The University of Tulsa Collins College of Business Magazine - Winter 2017

the university of

COLLINS COLLEGE OF

BUSINESS MAGAZINE • Winter 2018

Invest in your future at TU the university of

Collins College of Business

Emily Reh (BSBA ’09, MEB ‘14)

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MS in Finance

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MS in Quantitative Finance (New)

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utulsa.edu/gradbusiness • 918-631-2242

THE UNIVERSITY OF TULSA

COLLINS COLLEGE OF

BUSINESS MAGAZINE • Winter 2018

Features 7 Business as a Force for Good 8 Family Tradition 9 An Oasis in the Desert 10 TU Competition for Young Entrepreneurs 11 Chocolate as a Changemaker 12 Helping in the Fight Against Hunger 13 Developing a 10-year Business Plan for Cherokee Heritage Center 14 Finance Alumna Takes Giving Global 15 Welcome to the Jungle 16 Business Hall of Fame Inductees

Departments 4 Message from the Dean and Letter from the Chair 6 Executive Advisory Board Profiles 18 Distinguished Alumna Profile 19 2017 J. Pascal Twyman Award Recipient 20 Veteran Alumnus Profile 21 Young Alumnus Profile 22 College News 23 Faculty News 24 Staff Profile 25 Faculty Research 25 Faculty Publications 26 Donor Profile

business.utulsa.edu

On the cover: TU Global Scholars Austin Boyington and Darcy Elmore have partnered with the Healthy Community Store Initiative, which operates a mobile grocery store that travels to Tulsa-area food deserts, to offer an affordable line of dehydrated fruits and vegetables.

The University of Tulsa does not discriminate on the basis of personal status or group characteristics including, but not limited to individuals on the basis of race, color, religion, national or ethnic origin, age, gender, disability, veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, genetic information, ancestry, or marital status in the administration of its educational policies, admissions policies, employment policies, scholarship and loan programs, athletic and other University sponsored programs. Questions regarding implementation of this policy may be addressed to the Office of Human Resources, 800 South Tucker Drive, Tulsa, Oklahoma 74104-9700, 918-631-2616. Requests for accommodation of disabilities may be addressed to the University’s 504 Coordinator, Dr. Tawny Rigsby 918-631-2315. To ensure availability of an interpreter, five to seven days notice is needed; 48 hours is recommended for all other accommodations. TU#17449

Message from the Dean Turning the page on a new year, the Collins College of Business begins 2018 with a spirit of anticipation. The University of Tulsa has adopted a new strategic plan that lays out a commitment to prepare graduates for high-quality jobs while playing a role in helping them write the stories of their lives. We stand eager to join this effort as we enhance our program offerings to equip our students with a business foundation that meets the needs of an evolving workforce.

Our graduate programs represent a significant growth opportunity for the college. We introduced four new programs in 2017 that align with job sectors that have increasing needs for skilled professionals. The newest program, an interdisciplinary collaboration with TUʼs Oxley College of Health Sciences, addresses an innovative approach to how healthcare systems can improve the health of entire populations. The study of medical informatics, social determinants of health, design thinking and business principles converge in an educational experience currently only available on the east and west coasts.

The use of big data only continues to increase, and with it, the demand for experts across numerous industries who can analyze, interpret and communicate findings from large data sets. Our MS in Business Analytics launched in the fall of 2017, and we look forward to welcoming additional students in the coming semesters.

For international students who want an in-depth study of energy from a global perspective, the MS in Global Energy combines online and in-person courses with an immersive experience over the summer. And finally, drawing on the success of our MS in

Finance, we have developed a STEM-certified quantitative track for individuals with a business or background in the natural sciences, engineering or applied sciences.

As our programs expand, we have added and will continue to add faculty members to support that growth. The strength of our faculty factors into accreditation by the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB), which we have proudly held since 1949.

Our accreditation is up for renewal in 2018, and I appreciate the role that each member of the Collins College of Business faculty and staff plays in the maintenance of this prestigious distinction.

Sincerely,

A. Gale Sullenberger Dean, Collins College of Business

Letter from the Chair Our Executive Advisory Board comprises a group of business leaders committed to serving as a resource to students and corporate partners. Each of us shares an enthusiasm for elevating the college and its programs as we prepare graduates to excel in their careers. Our Business Career Center works closely with employers to provide services like interview preparation and résumé workshops and to identify internship and employment opportunities.

I am excited to welcome Leonelle Thompson, a third-generation TU alumna, as the new assistant dean and director of the Business Career Center. Leonelle brings an infectious enthusiasm to the role and already has some great ideas in the works to strengthen our corporate partnerships and expand our alumni network. You can read more about her on page 24.

This past year, President Clancy emphasized how TU serves as a force for good, whether through projects, research or community outreach. I enjoy seeing the difference our students and alumni are making with regard to social initiatives not only here in the Tulsa community, but around the world. The TU family is indeed a “Force for Good,” and you’ll get to meet just a few of these individuals in the feature story that starts on page 7.

TU students have such amazing alumni and supporters who serve as examples of the kind of leaders who succeed in business.

We had the honor of inducting three of these outstanding individuals into our Business Hall of Fame this past fall (page 16).

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It also was wonderful to celebrate two fellow business alumni during Homecoming: recently retired Williams executive Robyn Ewing was named Distinguished Alumna for her exceptional achievements in business and QuikTrip cofounder Burt Holmes was selected as the J. Paschal Twyman Award recipient for his incredible legacy of service (pages 18-19).

It has been an honor to serve as chair of the Executive Advisory Board, and I look forward to our meeting this spring. As always, we value input from our alumni and corporate partners. You are welcome to send any thoughts you may have on ways we can enhance our programs to ccb-eab@utulsa.edu.

Sincerely,

Paula Kuykendall (BSBA ’86) Chair, Collins College of Business Executive Advisory Board

COLLINS COLLEGE OF BUSINESS EXECUTIVE ADVISORY BOARD

Mark Abbott (BS ‘79, MBA ‘85) Principal Project Manager Phillips 66

Jim Dilley (BS ’91)

Chairman & CEO American Heritage Bank

John Lindsay (BS ’86)

Sean Alexander (BSBA ‘97)

Dax Craig (BS ’91)

Chris Crawshaw (BSBA ’88) Investment Advisor

Chief Operating Officer Service King

Tally Ferguson

A. Charles Funai (BS ’78)

Ralph Hill (MBA ’84)

Angela Kouplen (MBA ’02) Vice President of Administration and Chief Information Officer WPX Energy

Marc Maun (BS ’80)

Sharon McElroy (BSBA ‘86)

Clint Dishman (BS ’92, MBA ’97)

Kim Fairchild (BSBA ’96) Assurance Partner HoganTaylor LLP

Senior Vice President, Risk Management, Bank of Oklahoma

Nate Lovelle (BSBA ’00)

Marcia MacLeod (BS ’75, JD ‘80)

CEO and President Helmerich & Payne

Vice President-Wealth Manager Senior Portfolio Manager UBS Financial Services

Albert H. Myres, Sr. (BSBA ‘86)

Antwane Owens (BSBA ‘96)

Group Managing Partner & Chief Business Development Officer OCTCET Inc.

President and CEO Valen Technologies, Inc.

Retired President & Chief Executive Officer First National Bank of Okmulgee

Senior Vice President Strategic Investment Advisory Group Bank of Oklahoma

Senior Finance Manager Physical Stores Amazon

Chief Credit Officer BOK Financial

Retired Senior Vice President of Human Resources and Administration, WPX Energy

John Redmond

Pam Peck (MBA ’89)

Retired Vice President and Treasurer Dollar Thrifty Automotive Group

Stu Crum (BSBA ’82)

President Cameron Glass

Jim Cameron (BS ‘66)

Nevyle Cable (BS ‘77)

Principal Director of Microsoft AT

(BSPE '88 MBA '95)

President, and CEO BlueStone Natural Resources, LLC

President Barga, LLC

Chairman and CEO ETX Energy, LLC

Garrett Mills (BS ‘06)

Vice President Marketing McElroy Manufacturing

Business and Finance Analyst Rib Crib Corporation

Derek Reiners

Warren Ross (MBA ’02)

SVP, Finance & Treasurer ONEOK

CEO The Ross Group

Emeritus Member: Jim Miller (BS ’66)

Retired Managing Partner, Arthur Andersen OK/AR

Thad Satterfield (BA ’90)

Director, University Relations & Recruiting Phillips 66

Bob Dennis (BS ’83) Managing Partner KPMG, LLP

Paula Kuykendall (BSBA ‘86) Retired Senior Vice President & Chief Accounting Officer Hilton Hotels Worldwide

Wesley Mitchell

Principal Consultant Digital Convergence Consulting

Bradley Stoots (BS ’81) Managing Partner Grant Thornton, LLP

Not pictured:

Mike Colby (BS ’92), Bridgewater Associates Andrew Ziola, Vice President, Investor Relations and Corporate Affairs, ONEOK

Chantal Veevaete (MBA ’90) Retired SVP Human Resources Phillips 66

Donna Weinkauf (BS ’83) Weinkauf Petroleum

Sonja Wilson (BS ’82, MS ’83) CEO Strategy2Funding

The University of T ulsa Collins College of Business Magazine Winter 2018

The University of Tulsa Business Magazine is published by The University of Tulsa Collins College of Business, 800 S. Tucker Drive, Tulsa, OK 74104-9700.

The University of Tulsa Gerard P. Clancy, President A. Gale Sullenberger, Dean, Collins College of Business Ralph Jackson, Associate Dean, Collins College of Business Leonelle Thompson, Assistant Dean, Collins College of Business Amy Gerald, Director of Development Amber Remke, Communications Specialist

Collins College of Business Mission Statement Our mission, through creating and disseminating knowledge, is to educate, mentor and transform business students for professional and leadership roles in all forms of organizations.

The University of Tulsa Mission The University of Tulsa is a private, independent, doctoral-degree granting institution whose mission reflects these core values: excellence in scholarship, dedication to free inquiry, integrity of character and commitment to humanity.

The University achieves its mission by educating men and women of diverse backgrounds and cultures to become literate in the sciences, humanities and arts; think critically, and write and speak clearly; succeed in their professions and careers; behave ethically in all aspects of their lives; welcome the responsibility of citizenship, service and leadership in a changing world; and acquire the skills and appetite for lifelong learning.

EXECUTIVE ADVISORY BOARD PROFILES Albert Myres University of Tulsa defensive back Albert H. Myres Sr. (BSBA ’86) was drafted by the Los Angeles Raiders during his senior year and headed to the west coast to play pro football. But misfortune struck, and a devastating injury derailed his NFL prospects.

