Rotary Club of Tulsa

May 16, 2012

Becky J. Frank is one of Oklahoma's leaders - both in business circles and in civic affairs. She combines a strong business network with public relations savvy, and in her time with STF | PR has significantly grown both its staff and client base.  She joined the firm as partner and chief operating officer, was named president in 2000 and now serves as chairman and chief executive officer.

Before joining the firm, Frank was vice president of community relations and corporate communications at Bank of Oklahoma, a position she began in 1994. Before her work with the state's largest bank, she served as vice president of communications for the Tulsa Area United Way. Frank began her career at John Brown University, where she served as the assistant to the director of university relations.

Community Involvement:  Frank has played a significant leadership role in the state, serving on numerous nonprofit board and in the planning and execution of many local events.

Frank's current and recent civic involvements include:

• 2012 Chair, Tulsa Metro Chamber Board of Directors
• Board Member, Campaign Chair-elect and Cabinet Member and Women's Leadership Council Immediate Past Chair, Tulsa Area United Way
• Emeritus member, The Salvation Army Advisory Board
• Past President and Board of Directors Member, Leadership Oklahoma
• Past Chair and Board of Directors Member, Tulsa River Parks Authority
• Past Executive Committee Member, The Foundation for Tulsa Schools
• Past Board of Directors and Executive Committee Member, Oklahoma Center for Nonprofits                

Acknowledgements:

• Tulsa World 12 to Watch in 2012 Recognition
• The Association for Women in Communications 2012 Newsmaker
• Greater Tulsa Reporter 2012 Ten to Watch Recognition
• Tulsa Business Journal Women of Distinction Honoree in 2011

• Journal Record's 50 Women of the Year recipient in 2000, 2003 and 2004
• Pinnacle Award from the Mayor's Commission on the Status of Women in 2004
• Awarded the Silver Addy by the Tulsa Advertising Federation in 2001

Education:   John Brown University

May 9, 2012

Governor Mary Fallin was elected November 2, 2010, during a historic election in which she became the first-ever female governor of Oklahoma.  She was inaugurated on the steps of the Oklahoma Capitol as the state's 27th governor on January 10, 2011.

After a successful career in the private sector as a manager for a national hotel chain, Fallin made her first foray into public service in 1990 when she was elected to the Oklahoma House of Representatives.  This began her long and distinguished career of public service dedicated to conservative, commonsense solutions to the challenges facing Oklahoma families and small businesses.

During her time in the House, Fallin earned a reputation as a consensus builder who was willing to reach across the aisle.  Serving in the Republican minority, she managed to pass more than a dozen bills that were signed into law by the state's Democratic governor, including Oklahoma's first "anti-stalker law" and measures aimed at improving the business climate in Oklahoma.  She also worked to lower the health care costs of small businesses in Oklahoma and for her work in this area was honored as a "Legislator of the Year" by the American Legislative Exchange Council.

In 1994, Fallin would first make history by becoming the first woman and first Republican to be elected lieutenant governor of Oklahoma, an office she would hold for 12 years. In this capacity, Fallin focused her attention on issues affecting job creation and economic development.  She served on 10 boards or commissions involving business and quality-of-life issues in Oklahoma.  In 1997, she chaired the Fallin Commission on Workers' Compensation, which released a comprehensive reform plan to lower costs of workers' comp while creating a system that was fair to both businesses and workers.  Fallin also used her position as president of the Oklahoma State Senate to allow the citizens of Oklahoma to vote on "Right to Work," which ended the practice of compelling workers to join and pay dues to a union.  In 2001, Oklahoma became the first state in the country to pass such a law in more than 25 years.

Fallin was elected to the U.S. Congress in 2006 where she represented the Fifth District of Oklahoma.  In Congress, Fallin served on the committees for small business, transportation and infrastructure, natural resources and armed services.  Fallin coauthored numerous pieces of legislation to lower taxes, reduce regulation on businesses and individuals, fight federal overreach, increase American energy production, create jobs and protect constitutional liberties.   

As governor, Fallin has cited job growth and retention, education reform, government modernization and protecting Oklahoma from the intrusions of Washington, D.C., as top priorities.

During her first session as governor, Fallin saw many of her legislative initiatives signed into law including historic lawsuit reform and workers' compensation reforms, comprehensive education reform, and policies to modernize and streamline government operations.

Additionally, the governor has launched the Complete College America initiative to dramatically increase the number of college graduates in Oklahoma to help the state retain and attract jobs.

The governor also has put forward a road and bridge plan to fix all of the currently identified structurally deficient bridges on the state highway system.

Fallin serves on the Executive Committee of the National Governors Association and is chair of the Southern States Energy Board.

The governor is a graduate of Oklahoma State University.

She is married to Wade Christensen, an Oklahoma City attorney who is the state's first "First Gentleman."  The couple has six children between them.  They attend Crossings Community Church in northwest Oklahoma City.

May 2, 2012

Jim Inhofe is a life-long conservative who has consistently fought for the values of greater freedoms, a strong national defense, a smaller federal government, and less government intrusion into the lives of the American people.  National Journal named him the top Conservative in the Senate for 2009, saying he was the only one with a perfect conservative voting record that year.  He was recently voted the "Most Outstanding Conservative U.S. Senator" by Human Events Newspaper and the top conservative by the American Conservative Union.  He repeatedly receives various awards and recognitions from organizations like the National Taxpayers Union, the National Rifle Association, Americans for Tax Reform, the Center for Security Policy, and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce to name a few.  In 2009, the American Farm Bureau honored him with their highest honor, the "Golden Plow Award".

Jim fought the Global Warming battle alone for 10 years until 2007 when others joined in.  Fighting for Americans and for those scientists who have been shut out and muzzled by the establishment, Inhofe began questioning the truth about Global Warming in 1997 as the Chairman of the Clean Air, Wetlands, Private Property, and Nuclear Safety Subcommittee.  In 2003, when he became Chairman of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, he relentlessly pursued the truth, saying on the Senate Floor that Global Warming is the "greatest hoax ever perpetrated against the American people."  His steadfast opposition led to the defeat of the 2003 McCain-Lieberman climate bill, the 2005 McCain-Lieberman climate bill, and the 2007 Warner-Lieberman climate bill.  His work also gave a voice to disenfranchised scientists who, until the recent Climategate scandal, had largely been silenced.  He also played a key role in passage of the 2005 Highway Bill, shepherding the important legislation through the U.S. Senate.  By doing so, he ended Oklahoma's status as a 'donor state' as Oklahoma now receives more money than it sends to Washington in federal highway funding.  This historic legislation also lessened the federal bureaucracy over highway trust funds by returning the decision-making process back to the states. 

From his post as the second ranking member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, Jim has gained a reputation as an expert on defense and national security issues.  Not only is Jim a strong supporter of Oklahoma's defense industry and military community, he has also been a tireless advocate for providing greater resources, the necessary equipment, and proper training to our military personnel fighting the War on Terror and combating global threats to our nation's security. Jim has been to Iraq and Afghanistan as much as any other member of Congress since the beginning of the War on Terror.

He is also a member of the Senator Foreign Relations Committee. 

Jim is one of few active pilots in Congress, and has logged over 10,000 flight hours.  He is the only Member of Congress in history to fly an airplane around the world.

Jim grew up in Tulsa and graduated from the University of Tulsa with a degree in economics. He served in the U.S. Army and has been a small businessman working in aviation, real estate, and insurance for over 30 years.  Jim has been married for over 50 years to his wife, Kay, and they have four grown children and twelve grandchildren.  

