice president of membership, Omicron Delta Kappa, Order of Omega, President’s Posse, Aggie-X, Top 10 Freshman in 2005, Outstanding Greek Sophomore finalist in 2006, Phi Kappa Phi, Top 15 homecoming candidate in 2007; recipient of the William Harvey Pasley and Maude Frost Scholarship, the President’s Distinguished Scholarship and the Regents Distinguished tuition waiver.

Matthew Stiner, Dec. ’07, political science. U.S. Marine Corps veteran, Combat Action Ribbon for service in Iraq, 2007 Truman Scholar, Tulsa mayoral aide for military and veterans issues, liaison to the U.S. Conference of Mayors, “Best of 40 under 40” by Tulsa People magazine and “Best of Tulsa Community College.”

Aspen Wilds, ’08, business management with a minor in marketing and human resources. Camp Cowboy 2007 executive director, Mortar Board and Golden Key International honor societies, Business Student Council, Student Alumni Board, Spears School of Business scholar leader, Top 5 homecoming royalty candidate in 2007, Orange Peel assistant programming director, Chi Omega, 2006 Student Leader Spotlight Award, 2007 Campus Life Leadership Recognition Award, and OSU Athletic Department intern and coordinator of both Fridays at the Fountain and the Game Day Field.

Kelsey Jackson Williams, ’08, English with a minor in history.

“I will be forever thankful to the faculty and staff at OSU for not only giving me a strong academic foundation but the resources and guidance to further myself both intellectually and professionally.”

“OSU means four years worth of memories, experiences and amazing people that have shaped and molded me into the person I am today. Oklahoma State truly means connections for life.”

Managing editor of Papyrus, secretary for the English and History clubs, assistant secretary to the Celtic Society of St. Andrews; Phi Kappa Phi, OSU English Department’s outstanding senior and the College of Arts and Sciences outstanding student representative graduate; Clarendon Fund scholarship to pursue a master’s at the University of Oxford; 2007 Charles F.H. Evans Award for best new paper on medieval genealogy; Wentz Research Scholar; and study abroad at the universities of Cambridge and St. Andrews.

“OSU provides the resources of a large university and the individual mentoring of a small one. Faculty in the English and history departments have been incredibly supportive and engaged, not just with me but all their students. These kind of faculty members are what make OSU a great university.”

Aaron Wilson, ’08, economics.

“Oklahoma State is loyal and true.”

Business Student Council president, Spears School of Business CEO Day planning committee, Phi Kappa Phi, Student Government Association Freshman Representative Council coordinator, Top 10 Freshman, homecoming king in 2007, Top 10 Spears School of Business outstanding senior award, business scholar leader, Campus Life advisory council, Student Alumni Board, Orange Peel, Omicron Delta Kappa and Order of Omega. 47

LIGHTING THE WAY Square D/Schneider Electric Brightens Day for Construction Technologies Department

“To have a fine program like this in which students receive hands-on training in the laboratory is pretty incredible. It is our pleasure to help out and get this moving forward,” Sittler says. 48

Fa ll 20 08

OSU instructor Steve Neal, left, and electrical construction student Jerry Beale examine an electrical starter component donated by Square D/Schneider Electric. Gilliam says he is glad to be part of the donation because it will train new technicians, who are in great demand. “The students going through this program today will be in the workforce tomorrow, and this is a good opportunity for them to work on new equipment,” he says. “All of the baby boomers are retiring, and this field is wide open for the next four to five years. There’s also a growing need for skilled individuals to come into the workforce, so it will be mutually beneficial for employers and students to get them trained on the right equipment.” According to the U.S. Department of Labor, more than 700,000 electricians were employed in the United States in 2006; 68 percent were in the construction industry. The demand for electricians is expected to rise by 7 percent over the next decade. OSU students can earn an associate degree in applied science/construction technologies with an electrical construction option. The curriculum includes both classroom and hands-on lab training.

photo / Kelly Kerr

The Construction Technologies Department at OSU Institute of Technology received about $20,000 worth of new equipment from Square D/ Schneider Electric, a global brand for electrical distribution and industrial control products, systems and services. Kevin Gilliam of Stuart C. Irby Company and Ed Sittler of Square D/Schneider Electric made the donation possible. The donation helps replenish the costly equipment used in the class. Instructor Steve Neal says parts used in the lab receive a lot of wear and tear from students constantly dismantling and rebuilding the equipment. Neal says the old equipment the students were repairing in class was used so much it was breaking and becoming unusable. “We go through a $200-to-$300 starter in a couple of semesters by experimenting with it, and then we recycle it for spare parts,” Neal says. “It’s very expensive to run this lab.” The starters in the electrical construction class are the type used to safely control the current needed to start large industrial-sized electrical motors. The new parts from Square D/ Schneider Electric are expected to last the department four to five years. Sittler says his company welcomes the opportunity to assist the OSU Institute of Technology program. “It’s important to the industry to help these students before they enter the workforce.

photo / REX DAUGHERTY

hanks to two generous donors, valuable new equipment for the motors and controls electrical class will help students learn advanced skills applicable to their future careers.

From left, instructor Steve Neal thanks Ed Sittler and Kevin Gilliam for their generosity in replenishing costly equipment used in the Construction Technologies Department.

OSU Institute of Technology has established relationships with companies throughout the U.S. and assists students in finding internships where they can gain experience in the industry and apply their knowledge to real-world situations. J ohn Walker & S haron S mith

Be Keep

Connected

The OSU Alumni Association prides itself on being your orange connection. The new orangeconnection.org provides you unprecedented access to news and events involving you, our loyal and true members. Take advantage of new connections to OSU Career Services and the Edmon Low Library. Stay connected with new Homecoming and Chapters pages. More information. More connections. More orange.

To experience the connection for yourself, visit orangeconnection.org.

OSU HOUSES FAMILY FOUNDATION

fter cofounding a successful energy trading company and selling it to a global financial entity, Griff Jones found himself in a prosperous position with the means and desire to benefit others. “We were fortunate to be in a situation last year that allowed us to focus on giving more money to charity,” he says. To continue their generosity and support of charitable causes, Griff and his wife, Mindi, were looking for a way to invest the funds they had for a greater impact on their chosen beneficiaries of tomorrow, while still supporting their favorite causes today. With the same business mind that launched a flourishing career, Griff considered establishing a family foundation when friend Joe Haney, associate vice president for the OSU Foundation, suggested the couple consider a donoradvised fund through OSU. Through a donor-advised fund, the Joneses’ gift is placed into the OSU Foundation’s pooled investment fund where it continues growing with the earnings available for transfer to other public charities as designated by the Joneses. The only stipulation is that at least 25 percent of the annual

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disbursement of the donor-advised fund must benefit some aspect of OSU. “Obviously, OSU has a good investment track record over the past couple of years, so we are comfortable allowing the OSU Foundation to manage some of our financial assets that were going to OSU anyway,” Griff says. “There were a number of other charities we also wanted to support, and doing that through the foundation has been easy. Plus, it alleviates the administrative burden associated with running a family foundation.” Griff, a 1991 finance graduate and 2001 Young Alumni of the Year honoree, and Mindi, a 1991 elementary education graduate, say allowing the OSU Foundation to oversee the investment and administrative duties of their fund gives them more time to get involved with the missions they’re most passionate about. Mindi says it’s easy to write a check, but it’s equally important for them to

interact with organizations so their time as well as their financial contributions can make a real difference. And for the Joneses, philanthropy begins at home through the education of their two children, Kennedy, 11, and Kale, 9, who are being raised to carry on their parents’ giving philosophy. “We’re teaching our children the importance of doing charitable work,” the couple says. “We want our children to get more involved with charitable causes and realize how fortunate they are; so the more we do, the more our children will see it and understand it.” In addition to their donor-advised fund, the Joneses also support the Griff and Mindi Jones Endowed Scholarship in the OSU Spears School of Business and the Nate Fleming Scholarship established in honor of Griff’s cousin who died in a plane crash with nine other members of the 2001 OSU basketball program. “We will forever be linked to OSU,” Griff says. “We never expected to be in a position to become this involved, so we’re excited to be able to do this. We feel very fortunate, humbled and blessed.”

WHAT IS A DONOR-ADVISED FUND? You may establish your own named donor-advised fund (also called a Charitable Legacy Fund) at the OSU Foundation with a gift of at least $25,000 in cash or appreciated securities. The OSU Foundation places the gift into a pooled investment fund. Donors may make additions to their donor-advised fund to augment its potential impact in carrying out charitable intentions. The fund is valued annually in units. An annual fee of 1 percent is charged for administration. The earnings (and the principal, if you choose) may be disbursed. OSU Foundation policy requires that at least 25 percent of the annual disbursement benefit some aspect of OSU, but a donor may also recommend gifts of the balance to other favorite public charities. For more information, con â&#x20AC;&#x201C; tact the O f fice of Planned Giving at 800-622-2678 or plannedgiving@OSUgiving.com.

Mindi and Griff Jones 51

o p p o r t u n i t i e s o p p o r t u n i t i e s o p p o r t u n i t i e s o p p o r t u n i t i e s o p p o r t u n i t i e s o p p o r t u n i t i e s o p p o r t u n i t i e s o p p o r t u n i t i e s o p p o r t u n i t i e s o p p o r t u n i t i e s

1 Hundred Million New Opportunities

opportunities opportunities opportunities opportunities opportunities opportunities opportunities opportunities opportunities opportunities

p p o r t u n i t i e s o p p o r t u n i t i e s o p p o r t u n i t i e s o p p o r t u n i t i e s o p p o r t u n i t i e s o p p o r t u n i t i e s o p p o r t u n i t i e s o p p o r t u n i t i e s o p p o r t u n i t i e s o p p o r t u n i t i e s

p p o r t u n i t i e s o p p o r t u n i t i e s o p p o r t u n i t i e s o p p o r t u n i t i e s o p p o r t u n i t i e s o p p o r t u n i t i e s o p p o r t u n i t i e s o p p o r t u n i t i e s o p p o r t u n i t i e s o p p o r t u n i t i e s o p p o r t u n i t i e s o p p o r t u n i t i e s o p p o r t u n i t i e s o p p o r t u n i t i e s o p p o r t u n i t i e s o p p o r t u n i t i e s o p p o r t u n i t i e s o p p o r t u n i t i e s o p p o r t u n i t i e s o p p o r t u n i t i e s o p p o r t u n i t i e s o p p o r t u n i t i e s o p p o r t u n i t i e s o p p o r t u n i t i e s o p p o r t u n i t i e s o p p o r t u n i t i e s o p p o r t u n i t i e s o p p o r t u n i t i e s o p p o r t u n i t i e s o p p o r t u n i t i e s o p p o r t u n i t i e s o p p o r t u n i t i e s o p p o r t u n i t i e s o p p o r t u n i t i e s o p p o r t u n i t i e s o p p o r t u n i t i e s o p p o r t u n i t i e s o p p o r t u n i t i e s o p p o r t u n i t i e s o p p o r t u n i t i e s o p p o r t u n i t i e s o p p o r t u n i t i e s o p p o r t u n i t i e s o p p o r t u n i t i e s o p p o r t u n i t i e s o p p o r t u n i t i e s o p p o r t u n i t i e s o p p o r t u n i t i e s o p p o r t u n i t i e s o p p o r t u n i t i e s o p p o r t u n i t i e s o p p o r t u n i t i e s o p p o r t u n i t i e s o p p o r t u n i t i e s o p p o r t u n i t i e s o p p o r t u n i t i e s o p p o r t u n i t i e s o p p o r t u n i t i e s o p p o r t u n i t i e s o p p o r t u n i t i e s o p p o r t u n i t i e s o p p o r t u n i t i e s o p p o r t u n i t i e s o p p o r t u n i t i e s o p p o r t u n i t i e s o p p o r t u n i t i e s o p p o r t u n i t i e s o p p o r t u n i t i e s o p p o r t u n i t i e s o p p o r t u n i t i e s o p p o r t u n i t i e s o p p o r t u n i t i e s o p p o r t u n i t i e s o p p o r t u n i t i e s o p p o r t u n i t i e s o p p o r t u n i t i e s o p p o r t u n i t i e s o p p o r t u n i t i e s o p p o r t u n i t i e s o p p o r t u n i t i e s o p p o r t u n i t i e s o p p o r t u n i t i e s o p p o r t u n i t i e s o p p o r t u n i t i e s o p p o r t u n i t i e s o p p o r t u n i t i e s o p p o r t u n i t i e s o p p o r t u n i t i e s o p p o r t u n i t i e s o p p o r t u n i t i e s o p p o r t u n i t i e s o p p o r t u n i t i e s o p p o r t u n i t i e s o p p o r t u n i t i e s o p p o r t u n i t i e s o p p o r t u n i t i e s o p p o r t u n i t i e s o p p o r t u n i t i e s o p p o r t u n i t i e s o p p o r t u n i t i e s o pportunities opportunities opportunities opportunities opportunities opportunities opportunities opportunities opportunities opportunities

Boone Pickens’ $100 million gift to

OSU in May inspired a

surge of gift-giving that

promises to transform

the university, the state

and nation.

“My goal has always been to make OSU more competitive in all areas,” says Pickens, a p p o r t u n i t i e s o p p o r t u n i t i e s o p p o r t u n i t i e s o p p o r t u n i t i e s o p p o r t u n i t i e s o p p o r t u n i t i e s o p p o r t u n i t i e s o p p o r t u n i t i e s o p p o r t u n i t i e s o p p o r t u n i t i e s ’51 geology graduate and founder and chairman p p o r t u n i t i e s o p p o r t u n i t i e s o p p o r t u n i t i e s o p p o r t u n i t i e s o p p o r t u n i t i e s o p p o r t u n i t i e s o p p o r t u n i t i e s o p p o r t u n i t i e s o p p o r t u n i t i e s o p p o r t u n i t i e s of BP Capital Management. “I believe my donap p o r t u n i t i e s o p p o r t u n i t i e s o p p o r t u n i t i e s o p p o r t u n i t i e s o p p o r t u n i t i e s o p p o r t u n i t i e s o p p o r t u n i t i e s o p p o r t u n i t i e s o p p o r t u n i t i e s o p p o r t u n i t i e s tions athletics and academics pportunities opportunities opportunities opportu n i t i eto s o pportun i t i enow s o pthis p o rgift t u n ito tie s o p p o r t u n i t i e s o p p o r t u n i t i e s o p p o r t u n i t i e s o p p o r t u n i t i e s will that.” pportunities opportunities opportunities opportu n i t i do e s just oppo r t u n i t i e s o p p o r t u n i t i e s o p p o r t u n i t i e s o p p o r t u n i t i e s o p p o r t u n i t i e s o p p o r t u n i t i e s p p o r t u n i t i e s o p p o r t u n i t i e s o p p o r t u n i t i e s o p p o r t u n i tPickens, i e s o p p owho r t u nhas ities o p p o r t u n inearly t i e s o $300 p p o r t u n i t i e s o p p o r t u n i t i e s o p p o r t u n i t i e s o p p o r t u n i t i e s contributed p p o r t u n i t i e s o p p o r t u n i t i e s o p p o r t u n i t i e s o p p o r t u n i t i e s o p p o r t u n i t i e s o p p o r t u n i t i e s o p p o r t u n i t i e s o p p o r t u n i t i e s o p p o r t u n i t i e s o p p o r t u n i t i e s million to OSU athletics in recent years, p p o r t u n i t i e s o p p o r t u n i t i e s o p p o r t u n i t i e s o p p o r t u n i t i e s o p p o r t u n i t i e s o p p o r t u n i t i e s o p p o r t u n i t i e s o p p o r t u n i t i e s o p p o r t u n i t i e s o p p o r t u n i t i e s presented $100 million to OSU for endowed p p o r t u n i t i e s o p p o r t u n i t i e s o p p o r t u n i t i e s o p p o r t u n i t i e s o p p o r t u n i t i e s o p p o r t u n i t i e s o p p o r t u n i t i e s o p p o r t u n i t i e s o p p o r t u n i t i e s o p p o r t u n i t i e s faculty professorships 21, pportunities opportunities opportunities opportu n i t i e s chairs o p p o r and tunit i e s o p p o r t u non i t i eMay s opp o r t u n i t i e s o p p o r t u n i t i e s o p p o r t u n i t i e s o p p o r t u n i t i e s his pportunities opportunities opportunities opportu n i t80th i e s obirthday. p p o r t u n i t i e s o p p o r t u n i t i e s o p p o r t u n i t i e s o p p o r t u n i t i e s o p p o r t u n i t i e s o p p o r t u n i t i e s p p o r t u n i t i e s o p p o r t u n i t i e s o p p o r t u n i t i e s o p p o r t u n i t “OSU ies opp ort u nexcellent i t i e s o p pfaculty. o r t u n i tWe i e s need o p p oto r t u n i t i e s o p p o r t u n i t i e s o p p o r t u n i t i e s o p p o r t u n i t i e s has an p p o r t u n i t i e s o p p o r t u n i t i e s o p p o r t u n i t i e s o p p o r t u n i t i e s o p p o r t u n i t i e s o p p o r t u n i t i e s o p p o r t u n i t i e s o p p o r t u n i t i e s o p p o r t u n i t i e s o p p o r t u n i t i e s give them the resources and support they need pportunities opportunities opportunities opportunities opportunities opportunities opportunities opportunities opportunities opportunities to be competitive and win, too,” he says. p p o r t u n i t i e s o p p o r t u n i t i e s o p p o r t u n i t i e s o p p o r t u n i t i e s o p p o r t u n i t i e s o p p o r t u n i t i e s o p p o r t u n i t i e s o p p o r t u n i t i e s o p p o r t u n i t i e s o p p o r t u n i t i e s p p o r t u n i t i e s o p p o r t u n i t i e s o p p o r t u n i t i e s o p p o r t u n i t The i e s ogift p p ois r tamong u n i t i e sthe o plargest p o r t u never i t i e sgiven o p p o r t u n i t i e s o p p o r t u n i t i e s o p p o r t u n i t i e s o p p o r t u n i t i e s But p p o r t u n i t i e s o p p o r t u n i t i e s o p p o r t u n i t i e s o p p o r t uto n ia t i university. es opportu n i t in i e stypical o p p o rfashion, t u n i t i e s Pickens o p p o r t u n i t i e s o p p o r t u n i t i e s o p p o r t u n i t i e s o p p o r t u n i t i e s p p o r t u n i t i e s o p p o r t u n i t i e s o p p o r t u n i t i e s o p p o r t uwas nitie s o p p o reven t u n i tbigger. i e s o p p o r t u n i t i e s o p p o r t u n i t i e s o p p o r t u n i t i e s o p p o r t u n i t i e s o p p o r t u n i t i e s thinking p p o r t u n i t i e s o p p o r t u n i t i e s o p p o r t u n i t i e s o p p o r t u n i t i e s o p p o r t u n i t i e s o p p o r t u n i t i e s o p p o r t u n i t i e s o p p o r t u n i t i e s o p p o r t u n i t i e s o p p o r t u n i t i e s (continues on page 54)