“I went to L.A. and found myself in a strange position,” he said.

“I twisted my knee, tore some ligaments and football was over.”

However, Myres had chosen TU not only for its football program, but also its academics. He returned to Tulsa to finish the few credit hours he had left in the finance program and launched a career that he says, “has done me well through the years.”

After graduating, Myres worked in investments for stock brokerage firm Dean Witter Reynolds for about eight years when an unexpected job offer set him on a different course. He met Kay Bailey Hutchison, the first woman elected to the Texas State Senate, and she asked Myres to direct her state office.

“Working for Kay was actually like getting another degree,” he said. “I wasn’t a political guy, but my role was to serve as her interface to the business community.” That position opened the door to offers from three corporations: American General, Enron and Shell Oil. “It’s a good thing I selected Shell, because the other two are gone,” Myres quipped.

His role as constituent and CEO support led to a series of promotions — manager of state government affairs, vice president of Shell’s U.S. foundation and finally senior lobbyist in Washington, D.C. After returning to Houston as chief of staff for Shell, he was tapped by Fortune 250 firm Reliant Energy to be its vice president of government and regulatory affairs.

Reliant was sold in 2010 following the financial crisis, and Myres decided it was time to strike out on his own. He formed consulting firm A. Myres and Associates, serving clients in D.C. and Texas and later with three partners formed OCTCET, Inc. The company produces a diesel fuel oxygenator used by oil and gas drilling platforms, marine fleets, power plants and heavy equipment operators in the U.S. and internationally. In the midst of his career moves, Myres and his wife, Angela, also established A & A Land and Cattle Company, a thriving cattle ranch. He says these days, “I have jeans and boots on, either working with diesel or working cattle.”

Myres credits much of his success to two things: “I learned quite a bit about life and people playing football at TU and from the Collins College of Business, which I hold in high regard.” He also says that joining Hutchison’s team “was a door opener and showed me how policy interacts with business, something I was able to apply during my time at Shell and Reliant.”

But it all comes back to that pivotal decision to return to the classroom, heeding his parents’ early advice not to leave TU without a degree. He now shares that wisdom with student-athletes any time he has the opportunity. “You have to put as much emphasis on going to class as the coaches put on you going to practice. As a student-athlete, it is imperative to use every resource available in order to achieve your goal of graduating.”

Kim Fairchild, CPA Even though she was born and raised in the Tulsa area, Kim Fairchild had never set foot on TU’s campus. “My father graduated from the University of Arkansas, so growing up, we were Arkansas fans,” she said. Fairchild made plans to attend Oklahoma State University. She moved into a dorm on a Saturday and on Thursday, made a call to her parents to come pick her up.

“I was devastated,” she explained, “because I had my plans set.”

Her father asked whether Fairchild wanted to look at TU. They visited Friday and by the day’s end, she was admitted, enrolled and ready to start classes on the following Monday. “I went all four years and absolutely loved it,” she said. “There is a sense of inclusion and community on campus, and my dad and I felt that when we visited.”

Fairchild knew she wanted to study accounting. Her father is a CPA and has a successful career in accounting. She also says math came easy to her (although she is quick to note that being good at math is not a requirement for being good at accounting), and she enjoyed the two years of accounting classes she took in high school.

TU’s faculty hold a special place in Fairchild’s memories, and she easily lists half a dozen who influenced her collegiate experience. She still draws on an experience in the late Professor Richard Gebhart’s statistics class to this day. “We went to his class one day for a test and everyone was so stressed out,” she recalled. “I remember him saying, ‘What is wrong with you guys? This is one

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test in the rest of your life.’ I think about that a lot. Whatever it is that is making me nervous or stressed — this is just one little thing in the rest of my life.ˮ She started her career at Coopers and Lybrand, which became PwC after a merger, where she stayed for five years. “I then went into the industry for about a month, but it wasn’t my thing,” she said. Fairchild chose to return to a smaller firm environment at HoganTaylor, which today is one of the largest accounting firms in Oklahoma. She has been with the firm for almost 17 years and is now a partner. She serves as leader of HoganTaylor’s Collective Investment Funds practice, which provides services to trust funds for large trust companies.

“I plan to retire here,” she said. “It’s all about the culture at HoganTaylor. We are very much into our people; it’s not a place where we expect people to come and go.”

Fairchild says the firm’s core values of unity, service and dynamic — known as HT3 — reflect its culture and willingness to embrace change. She loves learning from the younger accountants who join HoganTaylor as well working with her clients. “We are helping them make their lives and businesses better,” she said.

Business as a Force for Good Management major Teresa Stastny spent a summer helping to build a sustainable community from the ground up on a tropical mountainside in Panama.

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aking a difference is embedded in the culture of The University of Tulsa.

From service projects that help the local community to global initiatives that create social change, the T U family is a force for good — and the Collins College of Business is no exception.

The college’s undergraduate and graduate programs provide students opportunities to help nonprofit organizations continue their mission through consultancy projects that would use valuable resources if sourced externally. Students feel empowered to lead social and entrepreneurial ventures outside the classroom, going above and beyond

what’s expected on a class syllabus. TU faculty members also use their expertise to extend the force for good. For example, the Family Owned Business Institute, led by TU faculty, has served as a resource to Tulsa's small business community for more than two decades.

And the force doesn’t stop once students leave campus. TU’s alumni have embraced careers and side projects that focus on giving back in ways that have created a ripple effect that extends internationally. There are thousands of stories just like the ones you’ll read on these next pages, and thousands still yet to be written.

Family tradition

Southwood owners Joseph Schulte, Margaret Schulte, Brenda Baird and Ginny Schulte

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hile often a rewarding endeavor, running a family business also comes with distinctive challenges. For instance, how does the family design and implement a succession plan to transition ownership to the next generation? How do they separate business from everyday life? How does the family firm distribute income?

To help family-owned businesses answer these questions, the Collins College of Business established the Family-Owned Business Institute, or FOBI, in 1996. The group hosts about eight meetings a year, which feature guest speakers, roundtable discussions and networking opportunities for anyone who owns, manages or is a member of a family firm.

Director of FOBI and Applied Instructor of Management and Marketing Claire Cornell says she sees FOBI as a resource to help family firms better manage their companies. Not only can Cornell offer advice from a business faculty perspective, but her father operated a business where she, her mother and brother worked.

join the family business. He quickly realized the different dynamics at play in a family business and, consequently, became one of the first FOBI members.

“You’re meeting with people who are in the same boat, so there are commonalities there,” he said. “There are a lot of family businesses in Tulsa, and it’s comforting to know that you are all dealing with the same kind of challenges.”

He adds that while it is easy to focus on what is happening at any given moment in a family business, the value of a group like FOBI lies in having an opportunity to see the bigger picture. “I try to get the younger people in our organization to attend meetings so they can see that. They know the way I think, but having exposure to the younger FOBI members who may think differently than we do is good, too.”

Ginny Schulte, who cofounded Southwood Landscape & Garden Center in 1981, has also been a member of FOBI since the group’s founding. Schulte found value in meeting and learning from other small business owners.

“Participating started out as a way to help the business, but as we prepared for the second generation to take over management responsibilities, I also found the group to be a valuable source of succession and estate planning information.”

— Ginny Schulte, cofounder, Southwood Landscape and Garden Center

“I remember my parents talking about the business at the dinner table,” she says. “I was introduced to business at a very early age. I’m grateful that TU has enabled me to have this position because it is a topic that’s close to my heart.”

FOBI’s membership represents businesses spanning different industries from oil and gas to retail, food and manufacturing.

Cornell notes that some members have stayed involved since FOBI’s inception while others join the group for a specific purpose and a shorter timeframe.

Dennis Ziegler is part of the third generation to run his family’s business, F.C. Ziegler Company, a manufacturer of metal ecclesiastical wares. Twenty-five years ago, he left the oil and gas industry to 8

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Schulte’s daughters now run Southwood’s operations and have been attending FOBI meetings since joining the business. Southwood has grown from two to more than 100 employees during the busy spring season, and now grows its own products and offers landscape contracting in addition to a wide array of retail goods.

“Through all of the growth, we were able to tap into the experiences of some of the other companies that were growing and avoid pitfalls,” says Schulte. “FOBI saw us through the succession process, and many of the new ideas and products that have led to our growth are a result of the second generation of leadership.”

For more information on FOBI, visit business.utulsa.edu/fobi. ■

Boyington and Elmore (center) with Plohocky and the team that operates R&G Family Grocers

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An oasis in the desert

ccording to the Community Food Bank of Eastern Oklahoma, one in six adults and one in four children in Oklahoma live with food insecurity each day.

Those statistics proved eye opening for business students Austin Boyington and Darcy Elmore, who are part of TU’s Global Scholars program, a community of students engaged in global issues. Their cohort explored food insecurity in the program’s global challenges class, which focuses on a different theme each semester.

The class split into teams tasked with developing solutions to alleviate the problem of food insecurity in Oklahoma. Boyington and Elmore’s team chose to pursue a way to provide healthy options to areas with limited or no access to fresh fruits, vegetables and other whole foods, also known as food deserts.

Boyington, a sophomore international business and language major said, “I’m from Tulsa and didn’t know this problem existed.

There are people who live in the same city that I do and just because of where they live or were born, they don’t have access to the same type of food that I do. I take that for granted.”

Elmore, a junior marketing major, said the group brainstormed ways to provide fresh food to areas that don’t have grocery stores.

“We asked ourselves, ‘What did people do before refrigeration?’”

She recalled her grandfather, who recently retired from a lifetime of farming, sharing a story about drying meat as a means of preserving it. That sparked an idea. “Dehydrating fresh fruits and vegetables would extend the shelf life and would still capture a lot of the nutrients.” The problem? She doesn’t cook — and neither did anyone on the team. And they lacked a viable solution for distributing their product.

They reached out to Katie Plohocky, a community member they met through the global challenges class. She runs R&G Family Grocers, a mobile grocery truck that services food deserts in the Tulsa area. “Katie took us under her wing, and that’s how it all got started,” said Elmore.

Though implementation of the idea wasn’t a class requirement,

Plohocky’s support gave the group confidence to move forward. “We started looking for ways to raise money,” said Elmore. With a grant from TU’s Center for Global Education, they purchased a commercial-grade food dehydrator and attended a training workshop.

Fittingly named Desert Foods, the group’s business began to take shape. They developed a logo and product packaging and began working to perfect recipes. As Boyington explained, “Starting a business is hard — especially starting a food-related business. There are so many regulations and standards that you have to meet in regard to food safety and packaging.”