April 25, 2012

On Wednesday, April 25 we will dedicate the club's official centennial project, Rotary Plaza on Williams Center Green.  The plaza features five bronze sculptures that celebrate the generosity of Tulsa's community volunteers and the role of Rotary here and around the world for the past 100 years.  Several dignitaries will be our guests, including RI Immediate Past President Ray Klinginsmith, who will keynote the regular Rotary luncheon.  There is no charge to club members for this special event - to be held at the Hyatt Regency Tulsa - but RSVPs are required.

Dedication of the Plaza   10:45 a.m., southwest corner of Williams Center Green

Rotary Luncheon and Celebration  11:30 a.m., Hyatt Regency Tulsa

April 18, 2012

Kari Watkins, a third-generation journalist, became the Oklahoma City National Memorial's first staff member as the Communications Director in March 1996. She assumed the Executive Director responsibilities in 1999.

Kari oversaw the design competition, coordinated the international, national and local media. She also worked with her board and staff in raising the $29 million dollars for the construction and completion of the Memorial, Museum and archives and today oversees all operations
of the Outdoor Symbolic Memorial and Museum; one of Oklahoma's most visited sites.

Locally, she was the recipient of the Women in Communications Byliner Award in 2000. Nationally, under Kari's direction, the Memorial Museum's video productions were awarded The Videographer Award of Excellence at the New York Festivals World Medal of International Film
and Video. Kari was named The Journal Record Woman of the Year in 2005. In 2006, she was the recipient of Downtown Oklahoma City's Stanley Draper Award for Community Excellence and in 2011 was named the recipient of the The University of Oklahoma Gaylord College of
Journalism Distinguished Alumni Award.

Kari leads a staff of 22 that has been recognized with the highest national recognition, accreditation from the American Association of Museums. Kari serves on the board of directors for the Greater Oklahoma City Chamber, as a commissioner on the OKC Convention and Visitors Bureau and sits on the MAPS3 Park Sub-Committee and is the Treasurer in the Casady
Parent's Organization. She also is an adjunct professor teaching non-profit management at The University of Oklahoma.

She and her husband Hardy, who is the Vice-President of Marketing & Communications for INTEGRIS Health, have two children Ford and Caroline.

April 11, 2012

Join us today at Celia Clinton Elementary, 1740 N. Harvard Avenue, to catch up on our Rotary-sponsored programs at the school. Current Rotary-sponsored programs include:

• Mentoring and tutoring to provide one-on-one support for students
• Providing reading materials to the library and a personalized dictionary to each 3rd grader
• Teaching Junior Achievement courses inthe classrooms to help students understand about working to earn and save money
• Re-enforcing responsible behavior and academic performance through quarterly parties and other incentives for achievers
• Supporting the school's family literacy outreach
• Assisting teachers with classroom supplies
• Fire Safety Day presentation by Firefighter Dayna Hilton and "Tango the Fire Safety Dog" to train students in fire safety, fire survival and personal safety skills
• Welcome back to school watermelon party

Currently, there are about 30 Rotarians who regularly mentor individual students in reading and other subjects or who interact with a class.

If you've ever seen the joy and excitement on a child's face when he or she learns something new, then you understand the heart of the Rotary Club of Tulsa's Partners In Education program with Celia Clinton Elementary School.  Since November 5, 1993, our members have mentored and tutored the school's students, provided reading materials to the library and more. In fact, each week at Rotary, instead of a speaker gift, a book is donated to the Mike Chittom Memorial Media Center at Celia Clinton Elementary School.  Over the years the club has donated close to a thousand books. 

April 4, 2012

David Greer currently serves as the Executive Director of the Institute for Information Security (iSec) at the University of Tulsa and is charged with the development, implementation and supervision of the institute's mission to produce exceptional graduates and technical discoveries in the information security field. He also serves as the liaison between iSec and industry, government, and academic partnerships. In addition, Greer's duties extend to seeking research funding for
classified, unclassified, public and private projects.

He is considered one of the leaders in information security and digital forensics education and training, having briefed US Senators, FBI, IRS, National Security Agency and Department of Defense on information security, critical infrastructure protection, cyber crimes and digital forensics.

Greer brings more than 12 years of combined experience to his position, including time as an information security and digital forensics consultant, information security coordinator, e-learning coordinator, software compliance specialist. He earned a Bachelor of Science from Oklahoma State University in management information systems, Master of Science in computer science from The University of Tulsa (TU) and is currently completing his doctorate degree.

Greer also serves as the Executive Director of the Oklahoma Innovation Institute (OII), a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit corporation committed to building an innovative economy in the Tulsa region by implementing its mission of "Research to High Impact Jobs". The Institute fosters collaborative research and development, entrepreneurship, company creation and retention, life-­long learning and creative, future-oriented thinking.

Prior to returning to Tulsa, Greer spent five years as an information security coordinator developing cyber security continuing education and e-­learning courses for the Oklahoma Department of Career and Technology Education. He is a founding member and past  coordinator of the Cyber Security Education Consortium (CSEC), a National Science Foundation Advanced Technological Education (ATE) Center of Excellence for Information Security and Digital Forensics that focuses on building a high tech workforce in the Southwestern United States. Greer has also designed and built three information assurance and digital forensics mobile laboratories for use by local, state and federal law enforcement agencies, as well as security professionals.

He is an active Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP) and has received five federal information assurance certifications from the Committee on National Security Systems (CNSS 4011 - 4015). Greer has recently been certified as an official ISC2 CISSP instructor, one of only a few in the country.

Greer has filed for several U.S. Patents in the areas of e-learning and digital forensics, most recently a patent titled "Redaction of Digital Information from an Electronic Device." Currently pending, the program works to successfully remove sensitive information from electronic evidence.

March 28, 2012

Tulsa County District Attorney Tim Harris is a tough, no-nonsense prosecutor whose passion is to protect the citizens of Tulsa County.

Harris' number one priority is prosecution of violent criminals. He established a Death penalty review Team, as well as a Major Crimes prosecution Team so the most experienced prosecutors in his office bring the worst criminals to justice and take the most violent offenders off the streets.  Other specialized prosecutors handle Child Abuses, Domestic Violence, Gangs, Drugs, and Juvenile Delinquents.  Harris has a no tolerance policy regarding meth labs.  

26 Years Experience:
Harris began working as an intern in the DA's office in 1983. He was elected as District Attorney in 1998.  He is also a Special Assistant United States Attorney, for the Northern District of Oklahoma.

As the top law enforcement officer in Tulsa County, Harris is responsible for the prosecution of approximately 6,500 felony and 6,800 misdemeanor criminal cases every year. Fifty attorneys and about 55 support staff, investigators and victim witness coordinators work under Harris' direction.

Harris serves on the Oklahoma District Attorneys Council, as Chairman of the Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs Commission, and was appointed to the Statewide Gang Intervention Steering Committee. He is actively involved in the Department of Justice' Project Safe Neighborhoods to reduce gun violence. He served on the Child Fatality Review Board and has completed a term on the state-wide Domestic Violence Fatality Review Board.

Harris also serves as a board member for the Child Abuse Network, Oklahoma Conference for Community Justice, the State of Oklahoma Dispute Resolution Advisory Board, the Tulsa Boys Home and Junior League of Tulsa Community Advisory Board.  He is a member in good standing of the Oklahoma Bar Association and the Tulsa County Bar Association.