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opportunities opportunities opportunities opportunities opportunities opportunities opportunities opportunities opportunities opportuniti

photo / Phil shockley

Pickens allowed OSU to leverage BY THE NUMBERS Jay Gregg his money as a matching gift incentive for other donors willing to fund a chair $100 million — Boone Pickens’ or professorship. And he agreed to let historic academic gift to OSU the other donors name their chairs and announced May 21 designate the academic departments they would support. $200 million — value of Pickens’ Nearly a thousand individugif t when combined with the als, corporations and foundations accepted the challenge, raising another Oklahoma State Regents for Higher $68 million by June 30, the deadline Education’s endowed chair matching to receive matching funds from the gift program Oklahoma Legislature. When the $168 million donated by 900 — individuals, companies and Pickens and the other donors receives foundations who made donations state matching funds, the total will climb to $336 million and could raise the $68 million — total dollars raised number of OSU’s endowed faculty posiby donors to be matched by Pickens tions from 101 to more than 275. and the state of Oklahoma The V. Brown Monnett Chair of Gregg has authored numerous jourPetroleum Geology is named for a man nal articles, book chapters, guidebooks, 4x — the impact of one dollar Pickens regards as a mentor. Founder of proceedings papers and abstracts. He donated toward an endowed chair OSU’s geology program, Monnett made has extensive industry and academic or professorship between May 21 a lifelong impression on his students, experience, including serving as a visitincluding Pickens, who took Monnett’s ing professor at the University College and June 30, 2008 classes in petroleum geology and Dublin and the University of the Western stratigraphy. Cape in South Africa. 40 — number of days between the “He’s the guy who got me into geolBut if OSU’s offer had not exceeded announcement of Pickens’ matching ogy,” Pickens says. “I told him I needed or been comparable to his position as gift and the termination of the state’s to be out of school by June 1951, and he the Gulf Oil Foundation Professor at endowed chair matching program convinced me I could do it by taking two the University of Missouri-Rolla, Gregg 18-hour semesters, one 19-hour semester probably wouldn’t have come back to his $336 million — total impact of and one summer class. And I did.” alma mater. the initiative for endowed chairs and Faculty like Monnett are able to Endowed positions sometimes professorships at OSU inspire, motivate and sometimes redirect supplement salaries, but mostly they students. “He was a wonderful mentor. A provide extra funds to pay for student 101 — number of chairs and profesfirst-class guy,” Pickens says of Monnett, researchers, travel expenses, scholarships, sorships at OSU prior to May 21 who died in 2006. “He’d give me a pat professional development and teaching on the back, and then a few minutes later equipment. 175+ — number of new chairs and he’d kick me in the rear if I needed it.” OSU’s 15th Truman Scholar, senior professorships that could be created The V. Brown Monnett Chair was Cortney Timmons, says gifts to academoriginally established as a professorship ics are a fitting tribute to OSU faculty. as a result of donations from Pickens by Paul McDaniel and other alumni. In “OSU is unique in its sense of and 900 other OSU donors 2005, Pickens raised it to an endowed community and family, and a big part of chair with additional funding. that is because of the faculty,” says the 3.5x — the increase in amount Geology department head Jay M. biosystems and agricultural engineering available for endowed chairs since Gregg holds the Monnett Chair. He senior who also won a national Udall p p o r t u n i t i e s o p p o r t u n i t i e s o p p o r t u n i t i e s o p p o r t u n i t i e s o p p o r t u n i t i e s o p p o r t u n i t i e s o p p o r t u n i tPickens’ i e s o p p o May r t u n i21 t i egift s o p p o r t u n i t i e s o p p o r t u n i t i e s first met Monnett while working on his scholarship her sophomore year. p p o r t u n i t i e s o p p o r t u n i t i e s o p p o r t u n i t i e s o p p o r t u n i t i e s o p p o r t u n i t i e s o p p o r t u n i t i e s o p p o r t u n i t i e s o p p o r t u n i t i e s o p p o r t u n i t i e s o p p o r t u n i t i e s master’s degree at OSU in the mid-’70s. “Faculty inspire, challenge and p p o r t u n i t i e s o p p o r t u n i t i e s o p p o r t u n i t i e s o p p o r t u n i t i e s o p p o r t u n i t i e s o p p o r t u n i t i e s o p p o r t u n i t$32 ies op p o r t u n i— t i eamount s o p p o rstill t u neligible i t i e s o p p o r t u n i t i e s million “I consider it a very high honor to instruct us but their pportunities opportunities opportunities opportunities oppo r tin u nthe i t i eclassroom, s opportun itie s o p p o r t u n i t i e s o p p o r t u n i t i e s o p p o r t u n i t i e s o p p o r t u n i t i e s from Pickens’ gift to match OSU this such distingoes p p o r t u n i t i e s hold oppo r t uchair n i t i e snamed o p p o rfor tun i t i e sa o p p o r t u n i tinfluence ies oppor t u n iway t i e s beyond o p p o r tthat,” u n i t i e s o p p o r t u n i t i e s o p p o r t u n i t i e s o p p o r t u n i t i e s o p p o r t u n i t i e s for chairs p p o r t u n i t i e s guished o p p o r tgeologist, u n i t i e s o pteacher p o r t u nand i t i e smentor o p p o r t u n i tTimmons i e s o p p o rsays. t u n i t“They i e s o p do p o rso t umuch n i t i e sfor o p p o r t u n i tdonor i e s o p pgifts ortun i t i efuture s oppor t u n i t i eand s o p p o r t u n i t i e s p p o r t u n i t i e s o p p o r t u n i t i e s o p p o r t u n i t i e s o p p o r t u n i t i e s o p p o r t u n i t i e s o p p o r t u n i t i e s o p p o r t u n i t i e s o p p o r t u n i t i e s o p p o r t u n i t i e s o p p o r t u n i t i e s professorships who founded the Boone Pickens School us. I can’t say how much I appreciate p p o r t u n i t i e s o p p o r t u n i t i e s o p p o r t u n i t i e s o p p o r t u n i t i e s o p p o r t u n i t i e s o p p o r t u n i t i e s o p p o r t u n i t i e s o p p o r t u n i t i e s o p p o r t u n i t i e s o p p o r t u n i t i e s of Geology,” says Gregg, a sedimentary Mr. Pickens and all the contributors for p p o r t u n i t i e s o p p o r t u n i t i e s o p p o r t u n i t i e s o p p o r t u n i t i e s o p p o r t u n i t i e s o p p o r t u n i t i e s o p p o r t u n i t i e s o p p o r t u n i t i e s o p p o r t u n i t i e s o p p o r t u n i t i e s www.osugiving.com petrologist, geochemist and former faculty lives p p o r t u n i t i e s o p p o r t u n i t i e s o p p o r t u n i t i e s o p p o r t u n i thonoring ies oppor t u n i t i ewho s o pimpact p o r t u nour ities o p p o r t u n i t i e s o p p o r t u n i t i e s o p p o r t u n i t i e s o p p o r t u n i t i e s Fulbright Scholar. so immensely.”

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opportunities opportunities opportunities opportunities opportunities opportunities opportunities opportunities opportunities opportunities

b y

o p p o r t u n i t i e s o p p o r t u n i t i e s o p p o r t u n i t i e s o p p o r t u n i t i e s o p p oJ r t ua n i tn i e se op ties unities opportunities opportunities opportunities tp o r t u Vn i a r onp p o ur tm

opportunities opportunities opportunities opportunities opportunities opportunities opportunities opportunities opportunities opportunities

If you think endowed

opportunities opportunities opportunities opportunities opportunities opportunities opportunities opportunities opportunities opportunities

faculty positions reward

opportunities opportunities opportunities opportunities opportunities opportunities opportunities opportunities opportunities opportunities

professors with extra

opportunities opportunities opportunities opportunities opportunities opportunities opportunities opportunities opportunities opportunities

money, you’re right. But

opportunities opportunities opportunities opportunities opportunities opportunities opportunities opportunities opportunities opportunities

probably not in the way

opportunities opportunities opportunities opportunities opportunities opportunities opportunities opportunities opportunities opportunities

you’d expect.

opportunities opportunities opportunities opportunities opportunities opportunities opportunities opportunities opportunities opportunities

(continues on next page)

opportunities opportunities opportunities opportunities opportunities opportunities opportunities opportunities opportunities opportunities

Girish Agarwal

opportunities opportunities opportunities opportunities opportunities opportunities opportunities opportunities opportunities opportunities

Instead of raising salaries, most funds enable faculty to hire student research assistants, purchase teaching materials and equipment, and help pay travel expenses for conferences and scholarly work.

enable him to hire students as research assistants, it assists with their travel expenses to international conferences and even helps bring international colleagues to OSU. “That not only strengthens existing partnerships but initiates new collaborations,” says Agarwal, a recent inductee into the United Kingdom’s Royal Society for leaders in science, engineering and medicine. Another researcher, veterinary microbiologist Bill Barrow, accepted OSU’s Sitlington Chair in Infectious Diseases in 2001 because he saw greater potential to advance his research at OSU than at the Southern Research Institute where he was working.

ATTRACTING TOP FACULTY Many of the professors advancing OSU’s level of academic excellence decided to join the faculty because of an endowed chair or professorship offer. Girish Agarwal, a world leader in quantum optics, specializes in high resolution optical imaging research, which relates to everything from contact lenses to cameras. He says his position as the Noble Foundation Chair in phys-

Two years after arriving at OSU, Barrow landed a $40 million, seven-year biodefense contract from the National Institutes of Health to screen new drugs against infectious diseases, including anthrax and the plague. Paulette Hebert, professor of design, housing and merchandising, says her dual designation as Christine Salmon Professor allows her to share her specialized knowledge of lighting design with students while conducting research and contributing new information for professionals.

ics is the reason he came to OSU in 2004. Not only does it

Endowed Chairs

Bill Barrow

Q. What are endowed chairs and professorships? A. They are faculty positions that provide perpetual funds to enhance the holder’s salary, support research and fund related expenses. The funds result from interest earnings on the monies placed in the endowment. Q. How do chairs and professorships differ? A. $500,000 will establish an endowed chair,

while $250,000 will establish an endowed

professorship. Professorships are term

appointments, sometimes renewable, while

chairs are permanent appointments.

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“Endowed professorships are rare in my field,” says Hebert, winner of more than 40 lighting design and other awards whose background includes working with consulting engineering firms and industry manufacturers. “I accepted this professorship in January 2007 because it offers many new opportunities,” Hebert says. This fall she’s starting new research to analyze “built environments” such as those for multi-family housing. Political science professor Jason Kirksey turned down higher-paying offers elsewhere to join OSU in 1995 as the Hannah D. Atkins Endowed Chair for Political Science and Government Information. “Being awarded an endowed chair makes one feel rewarded for being committed to academia,” says Kirksey, a specialist in minority politics, urban politics, election systems and American government. Occasionally he’s called as an expert witness in federal voting rights cases. “Endowed faculty positions also improve the quality of existing faculty,” he says, “since campus environments tend to be competitive and everyone wants to achieve

KEEPING TOP FACULTY Endowed positions give universities a powerful retention tool. To qualify, faculty must distinguish themselves in their particular fields, usually through a combination of research, teaching and other means of scholarship, such as book authorship. “Rewarding and retaining faculty is as important as using chairs to attract new faculty to the university,” says accounting professor Charlotte Wright, an expert in financial accounting and international petroleum accounting who holds the Lanny G. Chasteen Chair. She says the psychic reward of receiving an endowed position is often more meaningful than its monetary value. “Many faculty members have devoted their careers to OSU despite lucrative opportunities in the private sector and/ or at other universities,” says Wright, who joined OSU in 1982 and held the Wilton T. Anderson Professorship from 1998 until 2007.

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more than their colleagues.”

Paulette Hebert

Jason Kirksey

Even endowed professorships that rotate to different

promoting scholarly work, this sort of investment in the

faculty every few years are a valuable acknowledgment

faculty is crucial.”

of sustained excellence.

Amanda Harrist and Laura Hubbs-Tait hold separate

Foreign languages department head Perry Gethner,

professorships in the department of human development

recipient of the three-year Norris Professorship in 2005, says

and family science. This summer they garnered international

the award makes recipients feel appreciated, especially in

attention for their collaborative research linking childhood

humanities and other areas traditionally viewed as service

obesity to global parenting styles.

departments of a university. “At an institution like OSU it is not always easy to strike a successful balance between the faculty’s missions of teaching and research, which are almost totally divorced areas for someone in my field,” Gethner says, “so endowed chairs and professorships can be very beneficial.” During his 24 years at OSU, Gethner has garnered international acclaim for publishing numerous critical editions and translations of early French plays, plus articles dealing with 17th century French drama and opera. He says the supplemental funding from the professorship is handy for expenses related to travel and literary works. “I’m delighted by the generosity of Boone Pickens and the other donors,” he says. “If we are serious about

Charlotte Wright

Their study, now in its fourth year, is funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Oklahoma Center for the Advancement of Science and Technology. “Our professorships provided crucial funds to complete the year’s data collection on almost 1,000 rural children at 29 elementary schools,” Harrist says. Because of the professorships, they’ve been able to hire more student researchers to examine long-term effects of intervention. This expansion positions the researchers to seek continued federal funding. Harrist, who received the professorship in her ninth year at OSU, says even though the professorship didn’t influence her decision to come to OSU, “It has helped me decide to stay!”

Perry Gethner

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SUPPORTING STUDENTS “It’s exhilarating to think of creative and efficient ways to use the funds to benefit students and faculty,” says Harrist, the Bryan Close Professor in human development and family science. Since none of Harrist’s funds are applicable to her salary, she uses them to hire student researchers, purchase

Hebert says her funds enabled an undergraduate student to conduct an independent study with her in lighting design and then present a poster they coauthored at a national conference. Faculty say having extra funding to hire student researchers is important to their areas of scholarship and also beneficial to students.

updated classroom instruction materials and underwrite

Kirksey says involving political science students in data

travel costs for students attending professional conferences.

collection is a win-win situation for everyone. Currently,

She even awarded a scholarship to an undergraduate.

his research focuses on the representation of racial and

Wright uses her funds similarly to purchase databases, computer software and other resources beneficial to accounting faculty and doctoral students. “In this way, the money frees up departmental funds to be used for other purposes, such as scholarships and research support for faculty who are not chair holders,” Wright says. “It is really difficult to fully assess and appreciate the extent to which chairs benefit the broad population of faculty and students at OSU.”

ethnic minorities on school boards around the country. “The students who work with me receive the benefit of experiencing the process of data collection, writing and learning how to conduct their own research projects for the future,” he says. In the Center for Veterinary Health Sciences, Barrow’s chair helps him host conferences, support a Namibian doctoral student’s research in molecular biology and augment salaries of his researchers. He’s also brought faculty from the veterinary medicine and chemistry departments together to work on a $3.3 million, five-year NIH grant proposal to develop a new anthrax drug.

Amanda Harrist

“The endowed chair just gives you that extra flexibility to keep your research program going,” he says. Faculty are proud of their titles named for distinguished faculty, alumni and friends of the university who’ve made a difference in education. “I am honored and grateful,” Harrist says. “It makes me feel appreciated, although I always have worked hard and will continue to work hard regardless of reward. But it’s great to have concrete support for working hard and doing what you love.”

n the heels of the largest ever academic gift to OSU came another historic donation. One month after Boone Pickens announced his $100 million gift to academics, OSU received a farreaching gift of $57.2 million from Texas oil and ranching alumni Amy and Malone Mitchell. “Somebody has to take the lead; somebody has to get out there and commit,” Amy says. “We’re not the first nor the biggest, and we’re not likely to be the last.”

Malone Mitchell was born in Stillwater while his father finished his degrees, and Malone graduated with a degree in agriculture from OSU in 1983. Amy is a 1983 graduate of the College of Human Environmental Sciences where she obtained her degree in family relations and child development. In 1984, the couple founded Riata Energy (now SandRidge Energy) with a $500 loan. Malone served in many roles including chairman, president and chief executive officer. During this time, the Mitchells grew Riata Energy into one of the largest privately held energy companies and the largest privately held land driller in the U.S., with significant midstream and tertiary oil production operations. In December 2006 Malone retired from SandRidge to start new companies. “Our vision for Oklahoma State University is to be the premier institution in the area for classroom or extension instruction for students wishing to learn how to create, finance and manage their own businesses,” the couple says.

Groundbreaking Couple Makes Record-Breaking Gift Being split evenly between the Spears School of Business and OSU athletics, the gift will create a state-of-the-art entrepreneurship program and provide significant support for university athletic programs. The transformational gift was made through the donation of one million shares of SandRidge Energy [NYSE: SD] stock and is the largest nationwide donation ever to a university entrepreneurship program. With $22 million designated for chairs within the business school, the academic gift will have an impact of $94.6 million once fully matched dollar-for-dollar by the Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education as well as Pickens’ $100 million chair match commitment. This places the gift’s total cumulative academic and athletic impact at $123.2 million. “This incredible expression of generosity by Amy and Malone Mitchell will have an enormous impact on OSU academics and athletics,” says OSU President Burns Hargis. “The entrepreneurship program we will create with this gift supports our vision of a new land-grant university that cultivates greater creativity and collaboration among students and faculty.”

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“The athletic programs are an important part of alumni connection with our university, and we want to further that bond.” Malone credits Pickens with inspiring him and Amy to make the gift at this time. “Boone Pickens was a critical role model for me as a student, inspiring me to pursue an aggressive business career,” Malone says. “That career has blessed us financially. As we got to know Boone personally and his vision for winning at life and his heartfelt desire to improve the university, his examples clarified for us that it was not enough to just wish for a better Oklahoma State — we had to act!” “The gift from Boone and this gift from the Mitchells are helping launch a new era of academics at OSU and will inspire others to join us as we pursue big dreams,” Hargis says. The Mitchells stay busy with their four children and are actively involved in venture capital, energy and agricultural businesses, both domestically and internationally. The commitment to the Spears School of Business will build a world-class entrepreneurship program at OSU over the next five years and will also create the Riata Center for Entrepreneurship. Specifically, the gift will create a center for entrepreneurship and innovation, allow

photo / Gary Lawson

Amy and Malone Mitchell’s $57.2 million gift to OSU will be divided between the Spears School of Business to create the Riata Center for Entrepreneurship and the OSU athletic department to facilitate construction of the Sherman Smith Training Center.

academic collaboration to build a campus-wide entrepreneurship program and foster greater partnerships with academic units and state entities in supporting entrepreneurship activities within the state. “The Mitchells’ gift will be a catalyst for infusing an entrepreneurial culture at OSU that will convert intellectual capital into entrepreneurial activity that creates value for the state and region,” says Sara Freedman, dean of the Spears

School of Business. “We can’t thank Amy and Malone enough for what this means to OSU, our students and the state of Oklahoma.” Support to the OSU athletic department will allow the university to be more competitive on a national level by providing endowed support to future athletic facility projects and scholarship initiatives. “We appreciate the Mitchells’ incredible generosity,” says Mike Holder, vice

president for OSU athletics. “Some of the best companies in the world are based in Oklahoma, and we believe in the leadership of Tom Ward, the CEO and president of SandRidge Energy Company. Our plan is to hold the stock and combine it with our investment at BP Capital. This will accelerate the construction schedule for the Sherman Smith Training Center plus the development of the other facilities in the athletic village.”

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I give you a land of sun and flow’rs, And summer the whole year long; I give you a land where the golden hours Roll by to the mocking bird’s song. Where the cotton blooms ‘neath the southern sun, Where the vintage hangs thick on the vine. A land whose story has just begun, This wonderful land of mine. A land where the fields of golden grain Like waves on a sunlit sea Bend low to the breezes that sweep the plain, With a welcome to you and to me, Where the corn grows high ‘neath the smiling sky, Where the quail whistles low in the grass. And fruit trees greet with a burden sweet, And perfume the winds that pass. CHORUS Oklahoma, Oklahoma, fairest daughter of the West, Oklahoma, Oklahoma, ‘tis the land I love the best, We have often sung her praises, But we have not told the half So, I give you Oklahoma — ’tis a toast we all can quaff.

t’s one of the most well known state songs in the union — “Oklahoma!” OSU fans sing it. The Cowboy Marching Band plays it. And there isn’t one Cowboy fan who doesn’t know to yell “State!” at the end of it. But at least one Cowboy fan remembers what life was like without it. In fact, he even remembers Oklahoma’s first state song, “Oklahoma — A Toast!” 1928 A&M graduate Melvin Welch remembers the song quite well. So well, in fact, he was asked to sing it for the Oklahoma centennial celebration last November. At age 101, Welch performed “Oklahoma — A Toast!” in front of more than 17,000 spectators and a live television audience for the Nov. 17, 2007, Oklahoma Centennial Spectacular. “I’ve sang a lot and been before crowds before,” Welch says. “I got some good training from the Oklahoma A&M Glee Club, and that’s the reason I got in on that centennial deal.”

Welch was born in the small northwestern Oklahoma town of Helena in 1906. He attended a country school through the eighth grade, then Woods County High School, where he graduated in 1924. “I wanted to major in music,” Welch says recalling his arrival in Stillwater. “I went down to the School of Music, and I came to the first person on the enrollment list and he said, ‘Have you had piano?’ and I said, ‘No sir.’ “I went down the line and came to a lady and she said, ‘Have you had voice?’ and I said, ‘No ma’am.’ (continues on next page) 63

Melvin Welch at Oklahoma A&M “I decided I was in the wrong school, so I went over and enrolled in the School of Agriculture.” Even though he wouldn’t become a music major, Welch still became involved with the A&M Glee Club and learned to play the piano. “I scheduled a voice lesson with John Brigham, the school’s director, and after the lesson he said, ‘You come back tonight at 7:30 — you’re in the Glee Club.’ “I was the only one who didn’t have to try out for the Oklahoma A&M Glee Club, and I was in it for all four years,” Welch says with a grin. Before the days of buses, the A&M Glee Club traveled around the Missouri Valley Conference in a Pullman train car. “They’d hook on to that and pull it up to the main line at Morrison, and we’d go all over the place,” Welch says. “We went

At 102, Melvin Welch and his wife, Martha, are still in love with each other and OSU.

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to St. Louis for a national competition. Limousine rides with Willard Scott and We didn’t win, but that was the first time a makeup session with Shirley Jones hasn’t I saw the Mississippi River. That was quite given Welch a big ego, however. He still resides in Helena in his house an experience.” Welch also participated in ROTC for full of OSU orange and Oklahoma A&M two years, and although he was never paraphernalia. He proudly wears his selected for the wrestling team, he would OAMC Alum hat given to him at his 50th often workout with Coach Gallagher’s reunion in 1978 while singing the “OSU top wrestlers. Waving Song” — complete with its original “I wrestled on the mat with the best, “O-A-M-C” lyrics. with the national champions,” Welch says. For a man who’s older than the state of “I really enjoyed that because I know they Oklahoma, Melvin Welch still holds a deep could have killed me, but they didn’t.” and profound respect for the one thing in After graduating, Welch went to work his life that’s older than himself. His alma mater. for Aetna Life Insurance Company in “OSU gave me a chance,” Welch says. Lawton, followed by the Soil Conservation Service. Ultimately, Welch became a teacher “Everyone says you can be anything you and retired in 1970 from the Wichita school want to be, and I believe that to be true, but system, then returned to Helena to live on you have to take advantage of it. College the family farm. opens up vistas that you’ve never dreamed Age has not hampered Welch’s singing of before. If people took advantage of career, however, and he performed for what’s available at OSU, they’d be a lot centennial events in Woodward, Beaver better off.” and Jet, Okla., before getting his “big break” when the Oklahoma Centennial Current members of the OSU Alumni Association can watch Commission asked him to sing during the Oklahoma Centennial Spectacular Melvin Welch perform “Oklahoma — A at Oklahoma City’s Ford Center. Ever Toast!” by visiting orangeconnection.org/ video. the obliging performer, Welch agreed and received a standing ovation after entertaining the crowd with “Oklahoma — A Toast!”