Elmore heard an ad for the Tulsa Start-Up Series, a competition for entrepreneurs that awards a cash prize to the winning team. “We submitted our application and made it to the finals of the Food and Retail category,” she said. Though they didn’t win that category or the subsequent rounds of the competition, they’ve used the judges’ feedback to refine their concept along the way. “We learned a lot about failing,” said Boyington, “but it’s been a good experience.”

To expand awareness of their initiative and build a group of volunteers, the group formed Students Against Food Inequality. “We hope to be an organization that shows TU students are interested in making a difference and investing time in the issue of food inequality,” said Elmore.

Both Elmore and Boyington cite the benefits of being able to work on a project of this scope as a student. “Most people don’t get to do this until they leave college,” said Boyington. “I’m learning skills I’d probably be learning 10 years down the road.” Elmore added that, “Growing up, I was always interested in great companies that also did good. I think that’s a really powerful business model, and something I’d want to do or be involved in.”

They hope to create a sustainable business model for Desert Foods so that TU students continue carrying out its mission. “It’s good for TU because students get practical business experience and it’s good for the community,” said Boyington. “It shows TU is a force for good in the Tulsa area.” ■ W I NT E R 2 01 8

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TU competition for

young entrepreneurs L

ast spring, TU hosted the inaugural Oklahoma Young Entrepreneur Awards (OYEA), a competition for innovative Tulsa-area high school students. Teams competed for more than $5,000 in prizes as well as judges’ awards.

To enter OYEA, teams identified a social problem or business opportunity and submitted a proposal for a product or service to meet the need. Proposals included research into the target audience, market analysis, a preliminary financial plan and more. The top 14 teams were invited to present their pitch to a panel of judges at the event on April 8.

TU students Katie Snyder (BA ’17), Dallas Elleman and Steve Neal organized OYEA as part of the NOVA Fellowship that brings together students, faculty and professionals from all majors and backgrounds who are interested in innovation and want to do something unique and meaningful within the community.

Organizers spent several months on outreach Dallas Elleman and Katie Snyder, who organized TU’s inaugural efforts prior to the competition, visiting area high Oklahoma Young Entrepreneur Awards along with Steve Neal (not pictured). schools to meet with teachers and students regarding innovation and entrepreneurship says, “The NOVA Fellowship is the entry process. OYEA even got a nod from Oklahoma’s one of the main reasons I chose TU, and I’ve been a member since congressional delegation when a group of TU students visited Sen. my first semester at TU. All of the planning, design, communiJim Inhofe and Rep. Jim Bridenstine in Washington, D.C., and cation, strategy and outreach that we’ve poured into OYEA has received congressional citations for each participant who advanced not only been a hugely beneficial and rewarding creative project to the final round of the competition. opportunity, but more importantly, has given these high school Snyder says the event exceeded the team’s expectations. students a quality experience that would have been difficult to “During the planning process, it’s hard to tell whether something achieve in the classroom.” will come together like you hope. But, the students showed up to Snyder emphasizes the importance of the competition in the competition ready to go, with prototypes and presentations encouraging students to pursue their dreams. “Seeing the entreprerehearsed. We were impressed by how seriously the students took neurship side of things was new for many of these students, and the process, which bodes well for the future of the competition.” it’s an experience many of them didn’t have prior to OYEA,” she Neal, a senior computer information systems major with a said. “A few of the ideas really have long-term potential, which is minor in innovation and entrepreneurship, coordinated judges for exciting since these students are still in high school. It’s an excellent the competition, which included TU students, faculty and alumni, time in your life to be an entrepreneur.” community leaders and small business owners. “We wanted to Elleman adds, “Throughout and after the competition, I select a panel of judges that represented a cross-section of Tulsa’s talked to students who were excited to tell me how much they were entrepreneurial community as well as the TU community,” learning about innovation and entrepreneurship, and how much explains Neal. “Having the perspective of each facet of the entrefun they were having. That’s the type of experience we set out to preneurial world allowed for much better insight into the teams’ create and that we want to continue each year.” presentations and made for great feedback to help them improve “Of course, none of this would have been possible without the their processes.”

NOVA Fellowship at TU and the leadership of Professor Charles OYEA participation was limited to Tulsa-area high school Wood,” acknowledges Neal. “Every TU student who is involved students for the first year, but has expanded to include students in NOVA understands the time and devotion that Dr. Wood dedifrom across the state in 2018. Cash prizes totaled $5,000, a portion cates, ensuring that the projects created and managed by the team of which went to the winning teams’ advisers for use in the classare as successful as they can be. His unrelenting drive and commitroom. “This competition provides a big boost for education right ment to the students is unparalleled, and we couldn’t do any of this now, and it’s an extra opportunity we could add to the high school without him, in addition to the generous benefactors who support curriculum to give students practical, hands-on entrepreneurship the NOVA Fellowship.” ■ experience that you don’t typically get until college,” said Snyder.

Elleman, a senior engineering physics major also minoring in

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Chocolate as a changemaker

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elissa Gelner (BSBA ’97) spent time this summer reading R.J. Palacio’s novel Wonder with her 9-year-old daughter. A passage in the book struck her as especially poignant: “The things we do are like monuments that people build to honour heroes after they’ve died … Only instead of being made out of stone, they’re made out of the memories people have of you. That’s why your deeds are like your monuments.”

As chief kinship officer of Askinosie Chocolate, a producer of craft bean-to-bar confections based in Springfield, Mo., Gelner hopes to build her own monuments through the work she does to support the company’s mission.

Askinosie Chocolate weaves social responsibility into every aspect of business. The company’s founder, Shawn Askinosie, left a job as a successful criminal defense attorney in search of a career through which he could make a difference and affect change. He turned to chocolate, a trade known for underpaying the farmers who grow and harvest cacao beans.

Gelner fulfills her desire to engage in meaningful work at Askinosie Chocolate. She focuses her efforts on developing the concept of kinship, whether with customers, partners, the farmers who supply the cacao beans or the communities Askinosie serves.

“What I do at Askinosie is about building the other person up — trying to be empathetic and understand common ground between two people or organizations while working on being a good partner.”

If Gelner’s job title, the company’s mission and endless access to decadent chocolate confections sound like an idyllic combination, it’s not far off. She says, “Askinosie is a fun company with a lot of personality that’s doing a lot of really great things. I feel lucky to be part of it.”

Gelner works closely with the communities and farmers who reside in the countries of origin that supply Askinosie’s cocoa beans, which currently include Ecuador, the Philippines and Tanzania. “The farmers are friends of the factory, and we know them personally,” Gelner shares. “We have dinner at their houses and spend quality time with them to learn who they are. It’s more than a transactional business model — it builds deeper relationships, they work hard to get us their best cocoa beans and we in turn can make better chocolate.”

Along with paying above-market rates for its ingredients, the company’s business model also includes a profit-sharing agreement with its farmers, who choose how best to use the resources within their communities. “We learn from the farmers as they decide how to invest in their business and community,” Gelner explained, “Whether it’s an unmet need in health care or early childhood, or programs to help orphans and widows, we empower them by providing connection to models and tools they can use to bring those plans to life and accountability to achieve their own vision.”

Education is a personal passion of Gelner’s and also central to Askinosie’s mission. The company’s experiential international business immersion program, Chocolate University, gives Missouri

Missy Gelner recognizes leaders of the company-sponsored Empowered Girls and Enlightened Boys programs in Tanzania. students the opportunity to learn how businesses can solve world problems. Education initiatives also extend overseas to Tanzania, with company-sponsored programs called Empowered Girls and Enlightened Boys that incorporate curriculum covering topics from personal hygiene to business principles. “We work with the students to help them see their individual worth and ensure that they are inspired to do their best,” said Gelner.

The full-time staff of 16 also serve as volunteers for the programs; and Gelner says that as a result, employees find more fulfillment in their work. “It just becomes part of everything we do.” She adds that chocolate is the tie that binds everything together. “We have a saying at Askinosie: ‘It’s not about the chocolate, it’s about the chocolate.’ Chocolate is why all of the great work we are doing is possible and also what connects us to these villages and to the farmers. We believe those connections make better chocolate.”

The late TU Professor James Cagleyʼs classes solidified Gelnerʼs path in marketing. She double-majored in marketing and organizational management, which she felt would serve her well no matter what type of company she joined. She met her husband, Brian (BSBA ’95), at TU, and they moved back to his hometown of Springfield following her graduation. Gelner went to work for advertising agency Noble and Associates, where she specialized in food marketing. She left the agency for a role in marketing at Tyson Foods and spent 13 years there before taking a break from work to stay home with her young children. She re-entered the job market as a part-time consultant and took on Askinosie as a client. Eventually she was asked to join the company.

“After working in a large corporate environment then in a small privately held business, the difference is significant,” said Gelner. “It feels good to make a difference at work.” I appreciate the opportunity to work for a company that allows me to focus time on these good deeds.” ■

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Helping in the fight against hunger

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he sense of community he felt on campus brought Baton Rouge, Louisiana, native Korey Patty to The University of Tulsa in 2004. Patty attended a small school in Baton Rouge and was looking for a college that would offer the opportunity to do everything and get to know everyone. His older brother had just gone through the college search process and convinced him to take a look at TU. “I saw those traits at TU and then received a great scholarship offer to attend,” he said.

“The experience at TU was great,” said Patty. “My friends and I had the opportunity to try everything we wanted to.” For Patty, that meant joining a fraternity and helping out with the women’s basketball practice team while establishing relationships with students from diverse backgrounds. “Looking forward, that’s such a useful thing,” he said. “Not only do you have a network of folks you can reach out to if you need anything, but you also get the chance to develop that ability to connect and find common ground with people from all backgrounds.”

company while preparing to return to school full-time. Patty enrolled in a two-year program at Louisiana State University, and while it challenged him, he notes that TU prepared him well to meet the demands of graduate school.

With his MBA in hand, Patty joined Southern Strategy Group (SSG), a government relations firm based in Baton Rouge. Though he had never considered that type of work, he used his writing background to create policy proposals and communicate program changes.

He left SSG to work in economic development for the State of Louisiana for the next two years, where he was responsible for connecting with companies that didn’t have a presence in the state. “The job required a lot of forward thinking in terms of industry analysis and targeting businesses that made sense for Louisiana,” said Patty.

In 2017, he took on a new role that puts all of his skills to work for a good cause: fighting hunger across the state as executive director of the Louisiana Food Bank Association.