Harris graduated from the O. W. Coburn School of Law at Oral Roberts University in Tulsa in 1983; University of Wisconsin-Madison, B.A. in Behavioral Science and Law, 1979.

March 21, 2012

Rod Sands, President & CEO Explorer Pipeline, began his 42 year pipeline career with Conoco Pipeline (4 yrs). He worked for Butler & Culvern Engineering (now Willbros) before coming to Explorer in 1973. He managed Explorer's pipeline operations from 1977 to 2005 assuming additional responsibility for Engineering in 1993.

Previous assignments included, project engineering, project management, District Engineer, District Superintendent, Manager Operations & Products Movements, General Manager Operations, and Vice President Operations/Engineering. Rod was Explorer's Chief Operating Officer prior to taking early retirement in late 2005.

He worked part time as a pipeline consultant with clients in Tulsa, Oklahoma City, Norman and Kansas City from 2006 - 2008 before completely flunking retirement and returning to the Company as President/CEO in January 2009. 

Rod has been active in his community as a Rotarian for 30 years, and civic volunteer, more recently with Red Cross, American Diabetes Association, American Heart Walk and as a director for the Tulsa Area United Way. He was the 2010 Chair of the United Way Trailblazer's campaign. 

Rod enjoys old cars, hot rods and customs and plans to buy and sell "Rod's Relics" at his Route 66 car lot 8 miles north of Claremore when he gets it right and retires a second time.

Rod received a Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering from the University of Missouri.  He has been married to Cindy for 45 years and has a daughter, a son and three grandsons.

March 14, 2012

Ann Ackerman is the CEO of Leadership Oklahoma, a position that she has held since January 2006. Her responsibilities include administration of statewide training and education programs for adults and youth in support of the organization's nonprofit mission and the fund development required to support these programs. Growing up in Oklahoma, she received a B.S. in Mathematics from OSU and earned a M.S. and Ph.D. from OU. Making her home in Oklahoma City, Ann began her career as an engineer, but quickly changed to community college education where she spent 25 years. Her positions included Professor of Mathematics, Department Chair of Mathematics, Dean of Science and Mathematics, Associate Vice President of External Education Programs, and Vice President for Economic and Community Development.

Balancing a career with community involvement, Ann serves on the Governor's Council of Science and Technology and as the Mayor's appointee on Oklahoma City's Citizens Community Development Board. Her civic activities include serving as Director on the Boards of Oklahoma Center for Nonprofits, Oklahoma Community Institute, Leadership Oklahoma City and Oklahoma Health Center Foundation. Ann is a member of Rotary Club 29 in Oklahoma City and Past Secretary and Director of the Club. She is also the Past Chairman of the American Red Cross of Central Oklahoma and Past Chair of the Governor's Youth Council.

Ann's accomplishments include selection as an American Council on Education Fellow and recipient of Leadership Oklahoma City's Paragon Award for Service, Journal Record's Woman of the Year Circle of Excellence, Junior Hospitality's Woman in the News and OCCC Employee Award for Excellence.

Believing that the best way to reduce stress is physical activity, Ann enjoys snow skiing, exercising and boating. She also likes to travel.

March 7, 2012

CBS Money Watch ranks the professors at Oklahoma Wesleyan University in Bartlesville as best in the nation for the second year in a row.  OKWU professors were ranked number one in the entire nation - ahead of the faculty of any and all other colleges and universities.

Each year CBS MoneyWatch.com posts the analysis done by the Center for College Affordability and Productivity, an education think tank. They develop the rankings through a methodology that uses RateMyProfessors.com evaluations to assess the quality of teachers and then rank the top 650 schools.  This is part of the analysis used by Forbes for their annual college ratings list.

The top of the Best Professors for 2011 list included a large number of liberal arts colleges, which by nature have small class sizes and allow for greater collaboration between students and professors than universities with large class sizes.

None of the Ivy League schools crack the list of the top 25 schools with the best professors. Princeton came the closest at 57th best. According to the teacher quality rankings, Cornell fared the worst among the Ivies - it came in 445th out of 650 schools.

President of OKWU, Dr. Everett Piper, said this of the news, "The real story here is this: Oklahoma Wesleyan University students, not the administration or the staff or even the faculty, but the students themselves are taking the initiative to find a website, log-on and say 'our professors are outstanding as is the subject matter they teach,'" said Dr. Everett Piper, President of OKWU.

The Center for College Affordability and Productivity, the education think tank that developed the rankings methodology, used RateMyProfessors.com evaluations to assess the quality of teaching at the 650 schools that it ranks.  RateMyProfessors asks students to evaluate their professors on a 1-to-5 scale in three categories: easiness, helpfulness and clarity. In devising the weighting, the researchers put far less weighting on the easiness category.  Other components include schools' freshmen retention rate, graduation rate, student debt levels, graduates' salaries and more.

"Oklahoma Wesleyan University has been recognized as an educational leader by U.S. News and World Report, Forbes.com, and CBSNews MoneyWatch both for its academic reputation as well as its missional integrity," Piper said.

The university is a four-year, Christian university of the liberal arts and sciences that is accredited by the North Central Association. OKWU also receives professional accreditation from the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE), the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education (CCNE), and the International Assembly of Collegiate Business Education (IACBE).

Oklahoma Wesleyan University has a satellite campus in Tulsa.  The new facility is located at 10810 E. 45th St. in Tulsa. The school of Adult & Graduate Studies offers evening and online college programs for working adults.

25 Colleges with the Best Professors:
1. Oklahoma Wesleyan University
2. U.S. Air Force Academy (Colorado)
3. U.S. Military Academy (New York)
4. Marlboro College (Vermont)
5. Carleton College (Minnesota)
6. Clarke University (Iowa)
7. North Greenville University (Souch Carolina)
8. Wellesley College (Massachusetts)
9. Master's College and Seminary (California)
10. Whitworth University (Washington)
11. Northwestern College (Iowa)
12. Emory and Henry College (Virginia)
13. Sarah Lawrence College (New York)
14. Pacific University (Oregon)
15. College of the Ozarks (Missouri)
16. Sewanee - University of the South (Tennessee)
17. Wabash College (Indiana)
18. Wisconsin Lutheran College
19. Fisk University (Tennessee)
20. Doane College (Nebraska)
21. Bryn Mawr College (Pennsylvania)
22. Hastings College (Nebraska)
23. Whitman College (Washington)
24. Wesleyan College (Georgia)
25. Middlebury College (Vermont)
• Source: Forbes Magazine/CBS Money Watch

February 29, 2012

Meredith R. Siegfried was appointed chief executive officer of NORDAM in July of 2011. Prior to becoming CEO she was chief operating officer, and then president, responsible for all repair and manufacturing operations in the United States, Europe and Asia. Earlier she was vice president of NORDAM's Repair Group, vice president of its Global Sales and Marketing and vice president of NORDAM International. She has been based in Tulsa, Okla., has spent considerable time at NORDAM's facilities in the United Kingdom and Singapore, and has played a key role in transforming NORDAM into the global aerospace entity that it is today.

Before joining the company, she was a senior consultant on mergers and acquisitions, corporate recovery services and financial advisory with Arthur Andersen's Global Corporate Finance Group.

In addition to her leadership role at NORDAM, Siegfried serves on the board of World Travel Services, LLC. She was a member of the Board of Trustees for the Tulsa Airport Authority for eight years, five of them as chairman.