“I give because others gave before me. Now it’s my turn to contribute my time, effort and my financial resources to continue the development of our university and to support its success and growth in the future. My gifts today build opportunities for tomorrow.” • • • Jennifer Grigsby ’91

Philanthropists are changing our state and our students through their generosity. Read their inspiring stories of philanthropy, or submit your own, now at OSUgiving .com/whyigive.

OSU alumni, too many to name them all here, have enriched the world with their musical talent. Perhaps their influence is seen most clearly in country music, where OSU Cowboys from superstar Garth Brooks to the Red Dirt Rangers continue to shape the music industry.

courtesy photo

The main members of the Red Dirt Rangers, from left, Brad Piccolo, Ben Han and John Cooper, are part of the pulse of Red Dirt music.

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Singer/songwriter Jimmy LaFave says his current home of Austin, Texas, may have produced Stevie Ray Vaughan and Willie Nelson, but his hometown of Stillwater has sold more records. Historian and author John Wooley agrees in his book, From the Blue Devils to Red Dirt: The Colors of Oklahoma Music. Red Dirt history includes everything from LaFave’s Bob Dylan-esque acoustic troubadour style to OSU alum Garth Brooks’ groundbreaking pop/country that ruled the charts in the 1990s, says Wooley, adjunct professor of American studies at OSU-Tulsa. OSU and Stillwater are inextricable from that music: A whiskey-soaked gumbo of Woody Guthrie, western swing, outlaw country and some good ol’ fashioned rock n’ roll. That, combined with what Wooley describes as Guthrie’s conscience and Bob Wills’ abandon, forged a style that wasn’t quite country and not quite rock n’ roll. But, why Stillwater? The answer goes back more than 30 years. “The way it gets to Stillwater is that you’ve got a lot of agrarian students,” says Wooley, 58, who earned a biological sciences degree from OSU in 1970. The guys who grew up listening to traditional country mixed with the city kids who brought in their own music. “They started listening to each other’s music — and they’ve been doing that for a long time,” he says. Wooley says it might have started with 1972 journalism graduate Steve Ripley’s band, Moses, and its 1972 album

of rock n’ roll and country cover songs. Ripley created a label, Red Dirt Records, to release their music and later became a member of the 1990s multiplatinum country act The Tractors. Wooley says the 1973 movement to protest the planned Black Fox nuclear power plant near Inola, Okla., spread to campus and inspired singer-songwriters with a social consciousness. The mixture became Red Dirt, which grew into artists such as the Red Dirt Rangers, the Great Divide, Jason Boland and the Stragglers, Jimmy LaFave and Stoney LaRue. What helped the nomads form a musical community was “the Farm,” where that mixture of urbanity and rural Oklahoma became a way of life. Before it burned in the summer of 2003, the Farm was a five-bedroom, statehood-era farmhouse-turnedstudent-rental located outside of town, says Red Dirt Rangers’ John Cooper, a 1982 physical education/health alum who lived at the house seven years starting in 1979. There, the students could grow their own gardens, figuratively and literally, he says. They kept their own hours and threw their own parties. They made their own fun due to Stillwater’s isolation in those days. The house drew everyone from Brooks to the guys who would form Cross Canadian Ragweed, an unyielding and hard-touring rock band that has since channeled its love of Neil Young and Wills into well-grounded but popular albums. “We were far enough out of town where we weren’t hassled by any kind of law enforcement,” Cooper says. “We were allowed the freedom to do whatever we wanted, twenty-four seven. When you give people freedom like that, it’s creative, among a lot of other things,” he laughs.

But it instilled an unshakeable love of music in guys such as the Rangers’ Brad Piccolo, who devoted his life to music even while pursuing a mechanical engineering degree. Some of the band, which played its first gig in 1981, haven’t left Payne County since then, he says, but their music has — at least physically. Their latest album, Ranger Motel, has been getting air time on XM Satellite Radio. Yet Wooley describes LaFave as the first Red Dirt musician to take the genre to the nation — something he’s been doing to critical acclaim since 1992’s Austin Skyline CD. Red Dirt has since become a nationally-known style of music thanks to the Red Dirt Rangers, Cross Canadian Ragweed and Boland’s group, Wooley says, even though it is often adulterated as “Texas music.” While Red Dirt draws some influences from rock n’ roll, it’s at times more country than what’s popularly considered country music, Wooley says. “The main commonality between the groups is an honest, rural theme to their lyrics,” he adds. “Is it still a regional phenomenon? Probably, but so was outlaw country music in the ’70s.” Citing Ragweed’s refusal to let Nashville session musicians perform on its records, Wooley says that ideology is “something that Nashville doesn’t understand. These guys want to keep control, and they know what they want to do. “That’s another thing that’s very country, another thing that’s very close to the earth — doing it your way. If people like it, fine, and if they don’t, fine. Do not compromise to be a star. There’s something to be said for that.” Even though it burned, the Farm remains a place fondly remembered in the hearts of musicians and students who visited there. And whether music lovers know it or not, those melodies plucked out during campfire jam sessions have, in some form or other, reached the ears of millions of fans. M att E lliott

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nyone questioning the claim that Stillwater has sold more records than Austin, Texas, need only look to two OSU alumni. College buddies Scott Hendricks and Tim DuBois rode a partnership to fame while spearheading Oklahomans’ dominance of country music that still reverberates today. “It’s really wild,” says Hendricks, a producer with Warner Bros., recounting his Stillwater days with DuBois, former president of Arista’s Nashville division.

Scott Hendricks, left, and Tim DuBois, center, were OSU college buddies when they started their musical collaboration around 1975. Later, they helped make Alan Jackson, right, one of country music’s biggest stars. At the time of this 1990s photo, Hendricks produced records for Arista artists, and DuBois was president of Arista Nashville.

Their historic collaboration began around 1975. DuBois, from Grove, Okla., wanted somebody with whom he could write songs — his escape from his load of graduate accounting classes. Hendricks, a freshman studying architectural acoustics, had dreamed of making records since he was a teenager. He was working in Edmon Low Library’s audio visual department when his boss introduced him to DuBois, who also wanted to record music. “They really hit it off,” says Floyd Loftiss, the boss who secured permission for them to record songs in a twotrack recording studio during off hours. That meeting set DuBois and Hendricks on a path that would lead to more than 30 years in the music business, introducing Oklahoma acts that are still leaving their mark on the world today.

By the time he met Hendricks, DuBois, who finished his master’s in 1971, knew he wanted nothing of life as a CPA even after working for Arthur Andersen and the Federal Reserve in Dallas. He returned to OSU for a

doctoral degree. But Texas exposed him to one of his chief musical influences, Kris Kristofferson, and steeped him in the music that would change his life. Before he came to Stillwater, Hendricks was a high school football player in Clinton, Okla., who spent his summers on a combine harvesting wheat. Eschewing the life of a college athlete for an academic degree, he decided on Oklahoma State after a recruiting visit with Barry Switzer in Norman. Joining them at OSU were DuBois’ younger brother, Randy; Scott’s brother, Mark; and guitarist Greg Jennings, whom Hendricks and DuBois would later put with Restless Heart. Hendricks was slogging through his custom-made degree program, sometimes having to take courses out of order to meet his graduation requirements. DuBois had a teaching job at the University of Tulsa while working toward his doctoral degree at OSU. They recorded in the Edmon Low Library when they weren’t in class. “There were times when they got into conflict with the library because the room they used on the north side (continues on next page)

of the second floor was not completely soundproof,” Loftiss says. DuBois read every book in the library on the music business. Also, he and Hendricks drove intermittently to Nashville to play their demos for song publishers who rebuffed them each time. “They rejected almost everything we did,” Hendricks says. “We’d drive home thinking, ‘What’re they missing? Everybody here likes it.’ A couple years later, we’d listen to them again and say, ‘Oh, wow, were they right. These are terrible.’” By 1978, both were in Nashville with Jennings. DuBois worked for a song publishing company and taught college courses while Hendricks worked for a company that installed recording studios. “I didn’t even go to my graduation,” Hendricks says. “As soon as class was over, I said goodbye to my parents and headed to Nashville.”

Through his job, Hendricks worked his way into a studio that employed a fellow OSU alum, engineer Ron Treat. Treat let Hendricks sit in on recording sessions, where he absorbed everything he saw and heard including classic recording sessions with Merle Haggard and Hank Williams Jr. “I was probably there nine months, night after night, until one o’clock in the morning,” says Hendricks, who replaced Treat when he took another job. Meanwhile, the songwriting hits started coming for DuBois, including his first No. 1, 1981’s “Midnight Hauler,” for Razzy Bailey, says OSU adjunct professor John Wooley, author of From the Blue Devils to Red Dirt: the Colors of Oklahoma Music.

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DuBois says he wrote that song one night driving to Stillwater from the University of Tulsa. It was the first of his five hits. But the limelight hadn’t yet shone upon the two friends. Around 1984, Hendricks worked at another studio when DuBois floated the idea of forming a band with guys they’d recorded demos with at OSU. That became Restless Heart, featuring Oklahomans Paul Gregg and Jennings. The band later signed to RCA and released the late-’80s hit albums Wheels and Big Dreams in a Small Town. With the success of Restless Heart, DuBois left his job as an instructor at Vanderbilt to start the Nashville branch of the famous Los Angeles management company Fitzgerald-Hartley, later signing Oklahoma native Vince Gill and other artists. By 1989, he was president of Arista’s Nashville office. His unique background as a songwriter, accountant and manager made him a sought-after entertainment industry hybrid. The hunger that drove him to read every book on the music business in the Edmon Low Library served him well. “When I finally came to Nashville, I was way ahead of most people that come here off the bus,” DuBois says. With DuBois heading the label, Hendricks produced artists for Arista. That led to his work with rising star Alan Jackson, who would become the biggest male country artist of the 1990s behind Garth Brooks. But, more importantly for Oklahoma, Hendricks was also working with Ronnie Dunn, a Tulsa singer and Texas native who had won a recording session at a studio where Hendricks engineered.

Dunn’s voice and writing skills astounded him, and he offered to help the grizzled and lanky honky-tonk veteran get a major label deal. A year later, Hendricks and DuBois were on a road trip to Knoxville when DuBois said he wanted a duet group for Arista. Asking for his friend’s feedback, he popped a cassette into the tape deck with four songs from a largely unknown Louisiana solo artist named Kix Brooks. That’s when Hendricks reached one more time for Dunn’s cassette in a lastditch effort to convince his friend on the singer’s star-studded future. “I said, ‘I’m going to play this for you one more time. If you don’t get it, I’m going somewhere else with it because I just hate it that it’s sitting here.’” The tape blasted out four songs: the smoky Tulsa dancehall anthem “Boot Scootin’ Boogie,” “Neon Moon,” “She Used to Be Mine” and “White Lightning.” “Tim said, ‘You know what? You’re right. I get it.’ Tim put Kix and Ronnie together,” Hendricks says, chuckling.

Oklahoma artists, on the heels of Reba McEntire’s success, were taking over. Garth Brooks’ now legendary second album, No Fences, had made him a household name. Also, DuBois had cracked a hit with Vince Gill’s “When I Call Your Name.” Another hit-maker for DuBois and Arista was the Tractors, a group featuring another former OSU student, Steve Ripley, a ’72, radio-TV-film graduate. The group’s self-titled debut album released by Arista in 1994 sold more than two million copies. Under DuBois’ tenure, Arista Nashville sold 80 million albums during

photo / Phil Shockley

Management with his partner, Marc its first 11 years, propelled by stars Dottore. including Jackson, Pam Tillis, Diamond Both Hendricks and DuBois mainRio and Steve Wariner. Those were tain connections to Stillwater and OSU. great days to be in music, he says. “How could we not,” jokes DuBois, “Back in the ’90s, it was just an adding he spent nine years standing in incredibly wonderful time in music because radio was much more receptive,” the Oklahoma wind. The Stillwater connection is evident DuBois says. A ton of big acts stepped in their relationship with Loftiss, the aside, making room for less traditional man who introduced the two minds artists who, influenced by pop and responsible for pumping red dirt into arena rock, moved country music away the veins of popular music, selling from entrenched conventions. millions upon millions of records along “It just so happened there were a lot the way and putting Oklahoma on the of young Oklahoma artists who were at entertainment world’s map for generathe right place at the right time.” tions to come. In 1995, Hendricks ascended to “Scott sends me a Christmas card run Capitol’s Nashville office. Brought every year,” says Loftiss, whom the two in to find fresh talent, he landed three thank in the liner notes of a Restless big additions to the label: Trace Adkins, Deana Carter and Tulsa comedy act Roy Heart album. “He attributes a lot more to me D. Mercer. In 1997, he left that position and started Virgin’s Nashville office and than I really deserve. I could’ve been a sign post at a crossroads for all I later ran his own publishing company, did,” Loftiss says. “It was Scott and Big Tractor Music. Tim. They’re just remarkable people. While he and his wife were raising I think it was fate that they met each two daughters in Brentwood, Tenn., the other. I just happened to be there when lure of a steady paycheck brought him to Warner Bros. in October 2007, where it happened.” he works today as a producer. Recently, M att E lliott he’s been busy working on Ada, Okla., native Blake Shelton’s fifth album. In 2002, DuBois, with three kids and a wife of his own, left Arista to start Universal South with former MCA Nashville president Tony Brown. DuBois continued introducing Oklahoma acts such as Cross Canadian Ragweed, a nationally recognized group since 2004. DuBois left the label in 2006 and rejoined academia in December 2007 as a professor at Vanderbilt University, where he teaches entertainment entrepreneurship courses in the university’s MBA program. He also runs the independent Dottore-DuBois Artist

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Photo / Mark Tucker

name with hits including the dramatic The world’s top solo recording artist started his music career playing acoustic single “The Thunder Rolls” and the rousing bar rocker “Friends in guitar in Stillwater clubs and studying Low Places.” advertising at OSU in the early 1980s. It wasn’t long before Brooks estabSince graduating in 1984 and headlished himself as a non-traditionalist, ing to Nashville a few years later, Garth stretching the confines of country music Brooks has become one of the most to new heights and rising to global recognizable musicians in the world, second only to the Beatles in record sales. superstar status. “The Thunder Rolls” addresses domestic violence, while And his career may soon eclipse the “We Shall Be Free” is a gospel-like plea lads from Liverpool. Brooks continues for tolerance. performing to sellout crowds, and more Even after retiring in 2001, the than five million copies of his compilaOklahoma native hasn’t slowed his tion “Ultimate Hits” sold in the first pace. He finished 2007 with the fifthmonths after its release last November. highest-grossing concert tour. Last Brooks has won 11 Country November he appeared at Oklahoma’s Music Association awards, including Entertainer of the Year in 1991, ’92, ’97 centennial celebration and began 2008 with a nationally-televised benefit for and ’98, plus Album of the Year for No California wildfire victims. Fences and Ropin’ the Wind. Like any illustrious icon, Brooks’ His ascent to superstardom, fueled life and accomplishments are docuby a style that merged elements of arena mented in America’s national museum, rock with a sound steeped in smoky the Smithsonian Institution. The permahonky-tonks, began with his second nent collection includes the OSU alum’s album, No Fences, as Brooks first gold record, black Stetson hat and almost single-handedly stage outfit, handwritten lyrics for “The pushed country music to Beaches of Cheyenne” and a guitar unprecedented mass smashed during a 1991 Dallas concert. appeal levels. But before becoming the world’s The album best-known cowboy, Brooks was an sold millions OSU Cowboy. and made him a household M att E lliott

A series of sold out shows in 2007 sparked talk that OSU alumnus Garth Brooks may break his retirement. Meanwhile, he has become, with 128 million albums sold, the second biggest musical act of all time, trailing only the Beatles.

Ty England

Livin’ the Dream The first time a screaming female fan grabbed Ty England’s pant leg during a show, he felt the shyness and stage fright he’d always experienced simply fade away. Up until that moment, becoming a country music star had been on England’s “wish list,” but it had never really seemed possible. “In my heart, I placed people who did this for a living on a pedestal that I could aspire to but never reach,” he says. However, when that woman reached out for him, it was as if a switch were flipped. “I thought, ‘Wait a minute, the audience is acting toward me like I acted toward all my favorite country musicians.’” England got his start in country music in the mid-’80s while studying marketing at OSU, where he performed at Molly’s Café, once located in the Student Union. A mutual friend later introduced him to fellow student and music lover Garth Brooks, who later became England’s roommate. The two began performing together for the OSU Alumni Association, traveling to high schools across Oklahoma to recruit prospective OSU students. Three months into his first marketing job after college, England got a call from a recently signed Brooks asking him to come to Nashville, Tenn., to join his band. England went on to perform as a guitar player and harmony vocalist with Brooks for nearly six years. However, he always hoped to make his own path in the business. In 1994, England snagged

a record deal and made his solo debut. Today, he reflects on a career that so far includes four albums, several country hits and the usual ups and downs. “A career like this has a lot of ebb and flow,” England says. “One year, people are asking me when I’m leaving, and the next year, they’re calling me to ask when I’m coming home.” Although he anticipates a busy 2007 with about 30 regular tour performances and several radio tours, England’s schedule the past five years or so has been a bit calmer. He has spent a lot of time at his home near Piedmont, Okla., with his wife, Shanna, just “being Dad” to his daughter and three sons. “I’m a dad before anything else,” says England, who also took the break to hone songwriting skills displayed in his album Alive & Well and Livin’ the Dream. It speaks to England’s stock answer when asked why he was “off the radar screen” for awhile. “People kept asking where I’d been the past couple years, and I finally came up with the perfect response,” he says. “I just started saying, ‘Hey, I’ve been in Oklahoma, alive and well and livin’ the dream.’” England hopes to continue writing and recording many of his own songs for future albums, but he likes to search out others’ material as well. “The Dance,” written by Tony Arata

“A career like this has a lot of ebb and flow. One year, people are asking me when I’m leaving, and the next year, they’re calling me to ask when I’m coming home.” 74

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and recorded by Brooks, is an example of the simplicity England looks for in a song. “I like songs that open the meaning up to a broad audience. Something that can mean one thing to one person and something completely different to other people,” he says. Alive & Well features two more of Arata’s songs. A self-proclaimed balladeer, England says making a record is all about mixing different types of songs — including fun, stereotypical country ones — to form the completed product. England admits he doesn’t completely relate to the NASCAR-watching, longneckchugging image portrayed in the album’s “Redneck Anthem,” but he laughs, “I do have a four-wheel drive.” A few years ago, England and a friend started an independent Oklahoma record label, Triple T Records, and constantly look for talented, hardworking country artists with a drive to succeed in the industry that has taken England on a wild ride. “As a beginning musician, there are a lot of times when your close family and friends are the only ones who believe you can make it,” he says. “You have to be tenacious and have the belief that you’re going to make this work.” M organ P ratt

Keith Anderson

‘Every Time I Hear Your Name’

photo / Phil Shockley

From the tour bus where he spends so much time, Keith Anderson looks back on his years at OSU with fond memories. But he admits he should have taken a little more time to just have fun. Like many students, Anderson liked dancing at the Tumbleweed on weekends, but otherwise the former Cowboy now riding atop the country music charts spent most of his time hitting the books. “The first year and a half, especially, I really threw myself heavily into school,” says Anderson, a 1990 construction management technology graduate who earned a 3.9 grade point average. “I really spent a lot of time studying.” If he’d only known then where life would take him, Anderson might not have pushed himself so hard. However, earning the engineering degree taught him a great deal of discipline — an asset that has carried him through to numerous successes. From his first hit singles, “Pickin’ Wildflowers” and “Every Time I Hear Your Name” from the Three Chord Country and American Rock & Roll CD, to the recent hit “I Still Miss You” from his new C’mon! CD, Anderson’s fame as a country singer continues to rise. Before exploding into the industry as a recording artist, Anderson made waves in Nashville as a songwriter. “Every Time I Hear Your Name” resulted from his own painful heartbreak

a decade ago. “I couldn’t have written that song if I hadn’t gone through it,” says the Arista Nashville recording artist. “I never would have found those emotions.” Then he jokes, “If you ever have your heart broken, I recommend making money off of it.” Anderson also penned several songs recorded by country big-timers, including Garth Brooks, George Jones, Gretchen Wilson and the g roup Big & Rich. “Beer Run (B Double E Double Are You In?),” recorded as a duet by Brooks and Jones, received a Grammy nomination.