“The industries I’ve worked in might vary, but the things that make you successful apply to any of them. The group work we did at TU gave me a sense of community and the ability to interact with people from different places and economic backgrounds, and that’s been so valuable in my career. The search to find common ground carries me forward — not just in business, but also in my day-to-day life.”

The marketing major discovered his knack for presenting when he enrolled in Bill Hinkle’s advertising class and prepared for the National Student Advertising Competition. “Being in that class and honing those presentation skills before competing in Dallas was a memorable experience,” said Patty. He also recalls that a class in service marketing opened his mind to considering the strategy behind positioning a service in the marketplace.

He finished his degree in 2008 at the peak of the recession.

“That afforded me the opportunity to take a step back,” explained Patty. “I moved back home and realized it would be a good idea for me to go to grad school.” So, he found work at an energy

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The association’s members include Louisiana’s five regional food banks in Shreveport, Monroe, Alexandria, Baton Rouge and New Orleans. “They’re the boots on the ground doing the work of feeding people and connecting them with programs that can provide for their needs,” he said. “Our organization is an advocate for good policy that can combat hunger in communities.”

Though working in the nonprofit space wasn’t part of an intentional career path, Patty says fundamental skills such as critical thinking, networking, telling a story and working with people remain the foundation of success. ■

TU MBA students develop business plan for Cherokee Heritage Center

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herokee National Historical Society (CNHS) recently honored TU MBA students for their efforts in developing a 10-year business plan for Cherokee Heritage Center, the premier cultural center for Cherokee tribal history, culture and the arts. Team members Patric Holderfield (MBA ’17), Bradi Hinch Gross (BSBA ’14, MBA ’16), Haley Lucero (BSBA ’15, MSF ’17) and Duncan Smith (MBA ’17) partnered with CNHS as part of their curriculum in the full-time MBA program.

Clients like the Cherokee National Historical Society benefit from receiving services similar to those a consulting firm would offer, without a hefty financial investment.

“The students like the fact that some or all of what they recommend could make a real difference for a company,” Brice Collier, applied assistant professor of energy and finance.

“CNHS has a passion to keep its mission going and can greatly benefit by exploring and diversifying its revenue sources. Our students were able to present a viable business plan that can help CNHS accelerate its path to revitalization and aggressively pursue its mission.”

The Collins College of Business revamped its full-time MBA program in 2014 with an emphasis on better equipping students with the project management and leadership skills employers seek. Along with fundamental business classes, students now participate in a six-hour capstone project course for the final semester of the 18-month program.

The updated MBA curriculum better fits the changing demographics of TU’s candidates — students coming straight out of undergraduate programs who need hands-on business experience. The full-time program emphasizes real-world experience and can be completed in three semesters.

Brian Walkup, assistant professor of finance, and Collier, select the clients and serve as project mentors. Students are divided into teams that each take on a project for local companies and nonprofits. The teams spend an entire semester working on the client projects. They hold weekly board meetings with the faculty mentors and are expected to develop an agenda and corresponding action items to demonstrate progress on each project. They also meet weekly as a team in addition to communicating with the client.

The teams hone their presentation skills by preparing for and delivering periodic updates as requested by clients as well as a mid-semester update and a final report for their respective clients.

Collier explains that what the students experience in their final semester of the program is equivalent to about a year of experience on a job. “Our students get to interact directly with leaders of a company,” he said. “That’s something that might not happen for a long time in a traditional work setting.” ■

“We are so thankful for the opportunity to partner with the Collins College of Business and greatly appreciate the time and effort these students gave.

As a nonprofit organization, we were thrilled to receive quality services that mirror a consulting firm and look forward to utilizing the students’ plan to advance our organization for years to come.” ­ Tonia Weavel, — interim executive director for the Cherokee Heritage Center

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Finance alumna takes giving global A

s a child, Eileen Salis (BSBA ’07) earned extra spending money by cutting out articles from The Wall Street Journal and Investor’s Business Daily for her father. “I also participated in Tulsa World’s Pick-a-Portfolio contest each year and received many lessons from Dad on topics every kid dreams of learning about: trend lines, key indicators to watch, dividend payments and constant reminders to buy and hold.”

Salis also remembers being involved in philanthropy efforts for as long as she can remember. “Whether it was working with my family at shelters or organizing meals for the homeless with my church or high school, my experiences have been vast and varied and are some of the most memorable times of my life.”

Today, Salis enjoys a successful business career in Zurich, Switzerland, and uses her professional skillset to give back through an international organization called 100 Women in Finance.

disciplinarian and unwavering cheerleader,” she quips. “They each had their own unique approach and methods that made an important impact on my life.”

About six years after graduating and starting her career in Tulsa, life led Salis to Zurich for a short-term contract with an asset management firm. “My brother, Thomas Merrick (BSBA ’95, MBA ’97), was part of the executive management team and made the opportunity come to fruition. A three-month contract turned into what is now my seventh year in Switzerland.” She notes that TU played a hand in her move to Zurich, as her brother landed his job due to an introduction by Burgess. “Without that initial connection to Switzerland, who knows where I would be today,” she says.

Salis now manages client relations, marketing and communications for Mensarius, a boutique asset management firm.

“We have a global network of more than 15,000 members — including men and women — with 21 locations, and we are thriving.

Since our inception in 2001, we have raised close to $40 million. It takes time and commitment outside of work, but the benefits of new connections, impact and reach we have made make it absolutely worth it.”

Her journey to Switzerland began at TU. Salis started out as a pre-med major, but given her childhood interests, it’s no surprise that she eventually found her way to the Collins College of Business to pursue a major in finance.

She recalls the professors who served as mentors: “Dr. Rick Burgess had a great teaching style and made sure we grasped even the most complicated of concepts, not to mention he had a superior sense of humor and the patience of a saint!” She adds that Professor Richard Gebhart managed to make statistics likeable.

“And my wonderful adviser, Rick Arrington, probably deserves a medal for getting me to the finish line and serving as my therapist,

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During her time in Switzerland, she’s also become heavily involved in philanthropy efforts. She initially joined 100 Women in Finance, a global network of professionals in the finance and investment industries who work collaborate to empower women at every stage of their careers, to grow her own professional network. Members serve as mentors to new graduates and those looking to re-enter the workforce.

Now a part of the organization’s philanthropy committee, Salis raises money for charities focused on women’s and family health, education and mentoring. ■

Welcome to the jungle D

uring her high school years in Omaha, Nebraska, Teresa Stastny’s view of the world expanded far beyond the Midwestern plains. As one of the first students to participate in her school’s International Baccalaureate Diploma program, which emphasizes independent thinking and cultural awareness, she became more mindful of social issues — particularly movements to help women in other countries. That awareness shaped Stastny’s desire to study abroad as a student at TU and eventually, her career path.

As a freshman, she traveled to Brazil over spring break with her emerging economies class. In addition to learning about the country’s emerging, yet rocky economy, the group also had an opportunity to visit a women’s project in the tropics. Stastny recalls the impact that visit had on her as a person and as a future professional. “One businesswoman knew how to weave and successfully sell her products. She shared her knowledge by inviting other women into her home and business, teaching them how to make their own materials, weave them into home goods and sell their own products. I started thinking about the idea of entrepreneurship and social responsibility and how I want to consult for startups focused on social projects,” she said.

In the summer of 2016, Stastny stepped even further outside her comfort zone when she joined a team tasked with helping to build a sustainable community from the ground up on a tropical mountainside in Panama. She found out about the company and its namesake community, Kalu Yala, from an unlikely source: an ad on Facebook. “I clicked on the ad and it took me to a website with a bunch of photos that looked cool,” she said. But she got busy and forgot about it, until she opened up her laptop one day to find the tab on her web browser still open.

She took a chance and applied for the internship and after a couple of interviews, found out she was headed to Panama for the summer. Stastny received a Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarship from the U.S. State Department, which helped finance her experience.

While the prospect of traveling to an unfamiliar country to work on building a community in the jungle with a bunch of strangers sounds daunting to some, Stastny viewed it as the perfect fit for her adventurous spirit. “I thrive when I’m around new people,” she said. Her mettle was tested right away when she and the group of 80 students took off on a grueling, two-hour uphill hike through the jungle to the valley community of Kalu Yala. At the halfway point, overcome with physical and mental exhaustion, Stastny questioned whether she would make it to her destination.

“I reached a mango tree and decided, ‘I’m just going to keep putting one foot in front of another.’”

Wading through two rivers, she reached the valley and chose her home for the next 11 weeks: the top of an open-air rancho

Teresa Stastny on the uphill hike to Kalu Yala with no curtains or walls for protection from the elements. Stastny explains that the goal of Kala Yalu is to build the world’s most sustainable modern town by limiting waste and taking advantage of available natural resources without destroying natural habitats.

“We studied what was already growing in the region and instead of using chemicals to keep insects and animals away, we used the natural repellant abilities of certain plants.”

The program also includes business development and entrepreneurship components. Stastny’s team worked with a local rum distillery to find ways to generate a stream of income. “Helping someone with no business background furthered my desire to consult with startups,” she said. Stastny also helped keep track of Kalu Yala’s materials and create an index to measure the community’s level of sustainability.

The experience proved life-changing for Stastny; she even considered staying in Panama to continue working with Kalu Yala, but decided to return to finish her degree at TU. “It transformed my life from being a consumer to practicing more sustainability,” she shared. “Good products that aren’t full of harsh chemicals or are vegan are difficult to come by. You have to do your research.”

Stastny’s next international stop was Ireland, where she spent the spring semester studying entrepreneurship and globalization.

The management major hopes to one day work as a consultant for entrepreneurs who have great ideas, but little business experience, and she’s especially passionate about projects that empower women. She is also forming a business plan around the sustainability index she worked on in Kala Yalu. Ever the adventurer, Stastny says she’d love to one day return to Panama, although she isn’t quite ready to set a definitive path. “I’m open to new opportunities and I’ll take whatever comes my way,” she said. ■

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Business leaders inducted into Hall of Fame The University of Tulsa’s Collins College of Business inducted three business leaders into its Hall of Fame during a special ceremony on Sept. 26 at Gilcrease Museum.

Andrew D. MacKay was named outstanding entrepreneur and Frederic Dorwart and A.H. “Chip” McElroy II were named outstanding business leaders for 2017.

The Business Hall of Fame annually honors the widespread contributions of outstanding Tulsa Dean Gale Sullenberger, Frederic Dorwart, Andrew MacKay, A.H. “Chip” McElroy and TU President Gerard Clancy business leaders who shape and strengthen the university, community and economy.