In 2011, Siegfried was nominated and chosen for the Aspen Institute's Henry Crown Fellowship program. This two-year progression engages a select group of young, executive entrepreneurs from all over the world to address the foremost challenges of their organizations, communities and countries through a structured series of seminars and an individual leadership project.

Siegfried also is a member of the Young Presidents' Organization; has been involved with Habitat for Humanity and United Way; and participated as a delegate for the Governor of Oklahoma's Delegation to China in 2004.

She holds a Master of Business Administration from the University of Chicago, and is a graduate of Notre Dame with a Business Administration degree in Finance.

February 22, 2012

Please join Rotarian of the Day, Kacey King, and the rest of the Above & Beyond Committee for this very special meeting to present awards to a Tulsa firefighter and a Tulsa police officer for outstanding acts of character, and commitment and compassion to both their profession and community.

The Above and Beyond Awards were established in 2008 by the Rotary Club of Tulsa. Nominated by their peers through an application process, today's recipients have gone above and beyond the requirements of duty and exemplify the values reflected in the Rotary Four-Way Test. Award nominations were approved by each department and then selected by committee of the Rotary Club of Tulsa. 

February 15, 2012

Alan Armstrong became president and chief executive officer of Williams in January 2011. Previously, he served as president of Midstream and was responsible for leading Williams' midstream and olefins businesses in Canada and the United States. Additionally, Armstrong serves as chairman of the board and chief executive officer for Williams Partners L.P. (NYSE:WPZ), the master limited partnership that owns most of Williams' gas pipeline and domestic midstream assets.

Previously, Armstrong served as vice president of Gathering & Processing from 1999-2002; vice president of Commercial Development from 1998-99; vice president of Retail Energy Services from 1997-98 and director of Commercial Operations for Williams Field Services' Gulf Coast from 1995-97. He joined Williams in 1986 as an engineer.

Armstrong graduated from the University of Oklahoma in 1985 with a bachelor's degree in civil engineering.

Armstrong serves as past president of the Gas Processors Association and is a board member of the Natural Gas Supply Association, the American Petroleum Institute and the American Exploration and Production Council. He also serves on the executive committee of America's Natural Gas Alliance and is a member of the Business Roundtable, an association of chief executive officers of leading U.S. corporations. He is also a member of the Oklahoma Business Roundtable. Armstrong is chairman of the Board of Visitors for the University of Oklahoma's College of Engineering. In the community, he serves as chair of Junior Achievement of Oklahoma and is a board member of the Tulsa Metro Chamber, Tulsa's Future II Oversight Committee and The Williams Foundation. Armstrong is a past board member of Goodwill Industries.

February 8, 2012

The Crescendo Music Awards Competition was founded by the Rotary Club of Tulsa in the spring of 1999. That year eleven high school and college students auditioned for a jury of six Rotarians. Three were called back to perform for the entire club.  Modest cash prizes were awarded.

In 2010 after the 12th competition, more than 760 students had auditioned and more thatn $300,000 had been awarded as cash prizes to extremely talented young musicians.

This year we are preparing for the 14th annual competition to be held March 22-24. The competition is divided into six collegiate and high school divisions. This year's competition includes collegiate voice, strings and piano, and high school voice, orchestral instrument and piano divisions. The competition will take place over the course of three days with preliminary rounds held on March 22, 23 and 24. The Finals Concert will be held at VanTrease Performing Arts Center for Education, Tulsa Community College, Southeast campus on the evening of March 24. Tickets are on sale now at $25/seat.

January 31, 2012 - TUESDAY

The breadth of T. Boone Pickens' career is impressive. He built one of the largest independent oil companies in the United States and flourished as an entrepreneur after leaving it, generating hundreds of millions of dollars in the process. Among his lengthy accolades, Financial World named him CEO of the Decade in 1989 and Oil and Gas Investor listed him as one of the "100 Most Influential People of the Petroleum Century."

"The thing you have to understand about Boone is that it's all about action," longtime associate Bobby Stillwell told Grant's Interest Rate Observer in 2004. "There's no sitting around."

Pickens is afflicted with the inherent restlessness that drives most entrepreneurs. That restlessness manifested itself early in his life. While he was still a teen, the Holdenville, Oklahoma, native expanded his newspaper route sales by acquiring surrounding routes one by one. 

Traditional corporate life chafed Pickens. The Oklahoma State University graduate left his first adult employer, Phillips Petroleum, and started what would become Mesa Petroleum with $2,500 and a healthy dose of moxey. He built his company into an independent powerhouse that challenged and changed the good-old-boy corporate culture in America. 

During this time, his face appeared regularly on every significant business publication in America. He put a spotlight on the rights of the true owners of American businesses, its shareholders. He pounded on the doors of Japanese boardrooms, demanding that American investors have the same access to Japan and other foreign markets as foreign investors have in the United States. When at 68 he left the independent oil company he had nurtured for forty years, he reinvented himself, built a new, highly successful company, and made more money than he ever had before. During the past few years, his uncanny on-the-mark forecasts on the price of oil have made him the focus of major news programs and led CNBC to label him the "Oracle of Oil."

During the span of his career, Pickens has made hundreds of millions of dollars- for others as well as himself - and he isn't timid about spreading it around. "I like making money. I like giving it away," he has often said. The breadth of his philanthropy -$1 billion - includes medical research, athletics, and academic projects. In 2006, his charitable activities, which included $175 million and the establishment of the T. Boone Pickens Foundation, placed him on the Chronicle of Philanthropy's list of top U.S. philanthropists for the second straight year. His Foundation is focused on improving lives through grants supporting educational programs, health and medical research and services, athletics and corporate wellness, the entrepreneurial process, at-risk youth, and conservation and wildlife initiatives.

"Entrepreneurs search for - and create - value," Pickens wrote in Boone Pickens: the Luckiest Guy in the World. "That underlying value is what my life is all about - whether the focus is the energy business or some other endeavor. Today, we enjoy a robust economy and significant shareholders' say in the companies they own. Takeovers, solicited or otherwise, have become an accepted business practice; today, the Business Roundtable does not attack the acquirers, win or lose. Countless gambles played a part in bringing that combination together. Our role in the journey was worth the risks."

His life, stunning achievements and stinging losses alike, is chock full of lessons, most of which he has readily shared over the years. His impact on American culture reflects his many interests and passions, including his unyielding belief in the entrepreneurial spirit, his leadership in corporate fitness, the need for alternative fuel development, and his prudent stewardship of American lands. Pickens, a proud alum of OSU (it was operating as Oklahoma A&M when he graduated), has donated the gist of his professional papers to his alma mater.

January 25, 2012

Join us today to hear and see Jeff Hewett of the Broken Arrow Rotary Club demonstrate this amazing, life-changing structure.  Each container provides a tent, a stove, a water purification kit, blankets, tools, and other necessities to help a family of 10 survive for six months.

Starting in 2000 as the brainchild of British Rotarian Tom Henderson, ShelterBox has grown to become the largest Rotary Club project in the 100-year history of the organization. Rotarians support 50% of all ShelterBox donations, with about 5,000 clubs participating. The Rotary logo appears on all ShelterBoxes, tents and blankets and ancillary materials..

The Rotary International Strategic Plan encourages all Rotarians to:

• Advance the recognition and public image of RI and Rotary
• Expand membership globally in both numbers and quality
• Increase Rotary's capacity to provide service

January 18, 2012

From the earliest days of the organization, Rotarians were concerned with promoting high ethical standards in their professional lives. One of the world's most widely printed and quoted statements of business ethics is The 4-Way Test, which was created in 1932 by Rotarian Herbert J. Taylor (who later served as RI president) when he was asked to take charge of a company that was facing bankruptcy.