“I love music,” says the Miami, Okla., native named by Billboard and Radio & Records as country music’s No. 1 new male artist in 2005. “I tell people, ‘Chase your dreams,’” Anderson says. “I did, and these have been the best years of my life!” At first Anderson says he was excited Anderson credits his hardworking, someone wanted to record “Beer Run,” caring parents for teaching him the imporuntil he learned the performer wanted to tance of doing his best. “They had a ‘be change some of the lyrics. Then, when he excellent’ attitude at all times,” he says. discovered it was Brooks and Jones, he Fame has taken Anderson some getting changed his tune: “You know, I didn’t think used to, but he enjoys the adoring fans and it was quite done yet,” he says, laughing. “celebrity” of show business that often comes “My purpose for going to Nashville was with the territory. to be a recording artist,” he says. “At the “But, it’s not like I’m Garth Brooks or same time, hearing those artists singing my Kenny Chesney walking around either,” songs is a pretty amazing feeling.” Anderson says. “There are still a lot of After graduating from OSU, Anderson people who don’t recognize me.” spent a brief period working for a Perhaps not for long. construction-engineering firm in Dallas, and later, because of an interest in physiM organ P ratt cal fitness, seriously considered medical school. Even though Anderson was achieving his goals, he decided it was time to take the chance of a lifetime and try to make it in country music.

traveling songs From Scotland to the American South to Oklahoma, a rare form of sacred music passed down through the centuries crosses territorial and cultural borders to inspire hope.

These musicians share a musical heritage more personal than any tangible artifact of history. This ethereal connection echoes through the centuries, intertwines the past and the present and crosses cultural boundaries of race, language and nationality. photo / Michael Marsland

Several years ago, Yale University music professor Willie Ruff discovered that the meditative congregational “line-singing” of his childhood — a sound he thought had long since disappeared — could still be heard in parts of the American South. Intrigued, the jazz musician and director of Yale’s Duke Ellington Fellowship Program learned Willie Ruff

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photo / Robert Lisak

photo courtesy Hugh Foley

that the specific combination of chant-like vocals with line-singing became popular in 17th century England and Scotland and still resonates today with the Free Church Psalm Singers of the Isle of Lewis, Scotland. The music had traveled to colonial America with the first Scottish settlers and explorers and over time diffused throughout African, Native American and other Anglo communities. Ruff discovered two more groups still singing this music: the Indian Bottom Old Regular Baptists from southeastern Kentucky and the Sipsey River Primitive Baptist Association from Alabama. So he did what any musician would do — he set up a jam session, bringing all three groups together at Yale University in 2005 for the first international conference on line-singing and the creation of a documentary, A Conjoining of Ancient Songs. National Public Radio broadcast a story about the event, and when a Tulsa listener recognized the songs were similar to those in some Indian churches, she

introduced Ruff to OSU alum Hugh Foley, professor of Native American studies at Rogers State University in Claremore, Okla. Foley, ’00, Ph.D., English, had been researching the sacred songs of the Muscogee Creek Nation for his book Oklahoma Music Guide. Even more serendipitous, his wife, Geri Wisner-Foley, ’01 political science, grew up in the Hutchee Chuppa Indian Baptist Church near Weleetka, Okla., where these hymns are still sung in the Creek language. As Foley interviewed members of the congregation for his book, he noticed a correlation between physical and spiritual journeys and with spiritual renewal and enlightenment not only in the words but also in the songs’ very existence. “The songs were a vehicle for cathartic expression over the sorrow and sadness of their condition,” says Foley, referring to hardships Native Americans experienced while traveling the Trail

of Tears from southern states to Indian Territory. Ruff says the music was a source of comfort for his ancestors, also. “These songs create a sense of fellowship that encircles and protects you through hard times. “Among all types of music, nothing impresses me like the power of line hymns sung by marginalized people like my parents and grandparents who were descendants of slaves,” Ruff says. “Line hymns are slow, chanted songs, yet when we sang them we felt like kings and queens.” In spring 2007, the Hutchee Chuppa congregation and a few singers from neighboring “sister” churches attended Yale’s second international conference on linesinging, and Ruff traveled to OSU to debut the new portion of his documentary that features the Muscogee singers. Despite the attention, the songs remain intensely personal (continues on next page)

Left, the Hutchee Chuppa Indian Baptist Church from Oklahoma (also shown above and on next page singing in Yale University’s Battell Chapel (photo by Vincent Oneppo). The background is a composite of images showing the countryside near Scotland’s Eilean Donan Castle (bigshowbag.com), a Scottish church (Paddy Patterson) and Oklahoma singers. Lower left, the Indian Bottom Old Regular Baptist Association from southeast Kentucky.

to Wisner-Foley, who is dedicated to teaching them to her son. “They are part of who I am,” she says. As a child, Wisner-Foley didn’t give much thought to her church’s songs. But her great-grandmother, one of the congregation’s founders, made sure even the youngsters who didn’t understand the Creek words understood the musical expression of their ancestors’ triumph over hardship. Today, as a criminal prosecutor and tribal lawyer focusing on family and domestic issues, Wisner-Foley tries to communicate that

message of hope and triumph over adversity to her clients, particularly Creek youth. “It’s fascinating to see the story of this music and how it ties one culture to another in a way that’s so genuine and indisputable,” she says. “The songs don’t just belong to me. Knowing others across the nation and the world sing them in the same religious context is really special to me.” Ruff is pleased the music unites these disparate groups of people whose ancestors crossed the same paths and took the musical tradition with them on their separate journeys.

“It’s fascinating that people of various backgrounds and heritages could stamp their own identity on this music and make it their own,” Ruff says. “It says something about the human spirit that this music could persevere from one continent to another, from generation to generation.” Janet Varnum

Below, Geri WisnerFoley grew up singing the ancient hymns in her church, and her husband, Hugh Foley, researched the songs for his book, Oklahoma Music Guide. Today their son, Nokose, is among the youngest generation to learn the sacred songs.

For more information, visit

http://www.gaelicpsalmsinging.com/ http://scotlandonsunday.scotsman.com/index.cfm?id=961062003

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photo / Phil Shockley

www.yale.edu/music/linesinging

career

niche

For Bill Harrison, â&#x20AC;&#x2122;55, agronomy, and his son, Russ, â&#x20AC;&#x2122;79, marketing, nothing is more important than family and education.

Photo / Gary Lawson

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A Lifelong Connection Family ties create a lasting legacy that Centers On Oklahoma State University “I just assumed I’d be an engineer,” It’s high noon at the Ranch House Bill says about his early aspirations. Restaurant on Cherokee Street in “My dad was an engineer. My Lindsay, Okla., and Bill Harrison is in brother was an engineer. I just assumed line for the catfish buffet. that’s what I’d do.” “I come here on Fridays,” Harrison Bill graduated from Kemper says. “The catfish is best on Fridays.” Military School in Booneville, Mo., in After 77 years of living and working, one might think the 1955 agronomy 1948 and enrolled in Advanced ROTC at the University of Oklahoma. But alumnus would be ready to slow down when the Berlin Airlift began later that and enjoy retirement. year, he was commissioned and served Not Bill Harrison. two years in the U.S. Air Force. A man of modest beginnings, Bill “During that period, I decided I went to work for his dad at the family was going to farm, so when I returned gypsum plant soon after graduatI enrolled at Oklahoma A&M to ing from Oklahoma A&M. Today, complete an agronomy degree,” he says. Harrison Gypsum Company is one of “Stillwater and A&M were great. It the largest gypsum manufacturers in the was a wonderful town!” world and currently holds the largest Bill pledged Delta Tau Delta in single gypsum mine in the United States. college and served on The Daily Bill doesn’t run the family busiO’Collegian staff. Before leaving ness anymore after selling to his oldest for the war, Bill married Betty Ann son, Russ, a few years ago. But if the Frey. Together, they graduated from past holds any clues to the future of Oklahoma A&M in 1955 and began the Harrison family and their love for their lifelong involvement with the OSU Oklahoma State University, more great Alumni Association. things are just over the horizon. “When we graduated, I purchased Born in 1930, Bill grew up in the a life membership to the Alumni small southwestern Oklahoma town Association for both of us,” Bill says. of Lindsay. His father was a contractor “I always wished I’d understood what born on the East Coast who found his somebody told me or why I did it way to Oklahoma via a barge before because then maybe I could influence he settled down in Oklahoma Territory some other kids to do it. building railroads and dams. “It was a heck of a good investment.” His mother was a banker and an Not long after graduating, Bill attorney who enjoyed golf at a time received the “family call” to return to when the term “equal rights” hadn’t Lindsay and help out with his dad’s even come into existence. gypsum business. “She was strictly women’s lib before “Gypsum is used on soil to cure there was women’s lib,” Bill says. alkaline,” Bill says. “My father needed Bill and his older siblings enjoyed some for his farm, but when he priced growing up in Lindsay, playing like it, it was too high. He decided to buy a any other kids and passing the time by reading, a pastime still prevalent in the (continues on next page) Harrison household today.

“Membership in the Alumni Association is imperative if alumni want to develop and grow.” — Bill Harrison

Photo / Gary Lawson

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place in Cement, Okla., with a gypsum deposit to start his first mine. “Somewhere along the way, I took over. It was a challenge because it was absolutely nothing when I started.” Harrison Gypsum Company catered mostly to cement plants in its early years, “I believe that is ultimately why Jerry supporting several companies around went to OSU,” Bill says. the state. According to son Russ, the In 2004, Bill was named a lifetime business was literally part of the family member of the OSU Alumni Association from the beginning. Leadership Council, cementing his place “As a child, we used to answer the at the table to help direct generations of phone at our house, ‘Harrison Gypsum OSU alums. Company,’” Russ says. “That’s not a “I was just thrilled to death to be funny story — it’s true. The office was named a lifetime member,” Bill says. in the trunk of dad’s car.” “Membership in the Alumni Association Bill and Betty Ann had four sons, is imperative if alumni want to develop three of whom attended OSU. Russ and grow.” obtained a marketing degree in 1979. Under his guidance, the Harrison Following Russ was Robert, who family has been a longtime financial received his law degree from OU; supporter of the Alumni Association, David, who completed his doctorate of beginning with Bill founding contribuveterinary medicine at Oklahoma State tion to inaugurate the Traditions Society. in 1988; and John, who received his His donation toward the medical degree from the OSU College of ConocoPhillips OSU Alumni Center Osteopathic Medicine in 1999. also lead to the naming of the Harrison “It never occurred to me they Executive Conference Room located on wouldn’t all go to OSU, but one had to the second floor of the building. become an attorney, and we didn’t have Russ has followed in his father’s a law school,” Bill says about Robert. footsteps by joining the OSU Alumni Even while raising four sons Association’s Corporate Partner and running their own business, the program, which supports many great Harrisons still found the time to remain traditions such as homecoming and the active with their alma mater. OSU Alumni Hall of Fame. He also “It is just my place, and I love being serves on the OSU Alumni Association’s connected to the university,” Bill says. leadership council and has been a It was Betty Ann and Bill Harrison personal donor to many areas of OSU. who watched longtime OSU Alumni “It’s nice to be able to help,” Russ Association President and CEO Jerry says. “I think we should all think about Gill play high school football in Lindsay. that, not just with sports but across Ultimately, they would take Gill on his the board. first trip to Stillwater and introduce him “I believe our alma mater helps us a to the Cowboy football team. lot by providing the opportunity for an

excellent education, so to me it’s just a part of giving back.” Russ met his wife, Natalie Shirley, while they were students at Oklahoma State. After they graduated in 1979, Natalie continued her education and earned a law degree in 1982, and Russ went to work with the family gypsum business. The couple commuted for 15 years between Oklahoma and Washington, D.C., where Natalie served as president and CEO of ICI Mutual Insurance Group, the captive insurance company of the domestic investment fund industry. During that time Russ and Natalie made the decision to start their family. “We decided we wanted children, and adoption turned out to be the best option for us,” Russ says. Their oldest son, Xi, is 17 and was adopted from China in 2005. Charlotte was 3 when they adopted her from Romania. Now 14, she enjoys fixing up a 1965 Thunderbird that she hopes to drive when she turns 16. The youngest son, Chase, 9, is from Oklahoma. “They’re all great kids,” Russ says. “They will definitely be OSU alumni someday … that is if they want their educations paid for.” Today, Russ and his family reside in Oklahoma City. Natalie is currently the Oklahoma Secretary of Commerce and Tourism and also serves as the executive director of the Oklahoma Department of Commerce. Despite their

busy schedules, Natalie and Russ, who continues to manage Harrison Gypsum Company, give their children all the attention and opportunities they can for a bright future. For the Harrison clan, education and learning have always been important. “It’s just automatic,” Bill says. “When I graduated from high school, I took my diploma to my mother and said, ‘We’re going to frame this, aren’t we?’ Mother looked at me and said, ‘When you get a degree, we’ll frame it.’” Along with the importance of education comes the importance of family for the Harrisons. Both father and son agree that at the end of the day, family is everything. “Family was important to my parents,” says Russ, whose mother, Betty Ann, passed away in 1990. “They were great parents, and they cared about their children — and that’s how you learn.” “Family is everything and that’s it,” Bill says. “You do what you can to create a business, and then you can use the interest off of it, but the principal doesn’t belong to you, it belongs to the next generation, and that’s just the way it is.” Bill married Claudean in 1992. Claudean has two sons, Tom and John Hurley, from a previous marriage. Tom is a graduate of the University of Oklahoma law school and currently serves in Iraq as a major for the Judge Advocate General Corps. John is also an OU graduate and a psychologist in Choctaw, Okla. Claudean is a long-time counselor and educator who holds degrees

from both the University of Central Oklahoma and OU. She is also one of the few individuals, and perhaps the only one, to serve on the executive board of Leadership Oklahoma and the Academy for State Goals simultaneously. “She married me and inherited my sons and grandchildren in the process,” Bill says. “She fit right in with our family and the OSU family, as well.” Claudean is also a life member of the OSU Alumni Association and has served with Bill as a homecoming judge. Bill continues to dabble in small investments in oil and gas with his son Robert. He and Claudean enjoy spending time with their combined six children and 14 grandchildren. Bill also serves on the board of governors for the OSU Foundation and was a longtime member of the Garvin County OSU Alumni Chapter during its existence. You can also bet if there’s an OSU event happening, Bill and Claudean will be there decked out in orange. Education and family are two things Bill has taken pride in for 77 years. And he credits the OSU Alumni Association for enhancing his life in both areas. “It’s your link,” Bill says. “The OSU Alumni Association has certainly been my connection for life.” C H A S E CA R T E R

A PREMIER

PROGRAM

Life-changing program brings quick intervention

OSU’s school psychology students are delivering psychological services in a new way — and changing children’s lives for the better. In 2001, the Oklahoma Department of Education awarded OSU’s school psychology program $300,000, which faculty and graduate students have used to change the role of school psychologists in public schools. With the grant, OSU faculty and students developed and implemented a pre-referral intervention model to replace the “wait to fail” model prevalent in many states. In the old model, testing for disabilities followed a lengthy process of teacher referrals, administrative paperwork, parental permission and waiting lists before children were deemed eligible for special education. “In the old model, children might wait six months before anybody did anything to help,” says Terry Stinnett, the grant’s original author and school

psychology professor. “In the meantime, they would continue to have behavioral difficulties and academic failures because the general education people were waiting for them to be moved to special education. Nothing would happen, and students would get further and further behind.” The new model provides services to children much more quickly; intervention is almost immediate. Now, as soon as a child is identified, the school psychologist and other personnel meet as a team and develop evidence-based interventions to remedy the problem in the context it occurred. “That’s the beauty of the whole thing,” Stinnett says. “No more wait around and see someone develop a history of failure.” The training process, on the other hand, is not immediate. To be effective, the change must be district-wide; and educating teachers, changing policies, assembling a team and doing school-wide assessments can take two to five years. The pre-referral intervention model, which meets the mandates of No Child Left Behind, also enhances test scores. When children’s problems are addressed quickly, the

issues are more likely to be resolved before statewide test time, increasing the academic performance index of the school. Schools implementing the model also see a reduction in special education referrals and a decrease in the number of minority students falsely identified as in need of special education. First implemented in nearby Perry, Okla., the program has shown dramatic success. “You can compare what percentage of kids at Perry were referred to special education before we implemented this model and after. It went down considerably,” says Gary Duhon, school psychology professor. “Another factor is the overall functioning of the school because if you’re resolving some of these general education issues in the context of the classroom, then classroom performance will improve.” The program’s internship opportunities also give OSU students an advantage when they enter the workforce. “Our graduates are competitive across the country,” Duhon says. “They tell us their internships and other experiences have given them a broader foundation than their peers.” In fact, 100 percent of OSU’s students in this program earn American

“That’s the beauty of the whole thing. No more wait around and see someone develop a history of failure.” 84

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A program developed by school psychology professors Terry Stinnett, left, and Gary Duhon provides immediate intervention for children facing problems in the classroom but needs more funding to continue making positive changes in children’s lives.

Psychological Association-accredited internships compared to the 90-percent national average. OSU’s school psychology program is receiving recognition, too. OSU is ranked 31st nationally among school psychology programs and is rapidly closing in on the top 25, Stinnett says. As the only American Psychological Association-accredited program in the state, OSU is attracting new faculty and decreasing the shortage of school psychologists in Oklahoma schools. OSU students and faculty have helped 10 Oklahoma schools implement

the pre-referral intervention model with the intent of assisting them in a transition to more interventionfocused approaches like Response to Intervention, or RtI. Stillwater Public Schools is supporting eight students in the program, but not all districts can afford to implement the new model. The five-year commitment from the state ended in 2006, and although the work persists, additional funding is needed to continue to improve the educational experience of Oklahoma school children, Duhon says.

“In the end, the population that gains the most is kids,” he says. “We want to help kids sooner, keep them in general education classrooms as much as possible and identify disabilities at earlier ages. These are the things we think will benefit kids in the long run.” For more information about giving to the College of Education’s school psychology program, contact Brenda Solomon at 405-744-7188 or bsolomon@ OSUgiving.com. M arie K adav y

golf: cowboy Style It isn’t easy for one person to master the movement of an object weighing no more than 1.6 ounces and flying through the air at over 100 miles per hour. It’s even harder for an entire team

to accomplish the

same feat. But for 62 years and counting, the OSU golf program has done just that — created, nurtured and maintained a tradition of excellence that is unparalleled in the history of NCAA Division I golf.

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A Tradition Is Born

Even though Harris coached two students to individual NCAA championships, another former student and coach, Mike Holder, may even have exceeded Harris’ winning legacy. “Coach Harris was a very energetic and hard-working golf coach,” Holder says. “He set a great example because he worked harder than anybody else on the team.” Holder recalls how Harris bet a quarter and a golf ball for a round of golf. “If you beat him, you kept the golf ball, and he kept the money,” Holder says. “But if you lost, he kept the money, and you didn’t get the golf ball. “And he didn’t hand out very many golf balls.” Holder doesn’t have any of those golf balls anymore, but the memories

b y Ch a s e C a r t e r

job over two other OSU graduates — Bob Goetz and Bob Ellis, both of t was legendary coach and whom were older. athletic director Henry P. Iba “I was flattered they thought I was who asked Labron Harris Sr. to a better coaching candidate, but when create the Oklahoma A&M golf I found out what they were willing program from scratch in 1946. to pay, I understood why they were Harris, originally from Arkansas offering it to me,” Holder jokes. and a 1935 graduate of Southwestern The 25-year-old from Odessa, State Teachers College in Weatherford, Texas, accepted the position for a Okla., played his first round of golf at mere $6,500 per year and began the age of 21. Already a gifted tennis coaching players who weren’t that player, Harris excelled in golf and much younger than he was. eventually made his way to Stillwater, “Harris set the tone for me in the where he was largely responsible for first meeting we had,” Holder says. the construction of Lakeside Golf “He told them, ‘Mike Holder isn’t your Course and the Stillwater Country teammate anymore; he’s your coach. Club. Because of that, he’s no longer Mike Starting an athletic program was — you refer to him as Coach, Coach not an easy task, but Harris’ knowlHolder or Mr. Holder.’ edge of the game coupled with his “I didn’t know at the time how devotion to teaching quickly proved to significant that was, but it made a big be an outstanding recipe for success. difference.” From 1947 to 1955, Harris and Coach Holder immediately began the Cowboy golf team won the first his charge to elevate Cowboy golf to nine Missouri Valley Conference even greater heights. championships they played in. Then “I never really thought about from 1958 to 1973, they won all but winning a national championship one Big Eight championship. until it happened,” Holder says of his While Harris’ only national first in 1976. “I had so much respect championship came in 1963, he and for Coach Harris, who had won a Mike Holder and Labron Harris the Cowboys accumulated 20 top-five national championship, that I think finishes during his 26 years at the of trying to win them still remain. our first championship validated for helm of the program. “He turned out to be a great me my ability to coach. As staggering as his athletic mentor for me,” Holder says. “He “And, then, I wanted to win more.” records are, Labron Harris’ academic made a real difference during that In 1975, OSU began a stretch of achievements are even greater — all stage of my life.” finishing either first or second at the but four players graduated during NCAA championships in 13 of 14 his tenure. Harris also coached 31 Amazing to Extraordinary: years, bringing home first place in ’76, All-America players, including 10 The Holder Era ’78, ’80, ’83 and ’87. Holder and the first-team selections, before stepping Cowboys won three more crowns in ollowing Harris’ retirement in down at the age of 65. Harris was ’91, ’95 and 2000, bringing Holder’s 1973, the OSU athletic departinducted into the total to eight. ment faced a dilemma — how Golf Coaches “I couldn’t tell you any numbers to continue a winning tradition with a Association of other than we won eight national program that had risen to fame under America in 1980 championships, and we finished only one head coach. and passed second a whole bunch,” Holder says. “I was just finishing up graduate away in 1995 “I know we won a lot of conference school and Coach Harris wanted me at age 86. to apply for the position,” Holder says. championships, but I feel like we should have won every one of those.” “Number one, I didn’t want to coach Between 1974 and 2000, OSU golf, and number two, I thought it won all but three Big Eight/Big 12 was a waste of time because I was conference championships. OSU too young.” also secured the 2005 conference Holder applied anyway and was (continues on next page) amazed when OSU offered him the Labron Harris

championship in Holder’s last season of coaching, bringing his total to 25 out of 32. Lindy Miller, a ’78 business administration graduate, was part of Holder’s ’76 and ’78 NCAA championship teams. All four years at OSU, he was selected as an NCAA All-American and earned placement on the NCAA First Team his last three years. “Mike Holder was continuing the program’s excellence and enhancing what Labron Harris had built,” Miller says. “I choose OSU because of Coach Holder’s commitment to be the number-one golf program in the country and to win national championships. I also liked Stillwater and all the people associated with OSU.”