The Collins College of Business Hall of Fame has honored 53 inductees since its establishment in 2000.

Andrew D. MacKay

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ndrew D. MacKay is cofounder and president of Maccor, Inc., a Tulsa-based manufacturer of sophisticated battery test systems that use advanced electronics technologies and computer programming to maintain its position as a global leader in this industry. He is also cofounder and president of Unicorp Systems, Inc., a Tulsa company specializing in aircraft equipment repair.

MacKay earned his undergraduate degree with honors in physics from the California Institute of Technology and has a master’s degree in physics and an MBA in finance from the University of California at Berkeley. Early in his professional career, he was employed by Combustion Engineering and moved with them to Tulsa in 1978. After a transfer to the East Coast, MacKay decided to start his own company and returned to Tulsa to enter into business with friends here. A significant number of key people in both companies are TU graduates or otherwise have connections with TU. He and his wife, Helen, became avid supporters of TU, and their initial philanthropic gift created the Andrew and Helen MacKay Endowed Presidential Scholarship, the first of nine presidential scholarships they have established at the university.

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programs. They are members of the Dean’s Circle in the Collins College of Business, the College of Engineering and Natural Sciences and the Kendall College of Arts and Sciences. The couple supports the departments of chemistry and biochemistry and electrical and computer engineering. Their commitment to the construction of J. Newton Rayzor Hall is commemorated with the naming of the Andrew D. and Helen G. MacKay Center for Education and Research. The MacKays also have established the new Andrew D. and Helen G. MacKay TU Scholarship for Innovation to provide annual awards ranging from $10,000 to $25,000 for at least 20 incoming freshmen pursuing a science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) field. They actively support men’s and women’s basketball and women’s rowing while continuing to expand their commitment to TU’s success.

MacKay serves on the TU Board of Trustees. He also was inducted into the TU College of Engineering and Natural Sciences Hall of Fame in 2015. He and Helen are members of Friends of Finance, the Golden Hurricane Clubʼs 1930 Society, and McFarlin Library’s Henneke Society. They are members of the Gilcrease Council at the Patron level as well.

Frederic Dorwart

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ince 1966, Fred Dorwart has been active in both business and law. Beginning in 1966 and continuing today, Dorwart has jointly practiced litigation and transactional law, principally oil and gas, securities and banking. From 1969 to 1989, he was a stockholder, director and officer of various manufacturing concerns, with offices in the United States, United Kingdom, Belgium and Singapore.

Presently, as a manager of Frederic Dorwart, Lawyers PLLC, Dorwart focuses his efforts structuring commercial transactions, advising clients on the legal aspects of business matters and coordinating teams of attorneys handling complex litigation.

Before forming Frederic Dorwart, Lawyers in 1994, he was the managing partner of Holliman, Langholz, Runnels & Dorwart.

He was a principal draftsman of the 1995 Oklahoma Tort Reform Act. In 1998, he participated in the organization of the George Kaiser Family Foundation and the Tulsa Community Foundation.

In 2008, Dorwart was instrumental in the creation of the Tulsa Stadium Improvement District, the organization of the Tulsa Stadium Trust and the financing of Tulsa’s ONEOK Field.

In 2014, Dorwart developed the structure and organization for the construction and operation of Tulsa’s Gathering Place and its gift by the George Kaiser Family Foundation to the River Parks Authority.

Dorwart is the honoree of the Frederic Dorwart Endowed

Professorship in Law, University of Tulsa College of Law (2009), an inductee of the TU College of Law Hall of Fame (2015), and an inductee of the Tulsa Hall of Fame (2015). In 2015, he was the honoree of New York City-based Children’s Rights for his work with Oklahoma’s foster care program. He was pro bono co-lead counsel in DG v Yarbrough (U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Oklahoma), which obtained a precedent-setting settlement mandating fundamental reform of the Oklahoma foster care system. Frederic Dorwart, Lawyers currently provides general counsel legal services, pro bono, to Community Action Project of Tulsa, Tulsa Community Foundation, Tulsa Stadium Trust, River Parks Authority, Route 66 Alliance, Friendly Autism Locations, Lobeck-Taylor Foundation and 12 other Tulsa 501c3s.

Currently, Dorwart is president and trustee of the George Kaiser Family Foundation and a trustee of The University of Tulsa among many other leadership roles. Dorwart was awarded a B.S. in Engineering with Distinction in 1959 from the U.S. Naval Academy and an L.L.B., Cum Laude, from Harvard Law School in 1966.

Before law school, Dorwart served as chief engines officer on the U.S.S. Newport News, as chief operations officer on the U.S.S. Turner and as instructor in naval tactics at the U.S. Navy Officer Candidate School.

Dorwart and his wife, Nanu, have three children, Marc, Erica and Laura, and three grandchildren. The couple supports Gilcrease Museum, the Golden Hurricane Club, Tulsa Undergraduate Research Challenge, men’s basketball and the TU Annual Fund.

A.H. “Chip” McElroy II, PE

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ince 1988, A.H. “Chip” McElroy II has led McElroy Manufacturing, Inc. in partnership with his two sisters, Donna McElroy Dutton and Peggy McElroy Tanner. McElroy’s parents, Art and Panny McElroy, founded the company in 1954 as a job-shop manufacturer. As the company grew, it developed a strong reputation for its capability to engineer, develop and deliver specialty equipment to a diverse group of customers.

Many of these key customer relationships combined with unique capabilities created the basis for the McElroy products now recognized globally. Since McElroy was named president and CEO in 1997, the company has experienced some of its most dynamic growth yet. Today, McElroy Manufacturing remains a private, second-generation family business with a growing professional leadership team supporting a dynamic range of solutions.

The company maintains a sharp focus on the design, manufacture and marketing of its specialty equipment.

McElroy is the largest and most recognized manufacturer of its kind globally. Roughly one-third of the business is export, and McElroy has sales offices in the United Kingdom, Chile, Brazil, Australia and India. McElroy employs approximately 300 people and occupies in excess of 300,000 square feet of plant and office space on 30 acres across three campuses in Tulsa.

In 2002, McElroy added Southern Specialties, a division of the Agilis Group, L.L.C., to its family of companies. The Tulsabased company offers high-end sheet metal cabinetry along with

specialty turnkey fabrication and assembly services. McElroy was named a TU Distinguished Alumnus in 2008 and was inducted into the TU College of Engineering and Natural Sciences Hall of Fame in 1995. He has been a member of the Young Presidents Organization (YPO) since 1998 and received the Legacy of Honor Award in 2005.

McElroy serves on TU’s Board of Trustees and on the boards of the Tulsa Community Foundation, St. John Health System, AAON Corporation, Pryer Aerospace LLC, HydroHoist Marine Group and the Association of Equipment Manufacturers. He is a member of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, the National Society of Professional Engineers and the Society of Plastics Engineers. McElroy has had seven patents awarded. He earned a bachelor of science degree in mechanical engineering at The University of Tulsa in 1985.

McElroy and his wife, Sharon (BSBA ’86), who serves as vice president of marketing for McElroy Manufacturing, have three children, Mac, Andy and Julie. They established the Chip and Sharon McElroy MBA Scholarship and the Chip and Sharon McElroy Presidential Scholarship and also support the College of Engineering and Natural Sciences’ programs and facilities and the Golden Hurricane Club, among other areas of the university.

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Robyn Ewing named Distinguished Alumna

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ttending The University of Tulsa was a big departure for Robyn (Benear) Ewing (BS ʼ77), who hails from a family of University of Oklahoma Sooners. She grew up in Bartlesville, where her father worked for Cities Service Company as an engineer, and the family later relocated to Tulsa when the company moved its headquarters. “As a shy person, the thought of going to a great big state school and being on campus with thousands of kids was more than I really wanted,” said Ewing. “My parents took me to see TU, and I thought it was the perfect size.”

She contemplated whether living in the same town as her parents would detract from the college experience, but says her years at TU were full of fun and memories that she has cherished since; particularly the friendships she made as a member of Kappa Alpha Theta. “Those friendships still exist today.”

She credits life in the Theta house for bringing her out of her shell, recalling the time her friends talked her into doing a Greek goddess competition that involved modeling a swimsuit — complete with her parents peeking in through a window. She laughs as she says, “It was probably one of the most horrifying things I did, but when I won, it was even more horrifying for my father than it was for me.”

Ewing wanted to major in the arts, but her dad (who was footing the bill) steered her toward business. “I chose accounting because I thought it would be a great way to open doors,” she said. She counts Ben Henneke, who taught a course in the arts and humanities, among her favorite professors. “His class was an eye-opening experience. That’s the great thing about getting a liberal arts education.”

After graduating in 1977, Ewing accepted an offer from Cities Service to join a program that placed accountants in the IT department. She described it as a great opportunity to lay the foundation of her career at the same company where her father had worked. Her trajectory accelerated when she joined energy giant Mapco at age 25. She was hired into an accounting role and quickly progressed through the ranks. “I had the chance to work with our CFO in a developmental role, and he helped me understand what I liked and didn’t like. He showed me how strategic the HR function could be if done well.”

And when the time came to rotate out of accounting, that’s where she headed.

“HR is really about the business. What makes it impactful is understanding the business and how you align the HR function within it.” She says the study of accounting gave her the ability to speak the language of business and helped her earn respect as a business partner.

Williams acquired Mapco in 1998 and until her retirment

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in December, Ewing served as senior vice president of strategic services and administration and chief administrative officer as well as chairman of the Williams Foundation. She says that while she was the only woman on the executive team, she finds Williams to be very inclusive.

A typical day includes plenty of juggling. “You have to be able to pivot quickly,” she says. The company came close to an acquisition by ETE in 2016, which put many corporate initiatives on hold. “We’re restarting in a lot of ways,” she said. Current projects include reviving Williams’ talent program, evaluating incentive programs and hiring new executive officers and board members.

“If you’re not adept at change at this level, I don’t know how you’d be successful.”

Ewing says one of her greatest career legacies was designing a rotation-based professional development program at Mapco along with her CFO. “It took a lot of work to sell the concept to invest in training people coming out of college and rotate them through multiple jobs. But we hired good students — many of them from TU — and the organization saw the value in that program.” She employed the same philosophy to introduce a similar program at Williams.

Outside the office, Ewing enjoys traveling and spending time with her husband, four kids and eight grandkids. The family lake house brings everyone together for gatherings that include an abundance of laughter, traditions and movie quotes. Family favorites span from holiday classics to Marvel action adventures, but Ewing has one decree when it comes to film selection: “I don’t like anything with a sad ending. My mom always said there was enough sadness in life that I don’t need to see it on the screen.”