This 24-word test for employees to follow in their business and professional lives became the guide for sales, production, advertising, and all relations with dealers and customers, and the survival of the company is credited to this simple philosophy. Adopted by Rotary in 1943, The 4-Way Test has been translated into more than a hundred languages and published in thousands of ways. It asks the following four questions:

January 11, 2012

Paul Kane is the Executive Vice President/CEO of the Home Builders Association of Greater Tulsa, Inc.  The HBA is a trade association of more than 1,000 members in the greater Tulsa area.  Paul has served in that capacity since 2006.  Prior to joining the HBA, Paul practiced law for 14 years and was a partner with the law firm of Eller and Detrich in Tulsa.  As a lawyer Paul represented the Home Builders Association as well as many of its members.  Paul's legal practice focused on business, construction and real estate.

Paul has taught Business Law at Langston-Tulsa as an adjunct professor for 12 years.  Paul's literary accomplishments include various articles in the Oklahoma Bar Journal and was a contributing author in Vernon's Oklahoma Forms 2^nd, widely used by attorneys throughout the State of Oklahoma.

Paul is a native Oklahoman, raised in Pawhuska, Oklahoma.  After obtaining his Bachelor of Arts from the University of Notre Dame in 1989, Paul earned his Juris Doctorate from the University of Oklahoma in 1992.  He has lived in Tulsa since that time and considers Tulsa his "hometown".

Paul is also an active Rotarian at the Rotary Club of Will Rogers.  He served as its President in 2003-2004, and thereafter served as an Assistant Governor for District 6110 until 2007.

Paul and his wife, Sabrina, have two daughters, Lauren and Emma, and a son, Marshall.  Additionally, Paul maintains an active role as a community leader, including involvement in the Rotary Club of Will Rogers, the Tulsa Global Alliance, the Maple Ridge Neighborhood Association, PlaniTulsa Advisory Committee, the Better Business Bureau and various other organizations.  On a national level, Paul has served as a member of the Board of Directors of the Executive Officers Council of the National Association of Home Builders.

January 4, 2012

Tulsa World enterprise editor Ziva Branstetter supervises the World's six-person team of investigative reporters. She worked for The Tulsa Tribune and the Philadelphia Daily News before joining the staff of the Tulsa World in 1994. Ziva has also served as the World's city editor and has held various reporting positions. 

Ziva recently coordinated projects about corruption within the Tulsa Police Department and a statewide series on Oklahoma's female incarceration rate. A series she wrote about a state board that took little action against bad nursing home administrators resulted in dismissal of the entire board and a rewrite of regulations. She is a proud graduate of Oklahoma State University and the mother of two boys.

December 28, 2011

The Rotary office will be closed from December 23, 2011 through January 1, 2012.

Best wishes for a happy and safe holiday season.

December 21, 2011

   Please join us for a wonderful holiday program this week.  Our speaker will be Dr. Mouzon Biggs, Jr. ….singing, candles, decorations….. and even a special visit from Old Saint Nick!  Get into the spirit of the season!  …..Inspirational, uplifting and just downright joyous!

   May the gifts of peace and joy be yours this holiday season, and long may the spirit of good will abide with you.

December 14, 2011

Frank Keating is president and CEO of the American Bankers Association. The ABA is a 135 year old association that represents banks of all sizes and charters and is the voice for the nation's $13 trillion banking industry and its two million employees.

Keating became ABA's president and CEO on January 1, 2011, following seven years of service as the president and CEO of the American Council of Life Insurers, and after serving two terms as Oklahoma's 25th governor.

Born in St. Louis in 1944, Frank grew up in Tulsa.  He received his undergraduate degree from Georgetown University and a law degree from the University of Oklahoma. His 30-year career in law enforcement and public service included stints as an FBI agent; U.S. Attorney and state prosecutor; and Oklahoma House and Senate member.  He is heard frequently on national news programs as a commentator on a wide variety of topics.

Keating is also the author of three award-winning children's books, biographies of Will Rogers, Theodore Roosevelt and Standing Bear, the Ponca Indian chief who argued Native Americans deserve the same rights as white Americans.

Frank and his wife Cathy live in McLean, Virginia.

December 7, 2011

Please join us this week to hear five member Rotarians tell about how 12-7-41 impacted them and the world around them.  Jerry Cornelius, Allan Edwards, Stanley Hawkins, Roy Lewis and Lindsay Patterson will talk about their experiences.

In Hawaii, the National Park Service and Navy Region Hawaii will host the 70th Anniversary Pearl Harbor Day Commemoration at the Pearl Harbor Visitor Center. The venue looks directly out on the USS Arizona Memorial. Pearl Harbor Survivors and World War II Veterans will join more than 3,000 distinguished guests and the general public for the annual observance of the 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor.

Ceremony highlights include military band music, morning colors, a traditional Hawaiian blessing, a rifle salute by members of the armed services, wreath presentations, echo taps, and recognition of the men and women who survived that December 7th, and those who gave the ultimate sacrifice for their country. At 7:55 a.m., the exact moment the Japanese attack began 70 years ago, a moment of silence will be observed. A U.S. Navy ship will render honors to the USS Arizona followed by a "missing man" formation flight over the Memorial.

November 30, 2011

The global fight against polio is one of the largest, most ambitious internationally coodinated health initiatives in history. A last push is needed to eliminate polio in just a few areas in the world. Northern Nigeria, northern India, and parts of Afghanistan and Pakistan account for more than 75 percent of global polio cases today. Halting poliovirus transmission in these endemic areas is vital not only for the populations in these areas but so that neighboring polio-free areas do not become reinfected.

Your contributions are helping Rotary raise $200 million to match $355 million in challenge grants received from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. The resulting $555 million supports immunization campaigns in developing countries where polio continues to infect and paralyze children, robbing them of their futures and compounding the hardships faced by their families.

November 23, 2011

Jim Stovall is President of the Narrative Television Network and is a highly sought after author and speaker. He is the author of 15 books including, The Ultimate Gift, its sequel, The Ultimate Life, and The Lamp, which have all been made into major motion pictures.

Stovall is blind and is an advocate on behalf of people with blindness. He advocated for our nation's 13 million blind and visually impaired people by making television and movies accessible through his Narrative Television Network. For his work, the President's Committee on Equal Opportunity selected Mr. Stovall as the Entrepreneur of the Year. He was also chosen as the International Humanitarian of the Year, joining Jimmy Carter, Nancy Reagan, and Mother Teresa as recipients of this honor.

He is a graduate of Oral Roberts University. On May 3, 2008, he received an Honorary Doctorate of Law from ORU for his work with the disabled.

Steve Forbes, president and CEO of Forbes magazine, says, "Jim Stovall is one of the most extraordinary men of our era."

November 16, 2011

William Joyce is the Assistant Director of the Riata Center for Entrepreneurship and currently teaches Introduction to Entrepreneurship at Oklahoma State University. He is a licensed attorney with broad experience in business litigation and transactional law.

Most recently, William managed a St. Louis based non-profit organization providing mediation, dispute resolution, and consulting services.

William received his law degree from Washington University in St. Louis, where he was named a Danforth Scholar and served as associate editor of the Washington University Journal of Law and Policy.

A Stillwater native, he also holds a BA in English from Oklahoma State.