Athletics + Academics

s coaches, both Harris and Holder stressed academics as a key component of athletic

success. “We demanded excellence,” Holder says. “However high you set the bar as a coach is how high your athletes will achieve.” E.J. Pfister, a ’88 sociology graduate, also made NCAA First Team All-American while at OSU. He was the individual NCAA Champion in 1988 and a Big Eight Individual Champion. After graduating, he played professionally for 13 years. Currently the director of instruction at Gaillardia Country Club in Oklahoma City, Pfister still sees his greatest triumph at OSU as something off the course.

“Graduating was by far my best achievement,” Pfister says. “Coach Holder was very helpful in that too. He did whatever he could to help us graduate.” Holder coached a remarkable 110 All-Americans, including 38 first-team selections. He also coached 21 Academic All-Americans since the honors’ inception in 1984. Since that time, only 14 players have been selected for both first teams in the same season — nine of those players were guided by Holder at OSU. “I learned what excellence was all about at OSU, and I had an example of that every day in Coach Holder,” says Alan Bratton, a ’95 business graduate and current OSU associate head coach of men and women’s golf. Bratton was a four-time All-American at OSU, including first team selections in ’94 and ’95. “OSU is a special place — and not just for the golf,” Bratton says. “I take

The OSU women’s golf team has already become competitive on the Karsten Creek holes 15, 4 and 11. national stage, placing second at the NCAA championship in 2004. Karin Sjodin, a former international business student and member of that runner-up team, says it was one of the highlights of The OSU men’s golf team has undoubtedly achieved her OSU years. great success in the program’s 62-year history, but since “Personally, that is one of my favorite memories because the formation of the OSU women’s golf team in 1994, the I also finished runner-up individually at nationals,” Sjodin says. Cowgirls have been making some history of their own. “Anytime we won an event was a special feeling.” Fresh off a 2008 Big 12 championship, Head Coach Laura Sjodin, originally from Sweden, now tours with the Ladies Matthews says she’s ready to see the Cowgirls achieve the Professional Golfers Association. She says she didn’t apprecisame level of prominence as their male counterparts. ate the tradition of U.S. college sports until she arrived at “OSU women’s sports have never won a national championOklahoma State. ship, so that is my goal for our program,” Matthews says. “With “We always paid attention to our professional leagues in the recruits coming in over the next couple years paired with our Sweden,” Sjodin says. “When I realized how much people current players, we have a great chance of making OSU women’s cared for this university and how much the success of the golf the first women’s sport to win a national championship.” athletic teams meant, I started realizing how important all the Originally from Ontario, Canada, Matthews is a graduate accomplishments of the previous OSU teams were.” of the University of Georgia, where she also served as an After three years as head coach, Matthews says the assistant coach. She arrived at OSU in 2005 and replaced players’ love for OSU will be a main drive to competing on current men’s coach Mike McGraw, who says the Cowgirls the next level. are on the rise with Matthews. “I want our fans to see that the women are winning “Coach Matthews has done a great job with the team and tournaments, winning Big 12’s and being in contention at a great job recruiting,” McGraw says. “They haven’t had as the NCAA championship,” Matthews says. “I believe the much recognition, but they haven’t had a program as long. women’s team will bring home a national championship I think Coach Matthews feels like she’s going to change that, before too long.” and I believe it’s possible.”

Next on the Tee …

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a lot of pride in OSU, and I am fortunate to be here.” In addition to Holder’s commitment to academic excellence, he was also instrumental in securing funding to construct Karsten Creek, the fivestar facility west of Stillwater that’s home to both the men’s and women’s golf programs. The course was designed by Tom Fazio and named after longtime OSU golf supporter Karsten Solheim. In 2003, OSU and Karsten Creek hosted the 103rd NCAA championship and will again host in 2011.

The Next Generation: McGraw in the 21st Century

n 2005, Holder became athletic director for Oklahoma State and now provides guidance to every sport in the athletic department. Holder, often asked whether he wanted to leave coaching for the position, flatly replies, “No.” “Since I’ve been the athletic director, I can say with conviction that the best job in athletics is coaching golf,” Holder says, “and the best golf coaching job in America is at Oklahoma State.” Holder awarded that job to Mike McGraw, who had been an assistant men’s coach at OSU since 1997. McGraw also served as the head women’s coach in 2004-2005. “I met Coach Holder when I was 14,” McGraw says. “I caddied for him during the Cherokee Strip Pro-Am.” McGraw grew up in Ponca City, Okla., and attended the University of Central Oklahoma. Before arriving at OSU, he coached junior and high school golf in Edmond. “I never had any thought that I’d become a collegiate coach, “McGraw says. “I really enjoyed what I was doing in Edmond.” In the fall of 1996, Holder called McGraw to ask if he would work at his golf camp the next summer in Stillwater. The call would eventually lay the path for OSU’s third men’s golf coach.

“I called him back the next day and said, ‘I know you don’t have an assistant coach; maybe I could be your assistant coach,’” McGraw says. “As it worked out, the duties of a college golf coach were growing and you really needed a second coach to help recruit,” McGraw says. “Holder said he wasn’t really sure if he needed an assistant coach, but after the golf camp I stayed and have been at OSU ever since.” McGraw wasted no time in continuing the tradition of golfing excellence after becoming OSU’s head coach. In 2006, he and the Cowboys brought home the school’s 10th national championship in golf. “It’s not something you take for granted,” McGraw says. “They don’t just hand out those national championships.”

“I think we’re lucky to have Coach McGraw as our coach,” Holder says. “I think he’ll do a lot better job than I did, and that’s a compliment to him.” McGraw knows it’s a tough tradition to uphold, but he’s ready for the challenge. “I want to do the best I can with this program,” McGraw says. “My goal is to prepare our teams to be competitive enough to win championships every year.”

Remembering the Past, Creating the Future

f the past is any indication of the golf program’s future, then fans and alumni can rest assured the team’s winning tradition won’t stop after any particular coach or season — it will live forever.

2008 Big 12 championship golf teams. In 2008, the Cowboys won their 51st conference championship, which McGraw says was a big thrill and shows the team’s dedication to the future of the program. “These kids came to Oklahoma State because of the tradition and the history,” he says. “They want to see that continue, and they want to be a part of it.” Zack Robinson, an ’05 political science graduate, credits a large part of his success to Coach Holder, but he says Coach McGraw was instrumental in his game. “Coach Holder was a huge part of my experience and success on the golf team,” Robinson says. “Mike McGraw is an outstanding person and an outstanding coach. He was always there to keep driving me on.” Holder is also pleased with McGraw’s efforts.

“I want these kids to walk through these halls, see the pictures and trophies, and know what’s expected of them,” McGraw says. “But I don’t want them dwelling in the past — I want them moving on and creating some of their own history and perpetuating that excellence Harris and Holder started.” The OSU golf program did more than produce championship golfers, Holder says. “Oklahoma State is a special place. We graduated our players and challenged each one to become better as a student, as a person and as a golfer. “Commitment — it’s more important here than any other place.” To view one-on-one interviews with Holder, McGraw and Matthews visit orangeconnection.org/ video

CONTINUES TRADITION OF PUBLIC SERVICE AND OUTREACH

Guy Biard

he Biard family is helping to make education a more reachable goal for an OSU agriculture student from southeastern Oklahoma. The new M.J. “Guy” and Martha S. Biard Endowed Scholarship will be presented annually to a full-time agricultural economics student who hails from McCurtain, Choctaw, Pushmataha, LeFlore, Latimer, Atoka, Brian, Marshall, Johnston or Pittsburg county. Guy Biard was a longtime OSU Cooperative Extension county educator who worked extensively with local residents, community groups and agribusinesses to improve people’s quality of life, says Mike Woods, head of the OSU department of agricultural economics. “Martha Biard and her family set up the endowment to honor Guy’s commitment to helping others,” Woods says. “Scholarship

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preference will be given to a student from southeastern Oklahoma who is interested in community outreach and service.” Diane Biard Doeksen says her parents talked often about creating an endowment to fund an agriculture scholarship that promoted public service. “My father was always concerned about rural communities and placed a strong emphasis on development for people of all ages in all aspects of life — personal, professional, economic and environmental,” she says. “It was as much a part of him in his private life as in his professional activities.” Though his role as an OSU Cooperative Extension county educator encompassed a wide range of responsibilities, residents of southeastern Oklahoma may remember Biard best for helping lowincome families obtain new eyeglasses. Doeksen says the subject was particularly important to her father, and he took every opportunity to put in a word about the good a person could do by helping out. “Dad was always talking about economics, health, safety, education, the benefits of 4-H programs to promote leadership and the need to help those who couldn’t afford eyeglasses,” she says. “Since dad never met anyone he considered a stranger, he talked about those things a lot.” Biard’s ability to “stay on message” also formed a lasting memory with his children.

“For dad, OSU was the only option when it came to his children going to college,”

Doeksen says of her father, a 1949 animal science graduate from the College of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources. Doeksen’s mother is also an OSU alumna and part of the class of 1944. Martha Biard earned a degree in child development from OSU’s College of Human Environmental Sciences. In fact, three generations of Biards have been OSU Cowboys, from Guy and Martha to Diane and her brother Joe, to their children. Diane’s daughter, Ashli Holmes, graduated from OSU in 2005. This “passing of the torch” is perhaps the ultimate tribute to a place where it all started for the family. “My parents met at OSU after World War II when my dad got out of the 82nd Airborne. He was at the university when Pearl Harbor was attacked but left and signed up for military service,” Doeksen says. “Later they married, lived in married student housing and made a lot of lifelong friends.” Biard never left OSU again, serving as an extension educator in a number of counties — mostly in the southeastern part of the state — and showing others the value of the land-grant mission. “He was always so proud of OSU,” Doeksen says. D onald S totts

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Greg Geiser has seen the highest of highs and the lowest of lows during his nearly 25 years as a real estate investor and developer in California.

“Don’t ever start to think you’re smarter than the market; you just don’t know,” says Geiser. “All you can do is set yourself up to try and survive. “After all, I’m just a kid from Oklahoma.” As a kid in Oklahoma, Geiser flipped his first property at 20. He bought a house with a friend for $11,000 and spent the summer after his junior year at During the real estate crash in the OSU gutting and rebuilding the house — early 1990s, the Oklahoma City native’s without much construction experience. staff of 55 was cut to four. Geiser “The house needed a new roof so became a business owner in the mornmy friend and I were on top of the roof ings and a construction worker in the with an upside down package of shingles afternoons. The office Christmas party, reading the directions for how to put a once a catered affair, turned into dinner roof on a house,” Geiser says, laughing. for five at a local Mexican restaurant. Their time and investment paid That was the low. off when they sold the house for Ten years later, Geiser’s $35,000 at the end of the summer. portfolio neared half a billion Geiser used the profit to attend dollars and included about 400 graduate school, earning his MBA residential properties and 2,500 from the University of California, apartment units, a wind tunnel Los Angeles, in 1982. He credits and gondola building in Telluride, his civil engineering background Colo., and even an airport in Los from OSU for his success in the Angeles. His staff of four grew to program. a staff of more than 150. “It was a great undergraduate That was the high. degree to have because of the math And through it all, he and his background it provided,” he says. company, Wedgewood Investment Since no developer jobs were Corporation, have survived. available at the time, he threw “Cycles happen; the key is still his résumé into a blind résumé to be standing at the end of the review pile, and David Murdock’s dance,” says the 1980 civil engilocal real estate company picked neering graduate. “If you can be it. Geiser’s job interview was with During his four years as a civil engineering patient, opportunities will come.” H.R. Haldeman, former chief of student, Greg Geiser, right, was active in both For more than two years, staff for President Richard Nixon onand off-campus activities. Above, Professor Geiser has been paying off his during the Watergate scandal. B. Curtis Hamm congratulates Geiser upon his debts, liquidating assets and scalHaldeman was impressed with induction into the Blue Key Honor Society. ing back on his staff in preparaGeiser’s knowledge of the latest tion for the downturn in the real 92

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estate market the nation is currently experiencing. “We could see the storm coming. The market was unsustainable,” Geiser says. “We still took some hits but managed to keep some chips on the table.” Because of his large portfolio and investments in seven cities spanning five states, Geiser says he had a pretty good feel for the market and followed some brilliant advice he was once given — there’s a time to buy and a time to sell; don’t get the two confused. But Geiser is not counting his chips yet because he believes things will get worse before they get better. And he’s smart enough to know he cannot outsmart the market.

Greg Geiser, a 1980 civil engineering graduate, invests in and develops real estate through his company, Wedgewood Investments Corporation. He and his wife, Nancy, center, and daughters Kelly Anna, left, and Hannah live in California. technology in 1982, known as the personal computer, and the two developed a strong friendship. “Bob (Haldeman) and I were very close,” Geiser says. “We traveled all over the country together, and he took me on a tour of Washington, D.C., showing me the Watergate Hotel as well as other famous buildings and monuments.” However, after more than three years with David Murdock Development, Geiser had grown frustrated and wanted to return to his first love — adaptive reuse — commonly known as remodeling. With the support of his friend and mentor Haldeman, Geiser resigned and started GH Investors with a business

plan consisting of three numbers written on a yellow legal pad sheet of paper: his salary, his expenses and his expected profit. “The next morning, I was in my bedroom at the desk I used in college in Stillwater looking at the wall and thinking ‘now what?’” Geiser says. Like any great American business tale, Geiser’s rise to success is peppered with incredible stories like how he made $14,000 on one property before he even had the deed filled out and how he worked in his garage until 4 a.m. making desks that he couldn’t afford to purchase new for his small staff.

But to what does Geiser attribute his successful career navigation in such a volatile field? “I think, personally, it’s a huge advantage coming from the Midwest, from Oklahoma State,” he says. “Oklahoma’s greatest asset is its people. I didn’t understand that until I left, and now I realize how good the people are. They’re intrinsically good people.” And after all, he’s just a kid from Oklahoma.

Ch a p t e r s

Chapters Raise Funds For Students from their Areas One of the OSU Alumni Association’s many goals is to promote the university to prospective high school students and then provide financial support to help them attend the “Princeton of the Prairie.” Many Oklahoma chapters have taken that goal to heart by consistently providing scholarships to students in their areas who are eager to earn an OSU degree.

Kiowa-Greer Chapter The Kiowa-Greer OSU Alumni Chapter gives two $2,000 scholarships each year — one to a student from each county — and four $500 scholarships to incoming freshmen. Chapter chairperson Dana McElroy, ’70, says each chapter shares the goal of encouraging high-caliber students to attend OSU. “Our alums are very generous and have very fond memories of OSU,” McElroy says. “We want to help motivate these students to consider and apply to OSU.”

Caddo County Dustin Tackett, ‘00, president of the Caddo County OSU Alumni Chapter, says his chapter strives to provide scholarship opportunities for Caddo County students wanting to attend OSU. 94

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“The chapter has been providing scholarships for more than 20 years,” Tackett says. “I was a Caddo County scholarship recipient in 1996, so for me it’s an opportunity to give back and help other students.” Caddo County provides two $2,000 scholarships, two $1,000 scholarships and several $500 and $600 scholarships — all to help direct students to OSU. “We’re trying to give our students a financial incentive that’s competitive with regional universities,” Tackett says. “We want these kids to go straight to Stillwater.”

Pittsburg County The Pittsburg County OSU Alumni Chapter has also been a significant provider of scholarships to future OSU students in the area. Former president Gary Boyd says the chapter provided eight $1,000 freshman scholarships this year and has provided more than $150,000 in scholarships over the past 20 years. “We’ve been able to help a great many of Pittsburg County students for several decades, thanks in no small part to the Puterbaugh Foundation,” Boyd says. The Puterbaugh Foundation is based in McAlester and matches

dollar-for-dollar the combined Pittsburg County and OSU Alumni Association funds for student scholarships. “It allows those students to attend OSU who might not be able to otherwise,” Boyd says.

Pushmataha-Choctaw The Pushmataha-Choctaw OSU Alumni Chapter has experienced a recent rebirth of its scholarship program. Chapter member Tom Jackson, ’67, says it currently provides one $1,000 scholarship but hopes to raise enough money to provide two — one for a student from each county. In the meantime, the chapter will continue recruiting with its annual hotdog supper to encourage high school students to consider OSU. “For the past three years, we’ve invited the top 50 percent of the sophomore classes in each county plus their parents to a hotdog supper,” Jackson says. “We’re trying to reach both the parents and the students and let them know OSU offers all the academic advantages they could want.” The suppers attract between 50 and 60 students and family members, and Jackson says bringing in current OSU students to speak to the group has been very effective in recruiting.

Josh Pulver, director of chapter and external relations, says the dedication of these chapters to support students in their areas is critical for developing the next generation of alumni. “It’s very important for alumni chapters to provide scholarship opportunities for new Cowboys and Cowgirls,” Pulver says. “I’d like to personally thank all of these chapters for supporting their students and future OSU alumni.”

Bedlam Tailgaters

C hase Carter

For more information on these chapters and others, go to orangeconnection.org/chapters.

The Cowboys won the annual Bedlam baseball series again this year as the Central Oklahoma and Tulsa OSU Alumni Association chapters welcomed OSU alumni in Oklahoma City and Tulsa with two outstanding tailgates. In Tulsa, the Cowboys won 7-1 and tailgating alumni were treated to Cowboy Sharkies catering. Tulsa Chapter President Chris Dorsey, ’07, says about 330 people attended the tailgate, an increase of 80 from last year. Attendees also had the opportunity to purchase a game ticket with their package so they could be seated together at the game. Upcoming events for

the Tulsa chapter include Vintage O-State at OSU-Tulsa on Nov. 22 from 7 to 9 p.m. At the other end of the turnpike in Oklahoma City’s Bricktown, the Cowboys won the second game 11-1 but dropped the last game 4-10. Central Oklahoma Chapter treasurer Jennifer Helms, ’02, says the tailgate party drew about 200 fans who were treated to bratwurst, hotdogs, chips and drinks. They, too, had the option of purchasing game tickets with their tailgating package, a popular option that both chapters will likely continue next year. Upcoming events for the Central Oklahoma Chapter include a golf tournament on Oct. 20 at Twin Hills Golf and Country Club in Oklahoma City. C hase Carter

Central Oklahoma photos courtesy Holly McCoy/Picture This Photography

2009

Traveling Cowboys

The OSU Alumni Association is excited to announce the Traveling Cowboys 2009 itinerary. The Association has put together a series of trips to appeal to all ages and life interests. Join us as we pack our bags and head out to new locations and classic destinations! End of School European Tour The perfect gift for students and new graduates is a lifetime travel experience to Europe before they begin life in the “real world.” This tour visits four European cities (London, Paris, Rome, Athens), as well as the isle of Poros and the town of Sorrento. The tour leaves immediately after the completion of the school year on May 18 - June 3, 2009.

Aspen Adventure

A four night tour package to Aspen, amidst some of the most beautiful mountain scenery in the world on June 10 - 14, 2009. Included are a Sunset Dinner tour at Burlington Cabin and an outside evening concert.

Washington, D.C.

Experience the Fourth of July in our Nation’s Capital July 2 - 6, 2009. The trip will include a night tour of Washington, D.C., guided tours of the White House, U.S. Capitol, as well as other must see destinations. Come join us as we experience Washington, D.C.

Budapest, Vienna & Prague

Discover three of the finest cities in Europe on this unique travel adventure. The trip includes guided tours, free time to discover the region independently, and first-class accommodations on September 17 - 27, 2009.

Tuscany – Italy

Enjoy a unique opportunity to experience this idyllic world on June 17 - 25, 2009. While staying in Cortona, travelers will experience Assisi, Siena, Perugia, Montalcino and Florence.

For more information about the Traveling Cowboys, call us at 405.744.5368 or visit us online at orangeconnection.org/travel.