A favorite quote by Maya Angelou – “I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” – captures the philosophy Ewing embraces in her life and in her career. “I can’t tell you how important and true that is, especially being in HR,” she said.

As for how she felt when she learned of her selection as a University of Tulsa Distinguished Alumna, Ewing says, “I was shocked. When you look at that group, it’s a group of accomplished individuals who I greatly respect. Two of my dearest friends, Marcia [MacLeod] and Caron [Lawhorn] are Distinguished Alumnae.

I have respect for them and what they do, so it’s an honor.”

2017 J. Paschal Twyman Award recipient Burt Holmes (BS ’54)

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ccomplished entrepreneur Burt B. Holmes (BS ’54) can count numerous business ventures among his life’s successes, but he seldom deals in superlatives. “I live what I call ‘in the middle,’” he says. “When things are very, very good, I don’t get high. When things are not very good, I don’t get low. I just get up the next morning and go to work.”

That steady, assured work ethic has fueled not only Holmes’ career, but also decades of service and dedication to The University of Tulsa. The Tulsa native attended Will Rogers High School and received a scholarship to play basketball for TU in the fall of 1950. “I played for one year, and after that year, I figured out something about myself. I was coachable and in shape — all that I lacked to play at a Division I level was talent.” So, in true Burt Holmes fashion, he decided to get on with his life.

“The coach didn’t even try to convince me to continue,” he notes matter-of-factly.

Holmes cofounded QuikTrip Corporation with business partner Chester Cadieux, and they opened the first store at 52nd and Peoria Avenue in 1958. Nearly 60 years later, QuikTrip has grown to 779 stores and more than 20,000 employees, and for the past 15 years has secured a spot as one of Fortune’s “100 Best Companies to Work For.”

Burt B. Holmes and Associates, the insurance business he built, later became The Holmes Organisation, which he sold to his son Jeff and Stuart DeSelms.

When asked what has kept Holmes connected to his alma mater after all these years, he says, simply, “I like to be around nice, intelligent people.” His service to TU began when he presided over the Alumni Association in 1959; and in the years since, has spanned areas from athletics to academics to the arts.

During Holmes’ tenure as chairman of the Board of Trustees from 1991 to 1993, TU hired Tubby Smith as the head coach of basketball and Vince Westbrook to lead the university’s tennis

program. “Both of those deals made me feel good and turned out really well,” he says.

Art also holds significant meaning in Holmes’ life, evidenced by a museum-worthy personal collection as well as the generous awards and scholarships he has established for students in TU’s School of Art, Design and Art History. He is a longtime supporter of Gilcrease Museum, having served on the board of directors and as chair of the Thomas Gilcrease Museum Association. He says that the TU-Gilcrease partnership has been good for both the university and the city.

One of Holmes’ most recent gifts to the university represents his goal to see more diversity on TU’s campus. With a desire to ensure that any student has the opportunity to earn a degree at a top 100 university, he established six annual scholarships designated expressly for minorities.

Holmes has had the unique position of witnessing TU’s transformation firsthand. “I was on the board when the campus master plan was first put together and chairman the year we tore down the first properties west of Delaware. I’m happy to see that vision come to life,” he says. “TU has always aspired to do better.” Holmes, who continues to support the university’s vision, can be spotted in attendance at a number of TU and Gilcrease events throughout the year.

In recognition of his outstanding contributions to TU, the Alumni Association selected Holmes as the 2017 J. Paschal Twyman Award recipient. His reaction? “I had no idea, and I was exceedingly pleased and really happy. And I don’t get really happy.” He’s also quick to point out that he doesn’t consider what he does as giving back. “I just consider it the right thing to do. I’m part of TU, and I enjoy it.”

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Veteran Profile

Veteran Rob Hanigan launches CIS Career at Dropbox

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exas native Rob Hanigan grew up in a military family and lived in Egypt until he graduated from high school. His dad, a West Point graduate, spent 20 years in the military.

His brother also served in the Air Force and his sister in the Army.

Hanigan opted not to enroll in college and instead moved to Los Angeles to work in the film industry. Then, the 9/11 terror attacks happened.

Hanigan figured out a career in film wasn’t for him and, with his history growing up in the Middle East, felt he could bring something unique to the military.

He did three combat tours in Iraq between 2003 and 2007 and was recruited out of the Marines by a defense contractor he worked with while on active duty. That job took Hanigan to Hawaii for a couple of years and then to Afghanistan for three.

By 2011, Hanigan was ready to go back to school. “I didn’t know what I wanted to do, but I had a technical background and that was a good start.”

He moved to Texas to be closer to his family and attended a community college before applying to four-year universities. Hanigan’s dad spotted an article in the Houston Chronicle about TU’s prestigious Cyber Corps program. After contacting the program’s director, Professor Sujeet Shenoi, Hanigan drove to Tulsa to meet with him. While on campus, he happened upon a prospective student tour and ended up connecting with TU Director of Veteran Affairs Cindy Watts who talked to him about TU’s Yellow Ribbon program.

accounts, and it was the perfect job for someone with a CIS degree. You have to understand the business side, dealing with contracts, sales strategies and account management, but also be able to deal with the technical side.”

He changed roles in early 2017 and is now one of six members of the technical architecture team. Hanigan still works with large, complex accounts. “I meet with company leaders to help them

“I was set on Stanford or Georgetown and my secondary schools were Hawaii Pacific and University of Hawaii — all had tech programs with doorways back into government service. Then I met with Cindy and the Yellow Ribbon program is what closed the deal for me. I could go to school, not have to work and leave with no debt.”

After his first semester, Hanigan felt the Cyber Corps program was too heavily focused on the technical side and his heart wasn’t in it. He was contemplating leaving when he learned about TU’s computer information systems from a student presentation. Assistant Professor of CIS Sal Aurigemma had just arrived at TU and is a fellow veteran. “I met with Sal and Lori [Leonard] and knew the only mistake I had made was not knowing about CIS.” He adds, “I loved the program. I was one of those rare students who woke up every day excited to go to school.”

Hanigan also met his fiancée while attending TU, which ultimately influenced his decision to move to Austin. He had a great job offer lined up at an energy company in Oklahoma but instead took his chances on finding a job in Austin. “I put my nose to the grindstone and looked for opportunities with tech companies,” he says, “and I got lucky that Dropbox was going through a growth phase at the time.”

Within a week of applying, he had his first interview, followed by an offer. He started as a success manager assisting enterprise customers post-sale. “I was an advocate for and liaison to those 20 THE UNIVERSITY OF TULSA

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deploy Dropbox. I’m also a strategist, helping companies optimize workflows and collaborate more efficiently.”

Hanigan describes the office atmosphere as similar to what’s portrayed in the movies: people riding scooters and skateboards around the building, chef-prepared meals and an endless supply of snacks. He says that while those fun extras are nice to have, it’s not what keeps him there.

“I’m working with some of the smartest people I’ve ever met,” he says. “It’s a little intimidating at first, but everyone is more than eager to help you.”

Hanigan also notes the opportunity to demonstrate leadership within a startup environment: “If you find something that’s broken and no one else has encountered that problem, you can figure it out and tell others how to fix it.”

The job has proved a perfect fit for him, and Hanigan says TU’s CIS degree absolutely prepared him for his roles at Dropbox.

“Every day is different. It’s kind of cliché to say, but I like to solve problems and puzzles that aren’t binary. It’s interesting and challenging work.”

Alumni Leader

Journey from India to Oklahoma leads alumnus to success

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nsh Singh’s (BSBA ’16) journey to TU started with a story he heard while growing up in New Delhi, India. “My dad is a geologist,” he said, “and TU is known for petroleum engineering. He wanted to go to TU after finishing his undergraduate degree, but couldn’t afford it.”

When the time came to submit his own college applications, Singh applied to several U.S. universities — including TU. “When I got accepted, my dad told me it was destiny. I knew this opportunity was key, and that I had to make the most of it.”

Singh, who attended a small school in Kuwait with the same group of classmates for 14 years, said the prospect of traveling overseas to a new environment with no family or friends was nerve-wracking. But it didn’t take long for TU’s close-knit student community to ease those fears. “What helped was that my first day of orientation, I had six or seven people come up and talk to me, and they were so interested in me and my story. That was the moment I thought, ‘I’m going to be just fine here.’”

He recalls always having an interest in business and chose to major in both finance and accounting. Singh gained a deeper appreciation for the power of the financial industry after the recession in 2008.

“The financial world is constantly changing, so you have to be on your toes. I’m someone who likes to constantly change and improve myself, which made these majors a perfect fit for me.”

Singh focused mostly on academics his first year at TU, but as a sophomore had the opportunity to participate in a focus group for the Collins College of Business. “My ideas were appreciated, and I felt that I could contribute more than just being a student and going to class,” he said. He applied to be an orientation leader so that he could provide the same feeling of comfort he received as an incoming freshman to others. “I met so many people, and it opened up a lot of avenues for involvement.”

One of the highlights of his undergraduate experience was joining an interdisciplinary team of students and faculty members that designed a wireless device to monitor water usage in hotel showers. The group competed for and received $90,000 in grant funding awarded by the Environmental Protection Agency. The device even got a mention on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon.

“It all started as a discussion at my dining room table,” said Singh, “and we ended up winning a national competition. It’s one of

the things I’m most proud of because I never thought I would get involved in such an extensive project.”

His academic performance, accolades and broad campus involvement earned Singh the honor of being named a Jess Choteau Outstanding Senior — the first international student to receive the distinction. But Singh explains that because of the inclusive environment at TU, he never really considered himself an international student. “I’m just part of the student body here.

You have to remember where you came from and use it to bring a different perspective, but at the same time, you’re a student just like everybody else.”

Singh lauds TU’s professors and the support they provide to students. Through a faculty introduction, he interviewed for and secured an internship with public accounting firm Ernst & Young.

The experience solidified his desire to pursue a career in public accounting and eventually make partner in the firm. “There was so much overlap between what I studied in class and what I did as part of my internship,” he said. “TU was amazing at preparing me for it. I knew what to expect, and my professors gave me great advice.”

Singh is currently earning a master of accountancy degree at TU and plans to join Ernst & Young as a full-time employee in the fall of 2018. He enjoys the firm’s smaller environment, which he finds similar to the TU community, and looks forward to starting his career there.

Of the journey that took him from India to Oklahoma and led to opportunities he never could have imagined, Singh says, “You can find who you want to be at TU.”