November 9, 2011

Danny Mitchell grew up in Fort Worth, Texas where he graduated Paschal High School in 1967. He was active as a Boy Scout and obtained the rank of Eagle with Bronze and Silver Palms. He volunteered one summer in the Head Start Program. He received his Bachelor of Science in Architecture degree from the University of Texas at Arlington in 1971 and is certified by the National Council of Architectural Registration Boards and is licensed in Oklahoma, Texas, California, and Missouri. He is a Professional Member of the American Institute of Architects. Danny is Owner of Mitchell Architects, a full service Architectural firm located in Tulsa. He also develops and manages multi-story fully climate controlled self storage facilities and other development projects.

Danny and his wife Peggy have been married since 1969. They have one daughter, Pamela Riddle and her husband Mark Riddle. The joy of their lives is their two grandsons, Zachery and Jaden, and granddaughter Mikayla. They have lived in Tulsa since 1983. They are members of Asbury United Methodist Church where they previously served on the Community Missions Board.

Danny was inducted into Rotary September 23, 1993. He is a member of the Rotary Club of Southeast Tulsa where he has served as attendance chairman, International Service Director, Club Service Director, Foundation Chair, Membership Chair and President 2003-2004. He has served at the District level as Assistant District Governor July 2004 and June 2010 and has served as Committee Chair for RI Fellowships. He was District Conference Chairman 2 years, 2005-2006 and 2006-2007. He is a multiple Paul Harris Fellow, a member of the Paul Harris Society, and White Hat Society. Danny and Peggy are Major Donors and members of the Bequest Society.

Danny's hobbies include physical fitness, scuba diving, sporting clays, and traveling â€" including Rotary International Conventions in Brisbane, Australia, Chicago, Salt Lake City, Los Angeles, Copenhagen, Montreal and New Orleans. The experience at the first RI Convention ignited the passion for Rotary.

Danny will serve Rotary District 6110 as District governor in 2011-2012.

November 2, 2011

On November 8, Tulsa voters will decide seven of nine city council races and approve or disapprove changes in the form of municipal government.

"Save Our Tulsa" placed three items on the Nov. 8 ballot through initiative petition, while the City Council added a fourth. 

They are:
            1. Puts the mayor on the Council & adds three at-large members
            2. Return city councilor terms to two years
            3. Have nonpartisan elections
            4. Switch to a city manager form of government 

Learn about these important issues at today's meeting as we hear from proponents from both sides. John Brock, Rick Westcott, G.T. Bynum and Brian Crain will explain the thinking behind the issues and answer questions from the audience.

October 26, 2011

With a female incarceration rate nearly twice the national average, Oklahoma's rate has led the nation every year since 1994, except in 2003. The pathways to incarceration for Oklahoma women begin in childhood, where they experience trauma associated with physical and sexual abuse, chaotic home environments and poverty. As they enter adulthood, they may also experience domestic violence and other adult victimization that are also pathways to incarceration for women. The devastating effects of trauma often result in lack of educational attainment, lack of employability and can lead to substance abuse, mental illness and involvement in the criminal justice system. Children of incarcerated parents have a significantly increased risk of being incarcerated in the future, continuing the generational cycle of incarceration. 

With its focus on improving the lives of at-risk, young children and an understanding that this cycle of incarceration will continue without intervention, GKFF prioritized innovative community responses to the issue of female incarceration. As a result, in 2009 GKFF invested in a new alternative to incarceration program - Women in Recovery (WIR) - in partnership with Family & Children's Services, to reduce the number of women sent to prison from Tulsa County and reduce the impact it has on their children and families.

October 19, 2011

Aubrey McClendon started his first oil and natural gas investment company, Chesapeake Investments, in 1982 at the age of 23. He co-founded Chesapeake with the company's former president Tom L. Ward, currently the CEO of Oklahoma City-based Sandridge Energy Corporation (NYSE:SD), in 1989 with a $50,000 initial investment. They took the company public in 1993, and today Chesapeake is the second-largest producer of natural gas, a Top 15 oil producer and the most active driller in the United States.

In 2010, McClendon began directing the company's transition toward more balanced production, with the goal of having 50% of its revenues come from oil production by the end of 2013. In 2010, McClendon was a finalist for the Platts Global Energy CEO of the Year Awards, with the company a finalist for awards in the categories of Deal of the Year, Industry Leadership, Energy Producer of the Year and Community Development Program of the Year. Platts also awarded Chesapeake Energy with Producer of the Year and Industry Leadership awards in 2009; and Hydrocarbon Producer of the Year in 2007.

In early 2011, McClendon was named to the Forbes "CEO 20-20 Club," a group of eight American chief executives who have a minimum of 20 years of service as CEO and produced at least 20% annual returns to shareholders during their tenure.

October 12, 2011

BUSINESS VISITATION DAY

NO MEETING AT CHURCH

October 5, 2011

William Collins was named Vice President of Base Maintenance for American Airlines in October 2010. Collins oversees American's maintenance operations at its major repair, overhaul and modification bases that employ more than 8,800 employees who support a fleet of more than 600 aircraft.

Since 2004, he held leadership positions at GE Aviation. Most recently, Collins lead GE Aviation's Electric Power division, overseeing the development, implementation and aftermarket support for advanced electric power systems. Prior to that, he was responsible for GE Aviation Systems' Electronics Divisions, leading the organization's electronic manufacturing, supply chain and aftermarket groups.

Collins began his career as an engineering manager for Texas Instruments, creating integrated circuit product designs. He earned a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering from the Rochester Institute of Technology and completed the Kellogg School of Management Executive Development Program at Northwestern University. Collins also holds a Six Sigma Black Belt - Certified in Engineering and Quality Best Practices and a Six Sigma Green Belt - Certified in Sales and Business Development Best Practices.

Collins is based at American's largest maintenance base in Tulsa, Okla.

September 28, 2011

Mike joined the Drillers front office in 1994 as an intern in the Food & Beverage Department after working the 1993 season with the Erie Sailors baseball club in Pennsylvania.

He was hired on full time as Food & Beverage Manager in 1995 and then Director of Food & Beverage for two seasons in 1996 & 1997.  Also in 1997, the Director of Group Sales responsibilities were added to Mike's job description and in 1998, Mike was promoted to Director of Promotions.

In 1999, Mike was promoted to Assistant General Manager, overseeing the Drillers Tickets, Promotions and Merchandise Departments while also directing the Drillers' overall Sales and Marketing efforts.

In 2006, Mike was promoted to General Manager of the Drillers and remains in that position today.

September 21, 2011

L. Francis Rooney III is the former American Ambassador to the Holy See. He previously served as the CEO of Rooney Holdings (formerly known as Rooney Brothers Company), an investment and holding company based in Naples, Florida and Tulsa, Oklahoma.

He is a graduate of the Georgetown Preparatory School, Georgetown University and Georgetown University Law Center. Rooney is the oldest of Laurence Francis and Lucy Turner Rooney's six children. His younger siblings are Patrick T. Rooney, Timothy P. Rooney, Lucy Rooney Kapples, James H. Rooney, and Rebecca Rooney King.

Rooney is the majority owner of Manhattan Construction Company; he is the fourth generation of his family to own that company. Manhattan Construction built the new Cowboys Stadium in Texas, the U.S. Capitol Visitors Center at the United States Capitol, the Oklahoma State Capitol, the George Bush Presidential Library, the Cato Institute headquarters, New Orleans Sports Arena, and Reliant Stadium. The company worked on the George W. Bush Presidential Library earning it the distinction of being the only contruction company to work on two presidential libraries. They have also done extensive projects for Morehouse College, George Washington University, Oklahoma State University, and the University of Georgia. The subsidiary won an estimated $100 million in Pentagon contracts in 2003, nearly four times the amount the company won in 2002, according to the Center for Public Integrity.