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Stillwater 48 OSU Event: Spring ___ 50 V. Burns ___ 53 Guarded 57 Hued 61 Wrathful 62 Offense 63 Short-term memory 64 Marsh 66 End 67 Paramedic 68 Bawl 70 Taboo 71 ___ and Restaurant Administration (Degree Program) 72 Allot 74 Marry 76 Hotel 77 Place 79 Coffeehouse 82 ___ Watkins Center in Stillwater 84 Root beer brand (3 wds.) 86 Former president of U.S. 87 Asian nation 91 Lyric poem 92 Snacked

93 Young lady 94 The other half of Jima 95 Historic OSU Coach Henry ___ 96 Chances of winning 98 Incorporated (abbr.) 99 Dry 101 Beige 102 Belt up 103 Green Gables dweller 105 Boy 106 Morning moisture 108 Despot 110 Speed 113 Wood cutting tools 115 Hall of ___ Ave. in Stillwater 117 Condominium 121 Toothbrush brand 122 Hotel 123 Alphabet 126 Director (abbr.) 127 Held the deed 128 That is to say 130 Hid 133 OSU Residence Hall 134 Stitch 136 Cola company 137 Former W. German capital

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C l a ss n o t e s

Elizabeth Vincent Madsen ’39, gen ad, moved into an assisted living apartment at Highland Farms in North Carolina.

’40s Inez Chapman Tomlinson ’40, nut sci, and her husband, B.L. “Turk,” ’50, HRAD, have enjoyed 61 years together and have five children. Merle Allen Jr. ’42, agron, married Carol Stolldorf in 2002. They live in a military officer complex near Washington, D.C. C. Wilbur Brady ’42, elec eng, and his wife, Mary Lou, ’42, HEECS, are loyal fans of OSU. Clinton S. Goodman ’47, bus pub admin, and his wife, Frances, live in Colorado. Their oldest grandson, Adam, graduated from Texas State University in December 2007 as an educator. Their oldest granddaughter, Noelle, graduated in June from Wesleyan University with degrees in education and music. Robert G. Meyer ’48, ag econ, and his wife, Lorene, enjoy retirement. Robert is going strong at 85 years old. Charles Donald Bradley ’49, acct, hopes that his graduating class is well and can still yell, “Yea, Aggies — Get those Sooners!” Morris Neighbors ’49, sec ed, ’64, M.S., psych, has four greatgrandchildren. Four of his 11 grandchildren are OSU graduates. Morris loves to play golf and watch OSU sports.

’50s Joe C. Sewell Jr. ’50, speech, has been retired from First Bank and Trust Co. for eight years. Joe and his wife, Joann, have been married for 53 years. Don E. Wyatt ’50, fin, welcomed his fourth great-grandson, Blake, on Jan. 16, 2007. Don is in the process of building a new office for his company, Wyatt Real Estate.

Bleva Dockum Neal-Yoxsimer ’50, exec sec admin, and her husband, Ron Yoxsimer, enjoy “walkaround” before the homecoming game every fall.

photo / OMRF/Dan Morgan

’30s

Don Peters ’51, agron, played on the 1948 varsity football team. Don retired from Phillips Petroleum after 49 years of service as principal engineer for blow molding. Don invented and co-invented 36 patents during his career. Don and his wife, June, have two children, Scott and Nancy Burris, who are OSU alumni. Don and June live in Bartlesville, Okla., and attend OSU football and basketball games. Paul Seely ’51, gen ag, and his wife, Jacqueline Seely, ’53, hist, are involved in ranching in Greenwood County, Kan. Bonita Brown ’52, elem ed, moved to a retirement home in El Paso, Texas, in May 2007 to be near her family. Darrell Fahler ’52, art, is a retired architect working with antique glass windows. Norman O’Halloran ’52, HRAD, and his wife, Barbara, tailgated for the first time last fall with their daughter and nephew. Tommy Throckmorton ’52, agron, and his wife, Jo Throckmorton ’52, ed, enjoy having their granddaughter, Kelsey, live with them while she attends OSU. Robert E. Walton ’52, dairy sci, ’56, M.S., an sci, married Delphine on July 1, 2006. Robert operates his Simmental cattle ranch, is a consultant to ABS Global and serves on five agriculture-related boards. Wilma Billie June Mayo ’53, HEECS, operates her cattle ranch in Beaver and Woodward counties. Her oldest son, Steve, is an engineer with Conoco in Australia. Her daughter, Meredith, is a lawyer in Bartlesville. Both are OSU graduates. Ruby M. Moore ’53, sec ed, ’78, M.S., curr and instr, and her husband, Wayne H. Moore ’52, an sci, enjoy living in Stillwater and attending OSU sporting events.

Jordan Tang

More Accolades For Alzheimer’s Researcher A famed Alzheimer’s researcher and OSU alumnus was selected for admission to the Oklahoma Hall of Fame. Jordan Tang, the J.G. Puterbaugh Chair in Medical Research at the Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation, has spent more than 50 years studying the building blocks of the human body. His journey began in 1946 when his family moved from China to Taiwan during the Communist Revolution and later when he moved to Stillwater in 1955 to study soil chemistry at OSU. He is married to OSU alumna Kuen Tang, and they have two sons. Tang’s interest grew into biochemistry, and he graduated with a master’s degree in 1957. He began working at the Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation, where, as a technician, he discovered a new proteolytic enzyme. He finished a doctoral degree at the University of Oklahoma in 1961 and afterward had two physiology fellowships at the Marine Biological Laboratory in Woods Hole, Mass. Other career accolades include an honorary professorship in 1989 at the Chinese Academy of Sciences Institute of Microbiology in Beijing and a John Simon Gugenheim Fellowship in 1964 at the University of Cambridge. He returned to the Oklahoma City foundation in 1966, where he has been ever since. The Alzheimer’s Association presented Tang with the 2000 Pioneer Award for his work on Alzheimer’s disease. In 2007 Tang’s team published a study explaining how a molecule links a specific gene to the brain disease. His team created an inhibitor to counteract the enzyme, and CoMentis, a San Francisco biopharmaceutical company, began human clinical trials of an experimental drug derived from the enzyme. The drug completed its first phase of human trials in January. Matt Elliott

C l a ss n o t e s

Elmer Stout ’53, civ eng, and his wife, Janet, spend winters in Florida and summers on the New Jersey seashore. Burt Gambill Jr. ’54, elec eng, and his wife, Patricia, enjoy living near the ocean in Santa Barbara, Calif., and playing golf. Reuben “Barney” Kirkpatrick ’54, mech eng, and his wife, Mary Gray Kirkpatrick, ’54, home life, have two grandchildren attending OSU. They enjoy fishing and golfing at Grand Lake.

JoAnn G. Goetz ’57, spec ed, and her husband, Robert E. Goetz ’58, spec ed, celebrated 51 years of marriage on June 4. They live in Horseshoe Bay, Texas, near their daughters, Jennifer and Teresa, who live in San Antonio and Boerne, Texas. Charles Hayes ’57, mech eng, ’63, M.S., retired from NASA Johnson Space Center after 50 years as an instructor pilot. Charles was inducted into the Oklahoma Aviation and Space Hall of Fame in 1992. His two children, Robert and Barbara Battles, attended OSU.

Millard Eugene Kuykendall ’54, an sci, married Mary Lou on Nov. 29, 2003. Gene is a cattle consultant and serves on the board of directors for the South Texas Children’s Home.

Don Hensley ’57, ag ed, and his wife, Sharon Boyett Hensley ’56, Eng, live in Brownfield, Texas, half the year and in Ruidoso, N.M., during the other half.

Dixon D. Hubbard ’56, an sci, and his wife, Patty J. Hubbard ’58, HEECS, have two granddaughters, Amanda and Kelli Reynolds, attending OSU.

John C. Reynolds ’57, nat sci, has two grandsons, John Adam Colquitt, who graduated from OSU in May with a degree in aviation, and Colin Smith, who attends OSU.

Lyndon C. Imke ’56, agron, and his wife, Joann, enjoy spending time with their grandsons, Dezmond and Tajon Williams. Lyndon is active in the farm-ranch business.

Lynn Sisler ’57, HEECS, ’63, M.S., DHM, ’68, Ed.D. HEECS, and her husband, David, are retired. They enjoy working with the OSU Emeriti Association and being involved with the development of the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute.

Dick Terrell ’56, bus, and his wife, Teresa, have five children and 14 grandchildren. Their grandson Nicholas Deer y taught his kindergarten classmates the “OSU yell” for show and tell. He also decorated his Cub Scouts Pinewood Derby car in orange and black, and everyone joined in the OSU yell every time his car raced. Victor E. Bailey ’57, ed admin, practiced law in Fairview, Okla., for 39 years. He is married to Mary Lou. Robert H. Carlstead ’57, elec eng, and his wife, Mar y, celebrated their 48th wedding anniversary. Robert retired in 1994 from Schlumberger ATE Division in “Silicon Valley.” Robert also enjoyed attending homecoming and his 50-year class reunion last year.

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Bob Willis ’57, agron, and his wife, Phyllis, have six grandchildren. Carolyn Mallett Hunter ’58, HEECS, and her husband, Robert, celebrated their 50 th wedding anniversary in February. James Ludwick ’58, ag eng, and his wife, Jimmie, have a grandson, Tyler Pruitt, who graduated from OSU in 2006 with a degree in fire protection and safety technology. Tyler married Kimberlie Hogan, a 2005 graduate. James and Jimmie’s granddaughter, Jessica, attends OSU. Charles O. Heller ’59, civil eng, ’60, M.S., is writing a memoir. A large portion of his memoir will describe his wonderful experiences at OSU. Garry Prather ’59, sec ed, served 10 years in the U.S. Marine Corps and one tour in Vietnam. Garry retired from teaching math after 30 years. He and his wife, Patricia,

now raise macadamia nuts on two acres of land in San Diego. His five children and nine grandchildren enjoy visiting their acreage. Joyce Forshee Sebranek ’59, music, and her husband, Frankie, celebrated their 50 th wedding anniversary last December with their family.

’60s Ruth Ann Halacka Ball ’61, HEECS, retired from the University of Oklahoma, where she worked with early childhood issues. Ruth enjoys traveling and spending time with her six grandchildren.

of their grandsons live, and spend winters in Tucson, Ariz. Dan G. Roe ’62, A.S., drafting/ design and mech tech, and his wife, Christine, are working toward retirement. Dan enjoys playing golf, oil painting, ink sketching, woodworking and coaching his grandson’s baseball team. Robert L. Barrett ’63, mktg, enjoys retirement and fishing in Texas. Pat O. Clifton ’64, hist, is a retired colonel. He initiated and serves as president of the New Braunfels, Texas, Civil War Round Table. Pat and his wife, Angie, operate their weekend farm near Lockhart, Texas. Harold Gillenwaters ’64, an sci, is retired from the Air Force after 26 years and also from United Airlines. Harold returned to his family farm near Chickasha and raises cattle.

Paul Brown II ’61, mgmt, and his wife, Connie, welcomed their grandson, Campbell Brown, this past year. He was born to their son, Kevin, a 1988 OSU graduate. Paul and Connie live in Tulsa and are longtime football and basketball season ticket holders.

James Luetkemeyer ’64, RTVF, retired from government service and enjoys traveling. James has visited Thailand, China, Japan and the Philippines. He plans to attend a few football games this fall.

Joe Clink ’61, HRAD, and his wife, Brenda, welcomed their 11th grandchild, Eli Wayne Clink, on Feb. 25.

Larry C. Oben ’64, Engl, and his wife, Amanda, have four children and eight grandchildren. Larry retired as an insurance investigator in 2004.

Arthur Rickets ’61, mgmt, and his wife, Kay, have three children who all graduated from OSU, Drew, Lance and Mary Ann, as well as eight grandchildren.

Carolyn Ames ’65, HEECS, and her husband, Albert, enjoy spending time with their family and grandson, Bryce Carroll. Carolyn retired from teaching.

Patrick Z. Wyers ’61, mech eng, is retired from engineering and now owns his own real estate company. Patrick enjoys spending time with his two children and five grandsons.

Robert “Warren” Cornwell ’65, arch studies, retired after 46 years in the construction business.

B. Carol Dillard-Davis ’62, elem ed, and her husband, J. Gary Davis, have seven grandchildren. Two of their grandsons are OSU students and one grandson is in Baghdad in the Army. Carol is a teacher for Tulsa public schools. Oren L. Lucas ’62, trade and ind ed, and his wife, Verona M. Lucas ’63, elem ed, enjoy retirement. They live in Bourbonnais, Ill., where two

Carolyn Baker Ellenbrook ’65, sec ed, worked for Comanche Cotton Baptist Association for 26 years. Carolyn was married to Charles Ellenbrook for 39 years. She has a daughter, Margaret, and a granddaughter, Ashton. Henry Ray ’65, sec ed, and his wife, Janet Maloy-Ray ’63, bus ed, are both retired from teaching at Lawton public schools.

Behind Prison Walls

Morris says she has learned that once a man accepts who he is, regrets commiting crime and uderstands how his actions Horticulturist teaches prisoners affect those around him, he is able to change. “The change must happen in the heart first,” Morris says. how to turn over a new leaf “I have seen gangbangers make a 180-degree turnaround to Theresa Morris spends her days in prison and her the point of apologizing to the people they hurt.” evenings with her husband and two children. Morris runs a Morris’ goal is to give the inmates a refuge within the horticulture therapy program at the Cimarron Correctional horticulture program where they can freely be themselves and Facility in Cushing, Okla. Her goal is to increase the male deal with their problems. inmates’ quality of life and to educate them on how to become “I try to keep myself humbled before them knowing that better sons, husbands, grandfathers and citizens. I’m not any better than they are,” Morris says. “I want them “I have never not wanted to go to work,” Morris says. “I to feel better about themselves, even if they are going to spend am always up for new challenges that each day brings.” the rest of their lives in prison.” With degrees in agricultural education and animal science, The horticulture program also strengthens the inmates’ Morris planned to teach after graduating in 1986 and, in self-confidence and gives them a sense of accomplishment, an fact, was a substitute teacher for every school in the Cushing important factor, she says, considering 85 percent are high system. photo / Phil Shockley school dropouts and most But full-time employment have never experienced the was hard to find. satisfaction of completing In 1997, Morris’ dreams of anything they started. teaching full time came true in During the spring and an unexpected way when the summer, Morris sells fruits Cushing prison asked her to and vegetables grown by the develop a horticulture program inmates at the local farmers for inmates. market. “I went there and fell in love As a group, the inmates with it,” Morris says. “There donate the money received was not even a fearful thought from their produce to the in my mind, because it was community. Throughout the meant to be.” year, the inmates also donate Prisons may not be a typical fresh produce to homeless work environment, yet every shelters and retirement morning Morris walks through centers. Theresa Morris designed a horticulture program for prison a metal detector, shows her “They want to show sociphoto I.D. and goes to work in inmates to help them feel better about themselves, even if ety they are good people who they must spend the rest of their lives in prison. the locked facility. made mistakes,” Morris says. “There are cameras everywhere. Everything is locked “I have seen gangbangers make a 180-degree to maintain security,” Morris says. turnaround to the point of apologizing to the “Everyday is different. It is very dynamic.” people they hurt.” The horticulture program is a oneyear, voluntary program. Morris spends six hours each day “They want to give back because they took so much.” teaching the men countless greenhouse, landscape and garden Each fall, Morris submits the inmates’ produce and plants skills. She also teaches them the importance of getting to work for the Payne County Fair competition. When she returns to on time, working a full day and showing respect. By the time the prison with ribbons for the inmates, they gain a sense of the inmates leave the program, they can identify and grow 100 accomplishment for their hard work — sometimes for the first kinds of plants. time in their lives. Inmates apply and are put on a waiting list. When there Morris evaluates her students monthly. She says receiving are openings, Morris considers each inmate carefully and a concrete grade boosts their confidence and strengthens their determines which ones will benefit most. desire to continue with the program. Her program not only provides inmates with marketable “I have been able to see a lot of lives change,” she says. “It skills, it reinforces the emotional and social skills they need has been an incredible journey for me. God has given me the for rehabilitation on a personal level. ability to love these men and look past their crimes. I do what “I want to provide a way out of the bondage they got I can and let God take care of the rest.” themselves into,” Morris says. “They must learn to withstand Rachel Sheets temptations like drugs and acting out aggression.”

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Eugene G. Sharp ’65, sec ed, and his wife, Shirley, live in Enid, Okla., and farm northwest of Enid. Eugene is retired from teaching math and computer programming at Enid High School.

from Schering Plough Oncology. He enjoys traveling and playing golf.

John A. Welch ’65, hist, lives in Saint Joseph, Mo.

Cloyann Fent ’68, HEECS, and his wife, Lynn Fent ’68, sec ed, ’73, econ, retired from employment in Wichita and moved back to Stillwater. They welcomed their first grandchild in February 2007.

Mike Crooch ’66, acct, ’67, M.S., retired from Financial Accounting Standards Box in June.

Kathy Lauderdale Johnson ’69, CTM, retired to her family farm in Yale, Okla.

Kaye ’67, journ, coauthored a book with her husband, John, titled The Savior’s Miracles.

Tom Schmidt ’69, ag econ, and his wife, Jo Anne, have four grandchildren. Their daughter, Jackie, has three sons, Hunter, 13, Jr., 10, and Michael, 7. Their son has one daughter, Symphony, 3.

Donna Peery Chrislip ’67, econ, ’69, MBA, ’96, Ed.D., and her husband, Doug Chrislip ’66, econ, live in Centennial, Colo., and enjoy watching the OSU Cowboys when they come to Colorado. Donna is the grant writer for Arapahoe Community College in Littleton. Both of Donna’s daughter’s, Lori and Lyndsey, live in Colorado as well. Doug Dollar, ’67, journ, ’74, M.S., mass comm, ’83, Ed.D., owner of New Forums Press and former editor of OSU Outreach Magazine, recently published a graphic novel about Frank “Pistol Pete” Eaton, titled Gunplay: The True Story of Pistol Pete on the Hootowl Trail. It is written and illustrated by Okmulgee, Okla., writer Robby McMurtry and based on Eaton’s autobiography, Campfire Stories. The book tells Eaton’s story of his youth, from about 1865 to 1881, and tracking down the men who murdered his father. McMurtry says he wrote the book because, “I know a lot of historians believe he was full of B.S. I took his story as he told it for the truth, and I went with it from there.” For more information, visit www.newforums.com. Ed Gallagher ’67, agron, retired from and sold his newspaper business last August. Ed and his wife, Betty, enjoy spending time with their grandchildren, Lukas, 10, Jacob, 7, and twin girls, Sidney and Lillie, 4. John W. Trent ’67, HRAD, retired from Marriott International in May 2007. A few months later, he married Janice Dealy. Tom Boone ’68, zoo, and his wife, Jeannie, have three children and four grandchildren. Tom retired

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Martha Goodman-White ’69, an sci, is an independent petroleum landman. Martha’s husband, Jack E. White ’71, mech eng, is an engineer with the FAA. Their daughter, Sarah, son, Joel, and his wife, Jill Lovejoy-White, are all OSU alumni and live and work in Denver, Colo. Chet Willey ’69, ind eng and mgmt, ’70, M.S., retired from Miller Brewing Co. Chet started a logistics consulting firm specializing in food and beverage warehousing and delivery.

’70s Carl O. Westbrook ’70, Ed.D., retired as president of Connors State College after 16 years. Now he is a breeder of Santa Gertrudis Cattle. Denyce Codoni ’71, Engl, retired after 36 years in the insurance industry and 22 years with Marsh McLennan. Denyce and her husband plan to travel and restore her ’77 orange Corvette. Wayne Constant ’71, trade and ind ed, was inducted into the National Wrestling Hall of Fame in November 2007. Wayne and his wife, Janice, welcomed a great-granddaughter born to grandson Justin and his wife, Leslie, on June 11, 2007. Kathryn Elliott ’71, phys, has been teaching eighth-grade math for 10 years. Kathryn is working toward a master math teacher certification.

Larry Johnson ’71, arch stud, and his wife, Susan, are proud grandparents of Nathan. Larry is president of CJC Architects. Michael W. Neely ’72, mktg, and his wife, Paula, are proud that their oldest daughter, Lauren, married Charles Peifer on Oct. 27, 2007. Sterett Robertson ’72, ento, ’74, M.S., retired from Dow Agro Sciences after 33 years. Sterett is looking forward to spending more time with his two granddaughters and scuba diving and motorcycling. Robert “Bob” E. Wright Jr. ’72, ag ed, and his wife, Andrea, have three children, Tina, Tiffani and Tyson, and six grandchildren. Bob began his third career with Brinkley Auctions in January 2007. Richard Burling ’73, an sci, and his wife, Debbie, have two grandchildren, Blake Apfelbacher and Ainsley McFarlin, who are both Cowboy fans. Thomas Dixon ’73, an sci, ’99, M.S., occup and adult ed, and his wife, Sammie, own Don’s Coin and Jewelry, which celebrated its 40 th anniversary in February. David S. Adams ’74, physio, professor of biology and biotechnology at Worcester Polytechnic Institute in Massachusetts, wo n th e Ch a i rman’s Exemplary Faculty Prize last May for his work as a teacher, adviser and researcher. His research focuses on the genetic and biochemical underpinning of Alzheimer’s disease and on a class of neuroprotective peptides that may one day help slow or even prevent the brain disorder. Dollie Burchfiel Mathes ’74, HIDCS, and her husband, Jim, have a daughter, Bailey, who graduated from OSU last December with a degree in apparel design and production. Catherine Crump-Patrick ’74, elem ed, teaches first grade at Coulson Tough Elementary School. She was named Teacher of the Year for the 2006-2007 school year.