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College News Inaugural business ethics competition a success Business students tested their ethical reasoning skills in a new college-wide business ethics competition Oct. 27. The Business Ethics Cam Slam was open to all undergraduate business majors and minors. Teams of three had 90 minutes to analyze a business ethics case, develop an ethical framework and solution and create presentation slides and a 10-minute video. The top four competitors then defended their ethical choices to a panel of judges to win prize money.

Applied Instructor of Management and Marketing Claire Cornell served as faculty adviser for the competition. While Cornell chose the ethics case and secured judges representing area law firms and corporations, she enlisted the help of students in TU’s NOVA Fellowship program to coordinate promotion and logistics. Fourteen teams competed, exceeding the organizer’s goal of 10.

The competition positioned students as corporate executives faced with a business case. The teams had to choose an ethical framework, identify the stakeholders and short- and long-term effects, analyze the triple bottom line and make a recommendation for the business.

First place winners were Karoline Newell, Caitlyn San Pedro and Stacey Johnston; second place went to Max Griffin, Tyler Good and Keegan Sandusky; and third place was awarded to Julie Combs, Daniel Bucklin and Joey Zitzman. Competition judges were: Jared Mason, program support manager/ethics officer, L3 Technologies/Aeromet; Patrick Cipolla, vice president and associate general counsel — compliance & ethics, ONEOK, Inc.; Amber Waid, attorney at law, ONEOK, Inc.; Sarah C. Miller, shareholder, Hall Estill Attorneys at Law; and Graham Branan, executive director, The Metropolitan Environmental Trust.

CIS, CS students place third at pen testing competition

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team of undergraduate students from The University of Tulsa placed third in the Central Region Collegiate Pen Testing Competition October 7-8 at Missouri University of Science and Technology in Rolla, Missouri.

TU’s performance builds on the university’s success at similar competitive learning events such as the National Collegiate Cyber Defense Competition where TU finished second in April.

The CPTC focuses on the professional and technical aspects of penetration testing in cybersecurity. Students are required to conduct recon on a network, find vulnerabilities where sensitive data and systems are exposed, demonstrate those weaknesses, prepare a report and present their findings to representatives from a virtual (fictitious) company. The competition treats the activity as a professional endeavor with responsible and ethical guidelines.

TU’s interdisciplinary team included computer information systems majors from the Collins College of Business and computer science students from the College of Engineering and Natural Sciences.

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CIS students are trained to analyze the business aspect of technology, and participating in the competition was an effective way for students to apply the concepts they are learning in the classroom.

College News New MBA in Health Care Delivery Sciences

The Collins College of Business is partnering with the Oxley College of Health Sciences to offer an MBA in health care delivery sciences designed for professionals working in health care or related industries. The new degree program aims to equip these professionals with the skills needed to serve as change agents and leaders who can address challenges affecting the future of health care.

Applications are now being accepted for the fall 2018 semester.

Northeastern Oklahoma — like the rest of the nation — faces increasing health care pressures as well as disparities in life expectancies influenced by race, education, health literacy and other social determinants of health.

Health crises such as high incidences of diabetes, opioid addiction and underserved mental health needs require complex solutions that go beyond the traditional health care model.

The MBA in Health Care Delivery Sciences’ core curriculum includes course topics such as variation and value in health care, communications, quality, ethics, policy and economics balanced with a foundation of core business knowledge. This differs from graduate programs in health care administration or public health, which focus more on operational management of a health care practice. TU’s program will go beyond that to understand not only what’s happening today, but also what health care might look like five or 10 years from now.

The MBA in Health Care Delivery Sciences is designed for working professionals and can be completed in as little as two years. Along with core courses and electives, students will complete a capstone project that addresses a health care challenge of their choosing. Ideal candidates include practicing clinicians as well as non-clinicians such as health system executives, nonprofit administrators, clinical directors, pharmaceutical and insurance executives, attorneys and policymakers.

The Collins College of Business offers a rate of $900 per credit hour for all graduate business degrees. Students can also apply for scholarships and other sources of financial aid.

Find more information about the MBA in Health Care Delivery Sciences at business.utulsa.edu/mbahcds.

Longtime professors retire

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he Collins College of Business bid a fond farewell to three longtime professors who retired in the spring of 2017 with a combined 108 years of service: Professor of Finance Larry Johnson, Professor of Finance Richard Burgess, Professor of Finance J. Markham Collins.

“Each of these professors has contributed significantly to the establishment and growth of several key programs within the Collins College of Business,” said Dean Gale Sullenberger. “They have made a tremendous difference in the lives and careers of countless students, and we will certainly miss their presence on campus.”

Burgess joined the TU faculty in 1980 and served as assistant dean and director of graduate business programs, as well as director of the School of Finance, Operations Management and International Business.

Burgess has received considerable recognition for his teaching including winning the College of Business Outstanding Teaching Award numerous times and The University of Tulsa Outstanding Teaching Award in May 2006. He was a visiting professor of finance at the University of Auckland in New Zealand and scholar in residence at the Swiss Bank Corporation in Basel, Switzerland and S.T.A. Salmann Trust in Vaduz, Liechtenstein.

Collins joined the TU faculty in 1979 and served as director of the International business program for 10 years. He was acting dean in 1993 and 1994. He also served as associate dean and director of graduate business programs. Collins was a Fulbright Scholar to Eszterhazy Karoly College in Hungary in 2008. He was a visiting professor at University of Hong Kong, University of Auckland in New Zealand and University of Siegen in Germany. He also served on the board of Friends of Finance.

Collins promoted study abroad opportunities for students, and he was one of the cofounders of the prestigious TU Global Scholars Program.

He received grant funding in excess of $650,000.

Johnson joined the TU faculty in 1984. His area of specialization is analytical techniques as they apply to derivative investments, options, futures contracts and real options such as business expansions, contractions and acquisitions. Johnson was instrumental in establishing sophisticated analytical techniques for the finance program. He incorporated risk analysis into the college’s undergraduate and graduate programs with a focus on derivative securities. Many business alumni with successful careers in the financial industry owe their expertise to Johnson.

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Staff Profile

Business Career Center welcomes Leonelle Thompson When it came to choosing a college, Leonelle Thompson (BSBA ’04, MBA ’06) didn’t face any tough decisions. She represents three generations of Golden Hurricane alumnae and says with a smile, “TU is in my blood.” Her mom graduated with a bachelor’s degree in music education and her grandmother with a master’s degree in education. “Growing up, it was TU in our house,” she recalls.

Recently named assistant dean and director of the Collins College of Business Career Center, her professional experience has led Thompson back to the very place that cultivated her ambition.

She now works in the same office as Tami Barrett, the admission counselor who recruited her during her senior year at Tulsa’s East Central High School.

Though she hails from a family of educators, Thompson didn’t see herself in a classroom, but she did know her career would involve education in some way. “Growing up, it was instilled in me to help others, and I loved the people aspect of accounting,” she said. She also planned to earn a graduate degree at TU, something her mother advised her to complete right after her undergraduate studies.

Thompson finished her accounting degree and immediately enrolled in the MBA program. She held several internships during her time at TU starting after her sophomore year, including turns at Williams, Tulsa Public Schools and ConocoPhillips. After interning with ConocoPhillips for two summers, she accepted a full-time position after completing her MBA. “I toyed with public accounting, but decided to go to ConocoPhillips,” Thompson explains. She spent 11 years with the company in various roles within the tax function and also in training and development for new finance hires. “These employees had solid technical skills but needed help navigating the corporate world,” she said. “I got to train them on soft skills like how to craft and send emails and how to apply what they had learned in school, and I absolutely loved it.” She also credits ConocoPhillips for introducing her to her husband, whom she met in the tax department. The two were married in the spring of 2017.

A series of economic downturns led to changes in her role and eventually to Thompson seeking another job. “QuikTrip was hiring

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during that time, and I wanted to move closer to my family,” she said. Thompson was hired as an accounting supervisor and describes her time at QuikTrip as phenomenal.

She had previously mentioned to former Business Career Center Director Calvin Moniz that if he ever left, she would be interested in his position. That day came not long after she had settled in at QuikTrip, but Thompson said it was an opportunity she just couldn’t pass up.

“I feel like I can play a big role in helping shape students before they get to the workplace,” Thompson says. She has hosted student focus groups to learn how the Business Career Center can help them choose a career. “I would also like to engage our alumni in the process,” she adds. Thompson also wants to ensure that the center’s services meet graduate students’ needs. “These students can be part or full time, they may already be working or may be online students.

We need to make sure we are reaching out to them.” Her position includes helping working professionals work through the process of changing jobs, or even careers.

Thompson says that new programs, like the recently introduced business analytics minor and graduate degree, create additional opportunities for students. “It makes our students more marketable,” she explains, “because everything is now so data driven.”

And she still gets the opportunity to teach. Thompson currently teaches essential business skill development, which is a required course for all undergraduate business students and covers the development of workplace competencies.

Ultimately, Thompson says, “I feel blessed to be in this position.

I always knew I wanted to work in some form of education. I’m exactly where I wanted to be.”

Faculty Research

Research finds similar Airbnb customer experiences across various countries

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n recent years, Airbnb has become a popular lodging alternative to traditional hotels.

With Airbnb accommodations in more than 65,000 cities and 190 countries, travelers now have more options than ever before when it comes to choosing a place to stay.

This shift in travel trends can raise questions for other providers in the industry and in particular, for hotels.

While he was in Lisbon, Mike Troilo Portugal, in the summer of 2016 as a Fulbright Scholar, Wellspring Associate Professor of International Business Mike Troilo teamed up with two international colleagues to collaborate on tourism research that explored the effect of income and culture on Airbnb ratings.

“I was actually staying in an Airbnb apartment in Lisbon at the time,” said Troilo. “We were just beginning to see more articles in the media and in academic journals about Airbnb. I had never published work on the tourism industry, so this was a new area for me.”

Troilo explains that in marketing, there is a relationship between culture and income. “There could be one of two scenarios: As income rises, either consumer tastes will converge around the world on certain standards, or they could diverge as consumers demand more customized experiences,” he says. “We thought it would be interesting to look at Airbnb ratings from different countries to explore this theory.”

The researchers chose a representative sample of customer ratings from the United States, India and Portugal and looked at categories including the quality of the stay, nature of the host, place/location of the Airbnb and amenities. They used a software called Leximancer to analyze text found in the ratings, which they used to create thematic maps. “We saw the same themes emerge

from each country,” says Troilo. “We then compared the software analysis with the actual ratings, and they illustrated those same themes. You can see a homogeneity of what was important and what consumers preferred.”