September 14, 2011

Sworn in on Jan. 10, 2011 as Oklahoma's first new State Superintendent in 20 years, Dr. Janet Barresi is committed to giving every child in Oklahoma the chance to learn. "When a young person graduates with a high school diploma in Oklahoma, they should be ready to enter college successfully," she has said. "‘Work ready' should mean ‘college ready.'"

Armed with an undergraduate degree in Education and a master's degree in Speech and Language Disorders, Superintendent Barresi worked in both the Harrah and Norman public school systems as a speech pathologist. While in Harrah, Superintendent Barresi went above and beyond the normal call of duty to run a special summer clinic for severely handicapped children in need of remediation for speech and language problems. After her work in public schools, she joined the Department of Otolaryngology at the OU Health Sciences Center where she served patients at both Children's Hospital and University Hospital. Superintendent Barresi also lectured medical students on early childhood development and speech and language development.

In 1984, she became Dr. Barresi when she earned her DDS degree and became a dentist - not just any dentist, but a dentist who was very active in the community. Dr. Barresi has been a member of numerous professional organizations and has served as the Past President of the Oklahoma Association of Women Dentists. In fact, Dr. Barresi has been so well respected in the dental community that she recently received the Thomas Jefferson Citizenship Award, an honor bestowed only on those dentists who have distinguished themselves through community service. After 24 years, Dr. Barresi retired as a dentist and business owner to concentrate solely on education issues.

It was actually her own family that renewed her passion for education. In 1996, with her twin sons facing middle school, Superintendent Barresi became convinced that our schools could do better. Instead of just complaining, she took action. Becoming a leader of dozens of like-minded parents, she established Oklahoma's first charter school, Independence Charter Middle School, after passage of Oklahoma's landmark charter school bill.

And the school has been a resounding success. Now in its 11th year, Independence serves 350 students and has a waiting list each year for acceptance.

Independence was so successful that Superintendent Barresi was asked to start Harding Charter Preparatory High School, where she served as board President. Focused on serving 400 inner-city high school students, Harding offers a diverse student population a rigorous college preparatory curriculum. This year, Harding has seen its first National Merit Finalist, another student named to the Academic All-State team and more than a million dollars in college scholarships awarded to students for such prestigious institutions as Brown University and Carnegie Mellon University.

Not satisfied with improving the education of her own children and those in her community, Superintendent Barresi has remained active in changing the course of public education for all children in the state. She has served as chairwoman of the ACE II Task Force, was involved in the development of Oklahoma House Speaker Chris Benge's Teacher Performance Pay Initiative and served as a member of the Education Funding Reform Task Force.

Even before she took office in 2011, Superintendent Barresi's hard work as a reformer and leader in education had a significant impact on the lives of students. The coda to her work in establishing charter schools is striking: In 2010, Harding skyrocketed from 193rd to 68th in Newsweek's ranking of the best high schools in the country. In its sixth year of operation, Harding ranked 193 out of the top 1,500 schools in the nation.

September 7, 2011

Retired Tulsa Police Detective Michael Huff said he wants to know one thing: What secrets will James “Whitey” Bulger divulge?

Huff, a recently retired Tulsa police detective, has been investigating Bulger since 1981, when Roger Wheeler, a prominent Tulsa businessman, was killed by members of Bulger’s gang, who were trying to gain control of one of Wheeler’s businesses, World Jai Alai.

“I’m elated he’s in custody, but there’s bound to be a huge story behind this,” Huff said in a telephone interview this morning. “Everybody is curious: Will Whitey be a man and stand up, and say what he has to say, or will he hide and cower after his arrest?”

Throughout the investigation, Huff said, people close to Bulger would tell him that the gangster’s string of brutal murders were only part of the story; the other part had to do with Bulger’s corrupt relationship with the Boston FBI, for which he worked as an informant.

“In the circles we’ve traveled in this investigation, people very close to Whitey have alluded that he has other information that he was always holding back,” Huff said, “and I’ll be interested to see what he has to say and, if that’s true, if he’ll admit to his crimes over decades.”

Sources, Huff said, would tell him, “You think this is bad? Wait till you see what Whitey’s got.”

“Now, I just think it’s time for this old man to stand up and do the right thing for once in his life” by telling the truth, Huff said.

He said he found out Bulger had been captured in Santa Monica last night, when he got a call from a friend who works in law enforcement in California.

Huff said he was surprised Bulger was in the United States.

“I think it’s great they got him, but I was very surprised,” Huff said. “If he has been here for 16 years, why did it take 16 years to find him? But still, I say, ‘Hats off.’ They arrested him and now let the games begin.”

By Michael Levenson, Globe Staff

August 31, 2011

Travis Ford exceeded most expectations in his first year as the head coach of the Oklahoma State Cowboy Basketball program. In just his first season, he led the Pokes to a 23-12 record and a return to the NCAA Tournament. The surge included winning nine of the Cowboys' final 12 games. When Byron Eaton made two free throws and OSU led top-seeded Pittsburgh 72-71, the Cowboys were just four minutes away from their first Sweet 16 appearance since 2005.

His outgoing personality is infectious, and has made him a quick favorite of the Oklahoma State fans. He's considered one of the leading young coaches in the country, by both the national media and his peers in the coaching community.

Just as important, he's become a front-runner on the recruiting trail, as evidenced by his first recruiting class at Oklahoma State being ranked No. 4 nationally by HoopScoop.com last spring.

Ford is able to maximize each and every student-athlete's contribution to the team through his uncanny ability to encourage and motivate. A perfect example of this skill occurred when he prompted Eaton to lose more than 40 pounds between his first meeting with Ford in April -- when he weighed 248 pounds -- and when the season started in October, when he weighed in at 206.

Another instance was how Marshall Moses magically transformed from essentially a bench warmer during the first semester to one of the most dominating big men in the Big 12 during conference play. Moses was on the verge of quitting midway through the season as he was averaging just 2.1 points and 1.5 rebounds in under eight minutes per game. However, a sit-down chat with Ford did wonders, propelling Moses to his first-career double-double against Texas A&M. Over the last half of the season, the Cowboy started 15 games, averaging 26 minutes, 9.6 points and 8.5 rebounds per contest.

Ford began his head-coaching career in 1997 at the early age of 27 at Campbellsville University, an NAIA program in Kentucky. After a sub-.500 season in his inaugural year as a head coach, he led the Tigers to a 28-3 record and was named the Mid-South Coach of the Year in 1999. A year later, Campbellsville made its first NAIA National Tournament appearance in nine seasons as the Tigers finished 23-11.

Ford was hired at Eastern Kentucky prior to the 2000-01 season. Despite back-to-back seven-win seasons, he steadily built the Colonels into an Ohio Valley powerhouse, winning 22 games in 2004-05 and taking EKU to its first NCAA Tournament appearance in 26 seasons. After winning the OVC title, the Colonels met seventh-ranked Kentucky in the first round of the 2005 NCAA Tournament in Indianapolis and fell 72-64 to the Wildcats despite cutting the lead to five twice in the final four minutes of the game.

Eastern Kentucky's 22 victories in 2004-05 are the most for a single season in school history. Matt Witt, the all-time leading scorer in EKU history, played his freshman, sophomore and junior seasons for Coach Ford.