John Severe ’74, pre-law, and his wife, Karen Severe’74, spec ed, are proud parents of two OSU graduates. Their daughter, Melissa Severe-Weber, her husband, Jeff, their son, J.T. Severe and his wife, Alicia Loveless Severe, all reside in Enid, Okla. Don Witten ’74, mech des tech, and his wife, Sheryl Dickson Witten ’74, exec sec admin, celebrated their 35th wedding anniversary. They are proud grandparents of Emmalyn, 3, and Blake, 1. Philip W. Howard ’75, an sci, and his wife, Sherry, welcomed two granddaughters in 2007, Haleigh Layne and Trinity Grace. They are proud grandparents of four grandchildren. Steven L. Gates ’76, journ, ’86, D.O., and his wife, Paula, relocated to Corpus Christi, Texas. Steve Rader ’76, gen ag, and his wife, Linda, have three children attending OSU, Justin, Haley and Sarah. Steve manages his family ranch in the Texas panhandle and is director of Panhandle Plains Land Bank in Amarillo. Donis Pannell Cook ’77, elem ed, was forced to retire from her teaching job in June 2006 after being diagnosed with Menieres Disease. Donis and her husband, Robert Cook ’75, chem, live in Bartlesville with their adopted dog, Maggie May. Donis’ daughter, Natalie Jayne, is an OSU senior. Mark Gish ’77, ag econ, and his wife, Gale Easterling-Gish ’78, dist ed, ’84, M.S., occup and adult ed, have a daughter, Anna, who graduated from OSU in 2006 with a degree in nutritional sciences. Anna now attends dental hygiene school at OU. Their son, Thomas, is a junior at OSU majoring in finance. Randall P. Miller ’77, MIS, ’79, MBA, has two children in high school, and his oldest son, Brian, is at OSU majoring in architecture. David Phillips ’77, acct, and his wife, Jamee, followed the OSU Cowboys football team to road games in their motor home.

Jerry D. Winchester ’77, agron, and his wife, Karen, have three children and two grandchildren. Jerry retired after 33 years with USDA. He enjoys ranching and customharvesting pecans. Debbie Oleby-Davis ’78, mktg, ’83, M.S., dist ed, and her husband, Jay Davis ’79, fin, recently moved to Dallas, Texas, from Philadelphia, Pa. Their son, Cody, graduated last May and is employed with ConocoPhillips. Kenneth H. Holscher ’78, M.S., ento, ’81, Ph.D., and his wife, Diana, are proud grandparents of Katie, 7, and Connor McVey, 4. Kenneth is a professor of entomology at Iowa State University. Cynthia Lou Hudgins ’78, FRCD, and her husband, Jerry, have a son, Josh, who was married on June 7. Arlene Hamm Manthey ’78, elem ed, and her husband, Charles, live in Texas. Arlene serves as the division of student affairs development officer at Southern Methodist University. Jeanne Forbis ’79, journ, is chief of staff and executive communications officer for the Virginia Bioinformatics Institute at Virginia Tech. She serves as key adviser to the institute’s executive and scientific director. Previously, Jeanne was vice president of global public and media relations for Medtronic. She was also a general manager of corporate communications for ChevronTexaco, was involved in senior communication roles for Conoco Inc. and Phillips Petroleum Co. and was a newspaper editor and reporter. Donald L. Henderson ’79, ag econ, and his wife, Marcia A. Nicholson-Henderson ’79, bus ed, celebrated their 27th wedding anniversary and 25 years of real estate appraisal business last year. Donald and Marcia have two sons, ages 19 and 16, who love OSU sports. Bill Pettitt ’79, sec ed, is an insurance agent with Bowen, Miclette and Britt Inc. Bill and his wife, Cara,

have a son, Colt, who attends Blinn Jr. College in Texas. Their son, Dakota, attends OSU, and their youngest son, Caleb, is in kindergarten. Kevin Richards ’79, const mgmt tech, works for the STP Nuclear Operating Co. He is in charge of the construction of two new nuclear plants. His company is the first company to submit a combined operating license application to the NRC. Charle Clinton Smith ’79, D.O., and his wife, Marla Gail Smith, have five children and 16 grandchildren. Charle retired from his private practice in 2006.

’80s Leon Fischer ’80, M.S., agron, ’83, Ph.D., appl beh stud, and his wife, Cristy, live in Oklahoma, and Leon is an associate professor at Cameron University. Harold Hayes ’80, M.S., ed admin, ’89, Ed.D., completed 33 years in school education. Harold served 25 of those years in school administration and 16 as a superintendent with various school districts in Oklahoma. Steven Kiester ’80, ind eng and mgmt, and his wife, Vicki, live in Fort Worth, Texas, where Steve is manager of program performance for commercial aircraft at Bell Helicopter. He and Vicki are both active in the Lay Speaking Ministries of the United Methodist Church. Steve continues as a volunteer with Bible Study Fellowship and the Federal Aviation Administration Safety Team. They both enjoy traveling with their grandkids and Chihuahua, Moses. Julie Harris ’81, journ, is a division commander of the Uniform Division Southwest for the Tulsa Police Department. Randy Kellogg ’81, ag econ, is senior vice president of Farmers and Merchants Bank of Guthrie, Okla. Randy serves as treasurer of the Governor’s International Team, member of the Oklahoma District Export Council and board member of Meridian Technology Center.

Iris M. Wilson ’81, A.N., nursing, and her husband, Robert, celebrated their 50 th wedding anniversary on Sept. 22, 2007. Danny Cook ’82, ag ed, and his wife, Nancy, have a daughter and son-in-law who adopted three boys, Jessiah, 3, Jeromiah, 2, Jaycen, 1. Danny is already saving for their college at OSU. Kristine Mayo ’82, HIDCS, is the No. 1 sales associate at Prudential Financial for 2008. Kristine and her husband, Dewayne, have two daughters, Courtney and Chelsea. Courtney is interning at Walt Disney World, and Chelsea is in her first year of college. John McIntyre ’82, mgmt, and his wife, Debbie, have been married for 26 years. Their daughter, Jillian, graduated from OSU last year with a degree in interior design and married Brian Conaghan on Oct. 20, 2007. Their son, Jay, graduated from high school and runs track at OU. Tim Winslow ’82, RTVF, currently resides in Tulsa, Okla., after living in Kentucky, Tennessee, Florida and Texas. He is happy to be living among loyal OSU alumni. Randy Clough ’83, A.S., const mgmt, ’84, B.S., const mgmt, works for Benham Constructors in Oklahoma City, after working in Atlanta, Ga. Randy enjoys OSU sports and being closer to his family. Alan White ’83, ind eng and mgmt, and his wife, Colleen White ’84, med tech, are proud their daughter, Kristen, is enrolled in OSU’s animal science program. Alan is manager of Texas Instrument’s Sherman site. Deanne Bruce ’84, elem ed, married Darrell Bruce on Oct. 20, 2007. Terry O. Henderson ’84, an sci, and his wife, Beth, have two children, Oliver, 15, and Amelia, 13. Oliver plays for the Brebeuf Jesuit varsity hockey team. Amelia plays for Hamilton Heights volleyball team and also plays hockey as a goalie. Eddie A. Mack ’85, ag econ, and his wife, Patty, are proud their son, Jacob, plans to attend OSU and major in mechanical engineering.

Michael E. White ’85, sec ed, and his wife, Jennifer, live in Stillwater. Michael is a guidance counselor at Stillwater High School and has worked in education for 16 years. Wayne Wilczek ’85, sociology, is vice president of member services for University and Community Federal Credit Union in Stillwater. Cathleen Blankenship ’86, micro, married Gary Blankenship on July 16, 2007. Don Gable ’86, acct, and his wife, Jamie Gable ’78, gen bus, live in Stillwater, where Don is president of Arvest Bank. Steve Harrison ’86, journ, and his wife, Teresa, and their children, Karissa, 4, and Preston, 1, live in Cary, N.C. Steve is vice president of investor relations for Qimonda AG, a leading semiconductor company headquartered in Munich, Germany. Cyndi D. Harvey ’86, org admin, and her husband, Samuel, have four grandchildren, Melanie, 10, Ian, 5, Sam, 2, and Emily, who was born on July 27, 2007. Roger Hobgood ’86, D.O., and his wife, Norma, celebrated their fifth wedding anniversary, and they live in Sapulpa, Okla. Roger has three children, Millie, 16, Forrest, 14, and Spencer, 12. Roger is an anesthesiologist at Via Christi Hospital in Wichita, Kan. Jim Redd ’86, Ed.D., was inducted into the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame in January. Jim is director of athletics and physical education chair at William Jewell College in Liberty, Mo. He began his coaching career in 1966 at the University of Colorado-Boulder and returned to his alma mater, Northwest Missouri State University, in 1976 as football head coach. In 1979, Jim won MIAA Coach of the Year and later served as athletic director for the Bearcats. Michael R. Kinnison ’86, org admin, deployed to Iraq with the 45th Infantry Brigade Combat Team. Jerry Burt ’87, psych, is a collections manager at Economy Supply. Jerry and his wife, Beverly, have four

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Scholarship Fulfills Pilot’s Dream

Yuko Hasegawa has always dreamed of flying commercial airplanes.

photo / Gary Lawson

“Things are done in certain ways,” says Hasegawa, whose After being awarded a scholarship from Women in passion for airplanes began in junior high. Aviation last March, this OSU alumna now has the opportuInitially she dreamed of becoming a flight attendant nity to make her dreams come true. because she thought it was her only option. “I was told girls Yuko Hasegawa graduated from OSU in 2005 with a are to be flight attendants, and boys are pilots,” she says. master’s in natural and applied science with an option in aviaIt wasn’t until she was attending college in the United tion and space science. States that her dream significantly changed. While flying home The scholarship will enable Hasegawa to attend a 10-week commercial airline pilot advanced training-airline/jet transition to Japan for spring break, she heard a woman introduce herself as the pilot of the non-stop flight from Chicago to Tokyo. course in Palm Coast, Fla., and become eligible for employ“I said to myself, ‘Did I just hear a woman’s voice?’” ment with the program’s partnering commercial airlines. In that moment Hasegawa decided she was going to Usually pilots apply for employment with regional airlines become a pilot. “If she can do it, I can do it,’” she thought. after they acquire about a thousand hours of flying time and As a student sponsored by OSU NASA, Hasegawa attended a certain amount of multi-engine experience, says Hasegawa, two consecutive Women in Aviation conferences where she who has her multi-engine license but hasn’t had the funds to learned about the different scholarships the organization offers. continue flying multi-engine airplanes to gain experience, until Hasegawa applied for the Women now. This training program will give her “I said to myself, ‘Did in Aviation Scholarship in fall 2007 and enough experience to fly for commercial I just hear a woman’s received a call in January telling her she airlines. voice? If she can do was the recipient. After graduating from OSU, Hasegawa it, I can do it.’” “I cried, and I was so happy,” says worked for 14 months as an account Hasegawa, who has flown single engine propeller planes since manager for a company that repairs aircraft parts in 1998 and already met their hour requirements. Oklahoma City. When Hasegawa was awarded the scholarship, she asked a “I learned a lot from that job,” she says. “It helped me woman on the scholarship committee why she had been chosen. understand the maintenance side of an airplane. I have respect The woman told Hasegawa her essay stood out among the for anyone who fixes an airplane.” other 25 applicants. Even though she enjoyed her job, she still longed to fly “She told me, ‘You will be appreciative and will maximize airplanes. what you can get out of the scholarship. You are dedicated “I would hear the sound of jet engines, see them taking off, to the aviation industry and will be an inspiration to future and I would miss it,” she says. “I was making good money, but generations,’” Hasegawa says. I didn’t care because I wanted to fly.” After Hasegawa completes the training course, she plans to Realizing her place was inside the airplane, she quit her job fly for regional airlines for a couple years. and now works as an assistant chief flight instructor at AirOne “Then I want to fly for a major airline so I can pilot a plane Flight Academy at Wiley Post Airport in Oklahoma City. in Japan with my parents on board and announce their names,” She’ll be able to attend the training course when the time is Yuko says. right since the scholarship has no expiration date. “Maybe I’ll Rachel Sheets do it when it’s really cold in Oklahoma since the course is in Florida,” she says. Hasegawa grew up in Japan where the culture is very traditional. 104

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children, Amber, 18, Jarid, 11, Seth, 6, and Zayn, 3. Lee Redick ’87, RTVF, and his wife, Kristi, live in Edmond, Okla., and say they are glad to be home after living in Springfield, Mo. Rebecca Reynolds Eastham ’88, HRAD, and her husband, Kyle, live in Stillwater. Rebecca is general manager of the Atherton Hotel. Kyle launched a full-time professional speaking business, which provides motivational and professional development talks to companies around the country. Ross Freeman ’88, mktg, and his wife, Mimi, relocated back to Tulsa when Ross accepted a job with Oklahoma Tank Lines based in Oklahoma City. They are glad to be closer to family and OSU. Kevin James ’88, pol sci, has worked for Sam’s Club for 16 years. Kevin’s wife, Judy Unruh-James ’88, mktg, enjoys being a stay-athome mom. Their daughter, Jordan, 14, and son, Tyler, 11, are both very active in sports. Jan Matheson ’88, soc, ’90, M.S., couns and std pers, and her husband, Ron, live in Ponca City, Okla. Jan has been in private practice for professional counseling for 12 years. Mary Blansett ’89, FRCD, and her husband, Bryan, live in Oklahoma. Mary recently sold her business. Jon Brock ’89, mgmt sci and comp syst, opened a new office in Prague, Czech Republic, for his company, Utilipoint International Inc. The office will be focused on primary research and consulting to the European energy and utility industries. Van A. Freeman ’89, econ, ’98, MBA, has worked for UBS Financial Services for six years. Van enjoys working with small companies on their retirement plans. He has served as an OSU Alumni Association president for Dallas the last two years. Roland G. Lemke ’89, arch, was appointed principal for the nationally ranked architectural, engineering

and planning firm, Cannon Design. Roland is a key member of the firm’s higher education practice and is the design principal on OSU’s new Science and Technology Research Center, slated for completion in 2009.

Patrick McConnell ’93, fin, and his wife, Jessica, welcomed their first daughter, Kenadie Brooklyn McConnell, on Nov. 19, 2007. Patrick is an administrative operations manager at Total Environment Inc. in Edmond, Okla. Stacy McGehee ’93, phys ed, has worked for FedEx Ground for five years and received the 5 Star Award. The award is one of the company’s highest awards and is based on achievements and accomplishments at work.

Mark McNitt ’89, mktg, and his father, Gary McNitt, ’69, enjoy the camaraderie before last season’s OSU-Rice football game. About 400 Cowboys from the Houston chapter came out for hotdogs before the game against the Owls. Jeff Neal ’89, const mgmt tech, married Cristine on May 25, 2007, in Kauai, Hawaii. Jeff’s daughter, Allison, graduated in May from OSU with a bachelor’s degree in apparel merchandising. She plans to work for Sears.

’90s Scott Martin ’90, bus admin, and his wife, Benet, and son, Marek, live in Plano, Texas. Eric B. Tinsley ’90, acct, recently celebrated five successful years in his private practice. Darrin Gray ’91, mktg, is purchasing manager for Saint-Gobain NorPro, which produces proppants used in the hydraulic fracturing process in oil and gas wells. Matthew Lewis ’92, an sci, is the head baseball and softball coach at Eisenhower High School in Lawton, Okla. Matt’s wife, Devon ’94, elem ed, is the district elementary librarian at Lawton public school. Doug Goodwin ’93, mktg, his wife, Kelly, and their son, Jackson, 2, live in Phoenix, Ariz. Ethan Little ’93, mech power tech, his wife, Gerrye Sue Little ’93, gen bus, and their two children, Shelby, 8, and Hunter, 3, live in Hot Springs, Ark.

Matthew L. Rice ’93, D.O., is a family practice physician for the Nez Perce Tribe in Lapwai, Idaho. Vera Adams ’94, DVM, and her husband, Michael Hancock, welcomed a baby girl, Marlee Brooke Hancock, on Nov. 18, 2007. Carol Ann Baur ’94, acct, and her husband, David, welcomed a daughter, Landry Ann, on Feb. 15, 2007. Carol is a controller for T. Rowe Pipe LLC. Kristopher Lepere ’94, bio sci, ’99, D.O., and his wife, Kristi, are proud new parents of Anna Grace Lepere.

from Montgomery, Ala., to Japan this summer as Tim took command of the 374th maintenance squadron. Erin Taylor Coy ’96, FRCD, married Christopher Coy at the Tulsa Garden Center on Oct. 20, 2007. Judd Cryer ’96, mech eng, and his wife, Alexine, are parents of daughter, Arden Leigh. Janette Smith-Herren ’96, fin, and her husband, Casey, welcomed Chanley Nicole Herren on Nov. 12, 2007. Andrew M. Huss ’96, physio, and his wife, Tara, moved to Franklin, Tenn., to Andrew’s new pediatrician practice in July 2007. Becky J. Prater-King ’96, spec ed, and her husband, Jason, live in Hominy, Okla., where Becky coaches the Hominy High School cheerleaders. They won the cheerleading state championship in class A. Kristine Rouse ’96, DHM, and her husband, Tyler, welcomed their first child last December.

Michelle Bolick-Bolden ’95, civ eng, and her husband, Stephen, welcomed Zachary Ray Bolden on Nov. 16, 2006. Sharon Jett ’95, acct, was named an equity shareholder for the law firm of Higir, Allen and Lautin PC. She practices corporate and commercial law and is a licensed CPA in Texas. Scott Kline ’95, chem, married Suzanne Jimenez on Jan. 12. Scott has a daughter named Genoveva. Tammy Lee ’95, an sci, works for John Deere as tactical brand manager for compact tractors. Angela Nelson ’95, sec ed, lives in Texas and works in the real estate development business. Angela attends several football games during the year to visit her sorority sisters and other college friends. Timothy W. Trimmell ’95, mgmt, is in the U.S. Air Force. Tim’s wife, Michelle, and his son, Cody, moved

Tiffanie Bentley ’97, sec ed, ’00, M.S., couns and stud pers, says her twins, Steven Marston Bentley and Andrew Marston Bentley, already enjoy STATE magazine. Justin Covey ’97, mgmt, and his wife, Tennille Cheeck-Covey, welcomed Cesily Regan on May 17, 2007. Tennille is president of the Oklahoma Association of Women Dentists. Chad Leland ’97, mktg, moved home to Middletown, N.J., and recently celebrated his 10th anniversary with Ferguson Enterprises. Matt Willrath ’97, acct, ’99, M.S., and his wife, Jennifer Willrath ’99, MIS, welcomed their second child in July. The baby joins big sister Katelyn, 3.

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Ginger Ellis ’98, journ, and her husband, Michael, live in Kansas. Ginger has been with Cohlmia Marketing since May 2006. Derek Reagan Leinen ’98, gen bus, and his wife, Mary Ann, have a daughter, Reagan, 6, and a son, Brooks, 3. Jeramie Tidwell ’98, mktg, and his wife, Brenda ’97, leisure, a dental hygienist, have two children, Carson, 6, and Avery, 3. Carson and Avery love OSU and Pistol Pete. Sasha Archey ’99, and her husband, Bryce, welcomed their first baby in March. Laura Embry ’99, an sci, ’03, DVM, and her husband, John, have a 2-year-old son, Bill. Zachary Weigel ’99, econ, married Mikel McCurdy on Sept. 15, 2007.