The research provides practical application for the tourism industry, says Troilo. “It’s good for hotels to know that there is some kind of similarity among the affluent around the world in terms of expectations — at least as far as lodging is concerned.

There certainly will be exceptions, but in general, if your business is staked on customer experience, you want some evidence that you are focusing on the right areas.”

He adds that, “The opportunity to collaborate with academics from other countries exposes you to new fields of inquiry and gives you new ideas. I never would have thought to do this research or used this particular software if it hadn’t been for these colleagues.”

The research note, “Airbnb customer experience: Evidence of Convergence across three countries,” was co-authored by Troilo, Ana Brochado and Aditya Shah and published in the Annals of Tourism Research, 63 (2017) 210-212.

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Faculty Publications Patty Bick, Matthew Crook and Brian Walkup, “Proximity to Urban Centers in Mergers and Acquisitions,” with Andrew Lynch. Forthcoming in Managerial Finance.

Patty Bick and Matthew Crook, “The Effects of Mutual Funds on M&A Compensation.” Forthcoming in the Journal of Financial Research.

Robert Russell, “Mathematical Programming Heuristics for the Production Routing Problem,” International Journal of Production Economics, 193, 40-49, 2017.

Thomas Kim, “On the Transaction Cost of Bitcoin,” Finance Research Letters, 23, 300-305, 2017.

Svetlana Orlova, “National Culture and the Valuation of Cash Holdings,” with Ramesh Rao and Tony Kang, Journal of Business Finance and Accounting, 44(1-2), 236–270, 2017.

Mike Troilo, “Mirror, Mirror, on the Wall, Who’s the Fairest of Them All? A Critical Content Analysis of Medical Tourism,” with Helena Rodrigues, Ana Brochado and Asad Mohsin, Tourism Management Perspectives, 24, 16-25, 2017.

Wen-Chyuan Chiang and Li Sun, “Broad Bond Rating Change and Irresponsible Corporate Social Responsibility Activities,” with Jennifer Shang, Advances in Accounting, 39, 32-46, 2017.

Joel Harper, “Diversification Discount and Investor Sentiment,” with Subramanian Rama Iyer and Ali Nejadmalayeri, The North American Journal of Economics and Finance, 42, 218-236, 2017.

Akhilesh Bajaj and Adrien Bouchet, “The Mediating Effect of Bridging Social Capital Between Focused Social Media Usage and Attitude: An Explanatory Model,” working paper.

Akhilesh Bajaj, WPKT: Work Process Knowledge Template for Codification of Organizational Process Knowledge, with Meredith Bates-Thurnton, Journal of Organizational and End User Computing, 29, 24-48, 2017.

Akhilesh Bajaj and Wray Bradley, “Estimation of Deficiency Risk and Prioritization of Information Security Controls: A Data-Centric Approach,” with Firoozeh Rahimian, International Journal of Accounting Information Systems, 20, 38-64, 2016.

Lori Leonard, “Ethical Awareness of Seller’s Behavior in Consumer-to-Consumer Electronic Commerce: Applying the Multidimensional Ethics Scale,” with Kiku Jones, Journal of Internet Commerce, 16(2), 202-218, 2017.

Lori Leonard and Tracy Manly, “Ethical Behavioral Intention in an Academic Setting: Models and Predictors,ˮ with Cynthia Riemenschneider, Journal of Academic Ethics, 15, 141-166, 2017.

Lori Leonard and Tracy Manly, “Academic Integrity Research: Ways to Understand and Improve Culture on Campus,” with Cynthia Riemenschneider, Journal of Information Systems Education, Special Issue: Academic Integrity, 27(3), 183-195, 2016.

Adrien Bouchet, Brian Walkup and Mike Troilo, “Preempting the competition: How do shareholders view sponsorships in the sport apparel industry?,” with Thomas Doellman, Journal of Sport Management, 31(3), 275-287.

Tim Hart, “Organizational citizenship behavior and the enhancement of absorptive capacity,” with Bruce Gilstrap and Mark Bolino, Journal of Business Research, 69(10), 3981-3988.

Charlie Wood, “‘No Sale’ items in auctions: Do they really matter?,” with Bruce Alford, Otis Gilley and Obinna Obilo, Marketing Letters: A Journal of Research in Marketing, 28(1), 155-168.

Sal Aurigemma, “Running with the Pack: The Impact of Middle-Status Conformity on the Post-Adoption Organizational Use of Twitter,” with Thomas Mattson, Journal of Organizational and End User Computing, 30(1).

Sal Aurigemma, “Deterrence and Punishment Experience Impacts on ISP Compliance Attitudes,” with Thomas Mattson, Information and Computer Security, 25(4), 421-436, 2017.

Sal Aurigemma, “Privilege or procedure: Evaluating the effect of employee status on intent to comply with socially interactive information security threats and controls,” with Thomas Mattson, Computers & Security, 66, 218-234, 2017.

Brian Chabowski, “A Review of Global Competitiveness Research: Past Advances and Future Directions,” with Jeannette Mena, Journal of International Marketing, 25(4), 1–24, 2017.

Jose Miranda-Lopez, “The Impact of Equity Share Class on the Information Content of Earnings and Cash Flows: Evidence from Mexico,” with Isho Tama-Sweet. Forthcoming in the International Journal of Accounting, Auditing and Performance Evaluation.

Saeed Samiee and Brian Chabowski, “Cross-National Research and International Business: An Interdisciplinary Path,” with Thomas Hult, International Business Review, 26(1), 89-101, 2017.

Jose Miranda-Lopez, “The Impact of the Global Economic Crisis of 2008 on Earnings Quality in Mexico,” with Ivan Valdovinos-Hernandez. Under review in the Journal of Accounting in Emerging Economies.

Tim Hart, “Unbundling the Effect of Prior Invention Experience from Firm Xize on Future Exploratory and Exploitative Search Behaviors,” with Fiebo Shao, Innovation: Organization & Management, 19(2), 227-244, 2017.

Jose Miranda-Lopez, Svetlana Orlova and Li Sun, “CEO Network Centrality and Corporate Cash Holdings.” Under review in the Journal of Business Finance & Accounting.

Adrien Bouchet, Mary Dana Laird and Michael Troilo, “The Role of Reputation, Status, and University Endowment in Increased Athletic Competition: Evidence from NCAA Division I,” Sports Management Review, 20, 395–407, 2016.

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TU and Phillips 66 enjoy long-standing partnership

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he University of Tulsa has enjoyed a long-standing partnership with global energy manufacturing and logistics company Phillips 66, which funds scholarships and supports programs in the Collins College of Business and the College of Engineering and Natural Sciences. Thad Satterfield (BA ’90) is director of university relations and recruiting for Phillips 66. As he explains, “Part of our core values for philanthropic giving is around safety and education, and supporting the communities in which we work and live. When we invest in higher education, we invest in our communities and our future — especially in STEM fields.”

Phillips 66 partners with universities across the country that have strong, nationally recognized programs and embrace the energy industry. “TU is definitely one of those schools,” said Satterfield. “Within engineering, TU’s programs fit our energy manufacturing logistics environment. And within business, the oil and gas industry is interwoven as a lens throughout the energy management program’s undergraduate curriculum.”

into our company and add value quickly. They are prepared not only with technical skills and business acumen, but also soft skills — what we call durable skills — that translate to success in our organization.” He says those durable skills include being able to listen and communicate effectively, identifying problems and offering solutions, and having the ability to take lessons learned in one situation and apply to another.

He highlights the strength of TU’s computer information systems (CIS) program as the need for professionals who can combine strong information technology skills with business principles continues to increase. “These students offer a strong, pragmatic application of current trends within the IT space,” he explained. Graduate degrees such as the master of accountancy and the recently introduced MS in business analytics also complement areas of growth for the company. “As we advance our digital capabilities, we will be looking for more data scientists to join Phillips 66 to support our digital platforms.”

“Phillips 66 hires more business students than any other employer.

The company’s long-standing support of our programs and investment in our students has resulted in a partnership that we value immensely.”

— Dean Gale Sullenberger

Collins College of Business Dean Gale Sullenberger says the Phillips 66 partnership, which dates prior to his arrival to TU in 1999, has enhanced the college’s programs and benefited students in a number of ways. “Phillips 66 is one of the most important partners we’ve had in the 18 years since I’ve been here,” he said.

TU is one of only 10 universities to host the company’s SHIELD Scholars program, which not only awards scholarships to top students, but also pairs them with a mentor who can offer guidance in the transition from college to career. In terms of employment, many students secure internships and full-time employment in the company’s Bartlesville, Oklahoma, and Houston offices.

Satterfield echoes that sentiment. “TU has always been a strong partner for us,” he said. “We get top students who come

Phillips 66 helps fund student organizations such as Women in Business and iTU and sponsors the college’s Friends of Finance executive speaker series. “Friends of Finance represents an opportunity for our current employees to reconnect with the university and our peers in the business community,” Satterfield says. And partnering with initiatives like TU’s True Blue Neighbors goes hand in hand with the company’s commitment to give back to the community. He notes that, “TU students have a strong sense of purpose and giving back.”

And for Satterfield, it’s not just about the business relationship. “TU is where I met my wife, my son graduated from TU, and now I have a daughter there,” he says. “I’ve always been proud to be an alum, but I’m even more proud of the progress the college has made. As a business college, we are poised to excel at preparing students for the future.” ■

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800 South Tucker Drive Tulsa, Oklahoma 74104-9700

Leaving a legacy of learning Education was important to Lewis “Lew” Burns (BS ’62), who grew up in Havana, Arkansas, and later moved to Tulsa where his family started a dry-cleaning business. Initially told that he might be better suited for a blue-collar job rather than an education at The University of Tulsa, Burns didn’t let that stop him from trying and succeeding.

He took classes as a student-at-large to earn grades that met TU’s admissions criteria, and graduated with a major in accounting.

Burns moved to Dundee, Illinois, to join Dover Industries as a staff accountant, and advanced to president, CEO and director over the span of his 40-year career with the company.

To honor his legacy of hard work and dedication to education, the Burns family established the Lewis E. Burns Memorial Scholarship in Business. The scholarship is given annually to student who balances work with earning a degree, just as Burns did when he was a student at TU.

Gifts like those from the Burns family make it possible for students to share in the same experiences that helped shape his success. To make a difference in the life of a TU scholar, please contact Amy Gerald, director of development, at 918-631-3733, or amy-gerald@utulsa.edu.

utulsa.edu/giving