’00s Jennifer Chandler ’00, geog, and her husband, Jeff, welcomed their first child last December. Kelley Dillon ’00, HRAD, and her husband, Brian Dillon ’01, elec eng, welcomed a daughter, Addison Misty, last November. Jason Steven Donehue ’00, MIS and acct sys, married Sarah Thomas on May 31. Jason is a vice president for Lehman Brothers, and Sarah is an actress in New York. Ticey Geyer ’00, HRAD, returned to the hospitality industry as the community development coordinator for Gatti Town in Frisco, Texas. Lindsey Greenwood ’00, mktg, completed her first year as director of donor, alumni and corporate relations for the OSU Foundation’s Houston regional office in December 2007. Kassi Johnson ’00, psych, ’02, M.S., couns and stud pers, and her husband, Scott, welcomed a baby in April. Brian Katterlenry ’00, mech eng, and his wife, Phoebe Katterlenry ’01, chem eng, welcomed Gwyneth

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An OSU ‘I Do’ Photo / Terry Drenner That included the late Of course he didn’t Paul Koro, D.O., then acting know it, but Ryan Miller’s president and dean, and first day on the job at OSU Sandy Cooper, director of Center for Health Sciences human resources. They both also was the day he met his gently cheered the couple on. future wife. “Dr. Koro encouraged Ryan, Bavette Leeper and I knew Bavette was interconducted his new ested,” Sandy says. employee orientation Ryan and Bavette spent and gave him a campus time as “just friends” for tour. It turned out to be several months and then a match made in Cowboy Bavette invited Ryan to Country. Ryan is direcdinner for his birthday. “You tor of the OSU College Pistol Pete helps Ryan Miller mean at night, when the sun of Osteopathic Medicine and Bavette Leeper cut the cake goes down, like a date?” Ryan Alumni Association and asked. He couldn’t accept his office is filled to burst- at a wedding send-off at OSU Center for Health Sciences. The the invitation (a car show ing with OSU-branded popular couple, both ardent beckoned) but the spark was items. Bavette is director ignited. They began seeing of research operations and OSU fans, were fetéd by their co-workers. each other. When Bavette graduate studies for OSU worked for a time at OSU-Okmulgee, Ryan Center for Health Sciences. noticed. “I started to realize I kinda missed Ryan and Bavette were married July that girl,” he says. 25. But back in 2002, she was working in Ryan proposed early this year at the human resources, and he was a new hire who Houston Raceway Park starting line. “It was recently earned a degree in business from romantic. It was the place Bavette saw her OSU. first big race,” he says. Besides, when he had “My first impression was, ‘He’s cool,’ to kneel down to help her with a broken flipbut I thought we came from two different flop, it was the perfect opportunity to pop worlds,” she says. the question. He loved drag racing, playing in a band He had the ring in his pocket, just waitand hanging out. She had a young child, a ing for the right moment. And here he was, full-time job and was focused on earning on bended knee. So he asked her. Right there bachelor’s and master’s degrees. on the starting line. After screams, hugs and Ryan says he visited her office frequently, kisses, she said yes, and then said it “about a ostensibly to raid the candy bowl. But he hundred more times,” Ryan says. cheerfully admits he really just wanted to The couple was congratulated by OSU talk to her. Who knew? Everyone. friends at an orange- and black-themed send“We ‘cat and moused it’ for a while,” off before they departed for their destination Bavette says. “But everyone around us knew wedding in Orlando. there was an attraction. They say they knew Marla Schaefer it before we did!”

Regan in February. She joins big brother Jacob Mack. Desiree Mantell ’00, DHM, is a buyer for junior apparel at Macy’s Midwest. Mandy Patrick ’00, elem ed, has two sons, Javen, 4, and Jaxon, 2.

Jess Webber ’00 health, became president of Jameson Management Inc., an international dental coaching firm, in J a n u a r y 20 0 8 . Jess has worked for Jameson since 2000 and manages the company’s coaching and information technology as well as its United Kingdom

division operations. Jess also hand l e s f i n a n c i a l, l e g a l, h u m a n resources, marketing, sales and corporate relations capacities. Stephen Hunt ’01, pol sci, and his wife, Katherine Hunt ’02, HRAD, welcomed their second daughter, Adriana McKenzie, on Nov. 27, 2007.

C l a ss n o t e s

William Joyce ’01, Engl, and his wife, Rachelle Razook-Joyce, welcomed their second son, Thomas, in July 2007, who joined his older brother, Jackson. William practices business at Lathrop & Gage in St. Louis. Jamey Mitchell ’01, ag econ, and his wife, Chelsey, welcomed Madison Nicole in September 2007. They also have a daughter, Emma Kate, 3. Carl P. Novara Jr. ’01, mktg, and his wife, Amy Novars ’98, mgmt, ’01, MBA, celebrated the birth of their son, Carl Patrick Novara III, on Sept. 17, 2007. Summer Streber-Patterson ’01, elem ed, and her husband, Brent, have two children, Chandler Rex, 2, and Chase Alan, 1. Yancy Wright ’01, plant and soil sci, ’03, M.S., ag econ, and Christina Higgins-Wright ’05, ag econ, were married on June 2, 2007, at the ConocoPhillips OSU Alumni Center. Samantha A. Bawden ’02, MIS, married John Bawden on April 28, 2007, and they welcomed a baby girl in February. James H. Bowers ’02, fire prot and saf tech, and his wife, Jennifer, live in California, where James is a safety director at KS Industries LP. He is a member of ACIG Safety/Claims Management steering committee and Associate Builders and Contractors safety committee. James is also on the board of Certified Safety Professionals and is involved with American Society of Safety Engineers. Guyla Davis ’02, psych, graduated from Bowling Green State University with a Ph.D. in developmental psychology and began working as assistant professor of psychology at Ouachita Baptist University.

Holly M. Bacon ’03, FRCD, relocated to the Tulsa area. Cassandra Fixico ’03, AAS CIS, has been with Parker Electric Co. for 10 years.

Matthew Waddell ’04, econ, married Alison Francis ’06, B.A., on June 7.

Arden Jay Gillespie ’03, DVM, and his wife, Keri, welcomed their third child last December.

Brian Dale ’05, gen bus, and his wife, Robin, live in Texas. Brian was promoted to credit analyst from risk management and was transferred to a larger branch in McKinney, Texas.

Tara Hannaford ’03, gen bus, married Bo on Jan. 12, 2008. Tara enjoys attending OSU football games to watch her brother, Brady Bond, play.

Colby Funk ’05, biosyst and ag eng, transferred from the quality department as a combine pre-delivery specialist to the engineering department as a field test engineer.

Denny Kramer ’03, Ph.D., Engl, is assistant dean of the graduate school at Baylor University.

Lindsey Mathis ’05, mktg, married Adam Stogner ’06, const mgmt tech, on Oct. 27, 2007.

Jayme Orgain ’03, bus and univ studies, is director of Stillwater’s third Renaissance School.

Katrina A. Lauber-Ridge ’05, ind eng and mgmt, married Chris M. Ridge on June 14, 2007.

Shannon Smith ’03, nutri sci, was accepted into Arizona State’s Ph.D. program in physical activity, nutrition and wellness, where her focus will be exercise and wellness.

Elise Schuller ’05, comm sci and disord, married Mitch Neely of Tulsa, Okla., on May 26, 2008.

Candace Beth Guy ’04, journ, and her husband, Kevin, welcomed their first child, Katelyn McKenna Guy, last November. Amanda Horn ’04, cell and molec bio, graduated from medical school in May and is doing her residency in pediatrics. Lori Golden Nordstrom ’04, elem ed, married Jonathan Nordstrom on Aug. 18, 2007. They moved to Oklahoma City, where Jonathan is opening his own chiropractic practice.

John S. Soderstrom ’05, chem eng, ’06, MBA, married Jamie E. Greve ’06, an sci, on Jan. 6, 2007. Heather Branson ’06, ag leadshp, married Ross Kubik on June 7, 2008. They live in Newkirk, Okla. Dane Sallaska ’06, elem ed, and his wife, Jody Sallaska ’00, FRCD, welcomed a daughter, Ella Jane, on Feb. 28, 2007. Jennifer L. Doerksen ’06, mgmt, works for the OSU Spears School of Business and is working part time on an MBA.

Keep Us Posted! Whether you’ve changed jobs or last names or added a new Cowboy or Cowgirl to the mix, we want to hear about it! Members of the OSU Alumni Association can submit classnotes for publication in the STATE magazine and on the orangeconnection.org website.

Jameson McGee ’02, elec eng, and Bridget (Burkett) McGee ’01, broadcast journ, celebrated the birth of their first daughter, Allison Brianne McGee, on Sept. 13, 2007.

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Visit orangeconnection.org/update to update your information or contact us by phone at 405-744-5368 or by mail at 201 ConocoPhillips OSU Alumni Center, Stillwater, OK 74078-7043, c/o Classnotes.

Lindsay Grace ’06, nut sci, is a nutritionist for the Otoe-Missouria Tribe of Oklahoma. Lindsay’s husband, Spencer Grace ’05, wildlife and fish, works for the Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation. Meghan Hight ’06, sec ed, teaches biology and coaches boys and girls varsity tennis at Owasso Public Schools. Ashley Rae Martin ’06, acct, and Lance Derick Ryel ’07, acct and fin, plan to marry in September. Both live in Katy, Texas, and work for Houston oil and gas companies. Randle A. Moyer II ’06, ag ed, teaches at Sperry High School. Clayton D. Stauter ’06, mktg, was promoted to assistant store manager of Dillard’s in Shawnee, Okla. From June 2006-07, Clayton was the men’s area sales manager with Dillard’s Woodland Hills in Tulsa, Okla. Caleb Stevenson ’06, theater, and his wife, Kari Stevenson ’07, theater, moved to Chicago where Caleb takes improvisation comedy classes from the Second City and hopes to perform there someday. Kari is pursuing a master’s in history. Brian Lindley ’07, fin, married Tiffany Lindley on June 16, 2007. They recently bought their first house. Crystal J. Franklin ’07 bus, recently completed U.S. Navy basic training and was meritoriously promoted to the rank of Navy seaman at Recruit Training Command in Great Lakes, Ill. Her training included classroom study and practical instruction on naval customs, first aid, firefighting, water safety and survival, and shipboard and aircraft safety.

Life Member Randy Thurman ’84, MBA, is copresident and chief financial officer of Retirement Investment Advisors Inc., which was named one of the Most Dependable Wealth Managers of the central U.S. for 2008 by Goldline Research and published in the May 19 issue of Forbes magazine.

In Memory

general manger of the Old Timers Rodeo and the Indian National Finals Rodeo. He appeared in movies including My Heroes Have Always Sam B. Aubrey Been Cowboys and wrote the poem ’46, ed, coach of The Cowboy’s Prayer and the book the men’s basket- If Our Flag Could Talk. Clem served ball team from in the Oklahoma State Senate from 1970 to 1973, died 1954 to 1972 and was elected to the May 6, 2008, at U.S. House of Representatives in age 85 in Stillwater. 1972, where he became the first firstSam enrolled at term congressman to be named OSU in 1940 and was the starting to the Rules Committee. He coaucenter on the 1941 freshman team thored creation of the rural caucus, and the only sophomore to letter a voice for rural people and agriculon the 1942 squad, which won the ture. Memorial contributions may Missouri Valley Conference title. He be made to the Clem McSpadden earned another varsity letter his Endowed Scholarship Fund at the junior year before joining the Army OSU Foundation, P.O. Box 1749, Stillin 1943. A first lieutenant, Sam was water, Okla., 74076-1749. awarded a Purple Heart and Silver Star for service in the Arno-Po cam- Troy Alonzo Ward ’48, agron, ’63, paign in Italy. Even though a bullet M.S., occup and adult ed, died May shattered his hip in 1944, and doc- 9, 2008, in Norman, Okla., at age 88. tors told him he would be in a wheel- After service in World War II, Troy chair by the time he was 35, Aubrey came to OSU, where he organized returned to college in September a National Guard Unit, and he con1945 and credited Coach Henry tinued his military service through Iba’s rigorous exercise routine for the Army Reserves until 1980 when restoring his health. Sam was a he retired as a lieutenant colonel. starting forward on the 1946 team After gradation, Troy began his that went 31-2 and won its second- 20-year career with OSU Extenconsecutive national champion- sion, serving Eufaula, Wilburton, ship. All five starters of that squad, McAlester and Okemah. Later he including Sam, were named First- managed Canadian Valley Ranch team All Missouri Valley Conference. in Seminole County, importing and After graduation, Sam coached breeding exotic cattle and conthree seasons at Pryor (Okla.) High ducting land and soil improvements. S chool a nd four sea sons at He traveled worldwide promoting Okmulgee Tech Junior College. In the breeds. 1953, he returned to OSU as the freshman coach and served in the Robert “Bob” Newton Wall Jr. capacity for 10 years, accumulating ’54, died July 30, 2008, in Orlando, 62 wins and just 18 losses. He Fla., at age 77. In college, Bob was became assistant coach in 1964 a member of Sigma Phi Epsilon, and took over as head coach upon and later he served in U.S. Air Force. Iba’s retirement in 1970. Sam led After taking Phillips Petroleum’s the Cowboys from 1970 to 1973 and management training program, retired in 1983 following adminis- he become a marketing manager trative roles in the athletic depart- for Crane Carrier Co. In 1963 he ment. Memorial contributions may became president of Manufactured be made in his name to the OSU Products Inc. in Odessa, Texas, and Foundation, P.O. Box 1749, Stillwater, later formed CCI, manufacturing Okla., 74076. concrete construction equipment in Georgetown, Texas. He started Clem McSpadden ’48, an sci, another concrete company before died July 7, 2008, at age 82. The selling it and retiring in Florida. He legendar y rodeo announcer, enjoyed singing in the church choir congressman, state senator and and woodworking. grandnephew of Will Rogers was a founding member of OSU’s Rodeo Thomas N. Fowler ’55, mech Club. In 1947, he began his suc- eng, died on May 11, 2007. He was cessful rodeo career that included married to Jacque Fowler ’54, roping and bulldogging and also sec ed. rodeo announcing. Clem served as general manager of the National Finals Rodeo for 18 years and as

Clyde P. Trueax Jr. ’57 geog, died March 25, 2007, at age 79. After graduating from OAMC, he graduated from the Lake Carriers School in Cleveland, Ohio, and took additional training courses at Massachusetts Maritime Academy and Maine Maritime Academy. During World War II, he served as quartermaster on the USS Boston; during the Korean War he enlisted in the Marine Corps and was wounded two days before a truce was declared; and during the Vietnam War he sailed on a merchant marine vessel carrying tanks to Vietnam. Both of Clyde’s parents, Zola (Neaves) and Clyde Trueax, graduated from OSU in 1911. Roy Carberry ’59, mech and petro eng, died July 26, 2008, at age 71. Roy attended OSU on a basketball scholarship, lettering three years under Coach Henry Iba, and also played baseball and lettered in track his senior year. After graduating, he began working for Conoco’s Continental Pipeline Division in the engineering training program and joined the Army’s critical skills program. During his career with Conoco, he moved 13 times, spending two years in Tripoli, Libya, North Africa, on loan from Continental Pipeline to Oasis Oil Company as an inspector and engineer for the construction of storage facilities and a pipeline to transport crude oil from the desert to the Mediterranean coast. He and his wife, Gayle, traveled to 17 countries in Europe and around the Mediterranean before returning to Ponca City. In 1973, they moved to Stillwater, where he owned and operated the Texaco distributorship and was an oil and gas broker. From 1989 to 2002, he owned the Mail Boxes Etc. franchise for Oklahoma. Roy was active in the First Christian Church. OSU Board of Governors, OSU Athletic Council and Stillwater’s First National Bank. He was affiliated with the National Organization of Professional Engineers, Mensa and Rotary Club. Robert Carl “Bob” Cutburth ’71, sec ed, died July 3, 2008, in Oklahoma City at age 60. Bob grew up in Tulsa, lettering in football, wrestling and baseball, and earned a football scholarship to OSU. During his senior year in college, Bob received the Rex Martin Memorial Trophy as the state’s top major scholarfootball player for 1969. He was

drafted by the Chicago Bears in 1970. Bob also served in the U.S. Army Reserves for six years and was presented the American Spirit Honor Medal. Bob coached football at Webster High in 1971 and also at OSU and Southern Methodist University before returning to Stillwater to begin a 30-year business career with Fenton Office Supply in 1974. He coached youth sports and was a motivational speaker. He was active with the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, Stillwater Medical Center Foundation, Big Brothers/ Big Sisters and his church. Ruthann Cruce Benyshek, ’72, Engl, ’75, M.A., sec ed, died July 6, 2008. As an OSU student, Ruthann worked in the OSU library and lived in Willard Hall. After graduating she taught high school briefly before working for the University of Georgia at the Institute of Government, COSMIC and University Computing and Networking Services until her retirement in 2003. Terry Hyman ’74, ag ed, ’90, M.S., pol sci and pub admin, died June 27, 2008, at age 56 following a tractor accident. Terry coached the OSU Rodeo Team and served as coordinator of OSU Freshman Services before his election in 2004 to the Oklahoma House of Representatives. He served as chairman of the Tourism and Recreation Committee and sat on the Education Committee, Higher Education and Career Tech Committee and the Natural Resources Committee. Terry also worked on the Farm Aide program with Willie Nelson. Scott Hagerty ’93, pol sci, prelaw and internat rel, died June 3, 2008, at age 41 while serving in Afghanistan. An Army major, Scott graduated from Stillwater High School in 1984 and joined the Army in 1986. Upon graduation from OSU, Scott received his commission as a second lieutenant in the Army Reserve. His first deployment was to Iraq from October 2004 to August 2005. He spent 2006 and 2007 stationed in Africa, where he helped repair water wells in northern Uganda. He was married to Daphne and had two young sons, Jonathan and Samuel.

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History

A Change in Plans It was going to take more than the Payne County Sheriff with a court order to prevent the old Texas Ranger from chairing this special meeting.

agreement to bring a new, privately s chairman of the Oklahoma funded interstate highway to Stillwater A&M College board of regents, that would pass through the heart of Col. Robert Terry Stuart called campus. By using existing paved, gravel the public hearing in the early summer and earthen roads, the Albert Pike of 1949 to discuss the closing of Highway connected the Oklahoma Washington Street through campus. towns of Sallisaw, Muskogee, Tulsa, But moments before the meetStillwater, Enid and Alva from Hot ing was to begin, the regents learned Springs, Ark., to Colorado Springs, that District Judge Henry Hoel had Colo. dispatched the sheriff with a cease and At Stillwater’s intersection of Sixth desist order to halt the meeting. and Washington, a county section road, The college business manager, J. Lewie Sanderson, who was already in the council room, described what happened next. “As the sheriff approached the meeting room, the chairman (Col. Stuart) ordered the door closed in his face and physically held closed while the university’s legal counsel (John Monk) shuddered in his boots.” The sheriff remained at the door while the regents called Oklahoma Attorney General Mac Q. Williamson, thinking he would support the university’s position. But the colorful old lawyer responded, “I’m for progress, you’re for progress, and (OAMC President) Henry Bennett is for progress. But, my God, I can’t just throw up my hands and holler, ‘Three cheers for progress’; I’ve gotta Sanderson have a little law on my side.” The attorney general did agree to represent the university in the case, but it took another year to resolve the drama that had started three decades earlier. FEW ROADS

During OAMC’s first 30 years, transportation routes connecting Stillwater to the rest of the state were extremely limited. In 1918 President James Cantwell improved the situation by securing an 110

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the highway turned north and divided the campus in half with academic buildings mostly on the east and Oklahoma Agricultural Experiment Station facilities on the west. The paved road continued two miles north of Stillwater, where it returned to graded earth. In previous years, a small business district had developed along Knoblock, but with the introduction of the Albert Pike Highway in 1918, a second campus business district (now known as “The Strip”) formed along Washington to Sixth. These businesses grew along with OAMC’s enrollment, which reached more than 3,000 by 1929. When President Bennett first proposed his 25-year campus

expansion plan in 1930, he envisioned the Albert Pike Highway/Washington Street area playing a major role in improving campus access and exposure. In the plan, Bennett and his chief architect, Phil Wilber, proposed construction of a magnificent college library at the heart of campus. They envisioned Washington Street splitting into north- and southbound lanes that would curve around both sides of the library, similar to Lincoln Boulevard that encircles the Oklahoma State Capitol. Stillwater’s business community along

south Washington Street was thrilled. As campus enrollment increased to 4,500 students by 1937, more automobiles and residence halls were appearing. The administration began to ponder the complications of vehicular traffic and pedestrian safety at the center of campus. In 1937 they proposed that the Albert Pike Highway turn north onto Main

vacate Washington to begin excavation for the college library. Washington Street business owners attended the county commission meeting to protest the street closing, but commissioners agreed to the college’s request. Those opposing the college’s plan then successfully secured an injunction from the district court, keeping the street open. The college then appealed to the 22nd Oklahoma Legislature for

“I can’t just throw up my hands and holler, ‘Three cheers for progress’; I’ve gotta have a little law on my side.” — Mac Williamson

Street and angle back to Washington via Boomer Road northeast of the Williamson campus. The City of Stillwater agreed as well as the Payne County commissioners. CROSSROADS

A decade later, two of the largest and most expensive construction projects in the history of the college were awarded. The Student Union excavation began in May 1948 just east of Washington, and the university administration petitioned the county to close and

authorization. Senate bill No. 213 was approved by the House and Senate and signed by Gov. Roy J. Turner on May 31, 1949, allowing the college to take ownership of “easements, leases, permits, licenses and rights-of-way.” The district judge then granted the writ prohibiting the meeting described at the beginning of this story. When this same judge later ruled that the Senate bill was unconstitutional, the college appealed the decision with the help of Williamson, who finally had “a little law” on his side and took the case to the Oklahoma Supreme Court. In the meantime, the frustrated building contractor was considering a civil suit against some Washington Street businesses because of construction delays. Finally, in the spring of 1950 the Supreme Court ruled in the university’s favor, and Washington Street was closed at the point where buggies had entered the OAMC campus and experiment station six decades earlier. David C. P eters O S U S pecial C ollections & U niversit y A rchives

Regents chair Robert Stuart, left, successfully led campus efforts to end Washington Street’s bisection of Regents chair Robert Stuart, campus. left, successfully led campus efforts to end Washington Street’s bisection of campus.

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