Success led to Ford's next position as the head coach at Massachusetts. Following John Calipari's departure, the Minutemen went into a tailspin, going 136-137 over the next nine seasons and winning just 10 games in 2003-04. However, Ford led a resurgence once again, taking UMass from 13-15 in his first season to a 24-9 mark in year two and sharing the Atlantic 10 regular-season championship with a 13-3 league record. UMass picked up its first postseason victory in over a decade when the Minutemen defeated Alabama 89-87 in the first round of the NIT.

In 2007-08, Ford and the Minutemen won 25 games, including an 82-71 win over 14th-ranked Dayton on the road. The win over Dayton propelled the Minutemen into the top 20 of the ratings percentage index. UMass also had a 107-100 victory at Syracuse and an 83-80 win at Boston College. UMass peaked at No. 9 in the RPI during the season before settling in the No. 33 spot at season's end.

The 25-11 record was good enough for a No. 2 seed in the National Invitation Tournament. UMass defeated the Orange for a second time in the Carrier Dome -- the first team in history to defeat them twice in the same season -- rallying back from a 22-point deficit for an impressive 81-77 victory.

Massachusetts met two-time defending NCAA champion and No. 1 seed Florida in the NIT semifinals in Madison Square Garden in New York City and came away with an impressive 78-66 victory over the Gators. UMass fell in the finals to Ohio State, 92-85.

The Minutemen finished the season ranked eighth nationally in scoring offense, averaging 81.5 points per game. UMass ranked third nationally in blocks per game, averaging 7.3 per contest. They also averaged 9.2 three-pointers made per game, ranking 13th nationally.

Ford coached back-to-back Atlantic 10 Players of the Year as Stephane Lasme won the award in 2006-07 and Gary Forbes received the accolade in 2007-08.

He began his career in the collegiate ranks as a freshman at Missouri in 1989. He was named to the UPI Big Eight all-freshman team after averaging 6.4 points and 3.5 assists per game. He transferred to Kentucky prior to his sophomore season and led the Wildcats to the NCAA Tournament his remaining three years.

Ford was named first-team All-SEC in 1993 and second-team all-league in 1994. He was also a two-time Most Valuable Player at the SEC Tournament in 1993 and '94. He was named the Southeast Region MVP as he led Kentucky to the Final Four in 1993 as a junior.

Ford owns the Wildcat record for assists in a game with 15 against -- ironically, Eastern Kentucky -- on Dec. 8, 1993. He also ranks second on the single-season assists list with 193 during his senior season. His 428 assists in a three-year career rank ninth all-time in the UK record books.

An outstanding shooter as well, Ford holds the Wildcat record for three-pointers made in a season with 101 during his junior year. That season, he shot 52.9 percent from beyond the arc, also a school record. His 44.5 career three-point percentage ranks as the best in school history among players with at least 200 attempts.

He ranks second in UK history in both single-season (91.2 percent) and career (88.2) free-throw percentage. At one time, Ford connected on 50 consecutive free throws, a school record.

A leader both on the court and off, Ford received Academic All-SEC honors as a sophomore, junior and senior. During his first year at Kentucky, he was named the team's Student-Athlete of the Year.

The Madisonville, Ky., native was part of the gold medal winning South squad at the 1990 U.S. Olympic Festival and later played for the U.S. team that won a gold medal at the 1993 World University Games.

Ford's prep playing career was also stellar. He led his team to three state tournament appearances during his career at North Hopkins High School and was named All-State. He averaged 31.7 points per game as a senior and was twice named Western Kentucky Player of the Year.

Ford's playing days ended in training camp with the Golden State Warriors, but his time in California landed him the role of Danny O'Grady in the movie, "The Sixth Man".

Born Dec. 29, 1969, Travis and his wife, Heather, have three children: Brooks, Kyleigh and Shane. Heather was a swimmer for the Kentucky Wildcats. Ford earned his bachelor's of science degree in communications from the University of Kentucky in 1994.

August 24, 2011

Albert C. "Kell" Kelly, Jr. is President and CEO of SpiritBank in Oklahoma. He has been with the bank for 25 years. During this time, the bank has grown from a 40 million dollar institution in Bristow to a $1.5 billion dollar institution in 12 cities.

Kelly is currently Vice Chairman of the American Bankers Association. He is past Chairman of the Oklahoma Bankers Association and is also past Chairman of the American Bankers Association's Community Bankers Council. He previously served on the Board of the American Bankers Association. He serves as the Oklahoma Bankers Association Coordinator for banking advocacy. Kelly is currently Co-chairman of TRUST, (Transportation Revenue Used Strictly for Transportation). Kelly served an 8-year term as Vice Chairman of the Oklahoma Transportation Authority advising Governor Frank Keating's administration. He serves on the boards of the Oklahoma State Chamber, Tulsa Chamber of Commerce, Oklahoma Policy Institute, Oklahoma Center for Non-Profits, Salvation Army and Opportunity Oklahoma. He has completed terms on the boards of the Oklahoma Institute for Child Advocacy, the Retired Educators for Agriculture Programs, and serves now as trustee of the Bristow Park Board.

Kelly is involved in numerous other community organizations. He earned a bachelor's degree in Business Administration from the University of Oklahoma in 1977 and a Juris Doctorate from OU College of Law in 1980. Prior to his banking experience, Kelly was an Assistant District Attorney for Creek and Okfuskee counties from 1982 to 1984, and was a partner in the law firm of McMillan, Vassar & Kelly from 1980 to 1985. He became President and CEO of SpiritBank in 1990. Kelly also served in the U.S. Army Reserve, attaining the rank of Captain.

Kelly has 4 children. Albert graduated from the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Colorado. He is currently a special agent with the FBI. Kendal is a Journalism graduate from the University of Oklahoma and presently attending Law School at Tulsa University. Tyler is a graduate of The University of Kansas and is currently getting his Masters of Business Administration at the University of Oklahoma. Caitlyn is a recent graduate of Oklahoma State University and teaches in Arkansas.

August 17, 2011

Tom Maxwell joined Flintco in 1983 as Chief Financial Officer and within five years was named President and CEO.  During his leadership, Flintco has expanded from a single office generating $50 million in annual revenues, to its current size of eight offices with projects coast-to-coast and annual revenues in excess of $1 billion.  Now Flintco ranks as the largest Native American owned company and as one of the top 20 builders in the United States.  Flintco has received significant recognition for its work and for operational excellence during Tom's tenure including being named one of the Best Companies to Work For and most recently, honored as having the top safety program in the nation by both the Associated General Contractors of America and Associated Builders and Contractors.

In addition to growing Flintco, Tom is passionate about growing the economy and improving the quality of life for all Oklahomans.  He recently completed a term as chairman of the Oklahoma Business Roundtable and served as chairman of the Tulsa Metro Chamber of Commerce.  He spearheaded the Chamber's 'Tulsa's Future' initiative that raised $11 million to draw in new businesses to Tulsa.   He was also co-chair of the last third penny sales tax initiative.  Over the years, Tom has also been very active in various community organizations.

Tom was honored with a Governor's Commendation for "support and sacrifice made following the bombing of the Murrah Federal Building," the same efforts that led to his receipt of an award of merit from the Oklahoma State Firefighters Association. In 2002, he received the 'Chairman's Award' from the Tulsa Metro Chamber of Commerce and he has been named a Distinguished Alumnus by The University of Oklahoma and Webster High School.  Tom also serves on the Board of Directors for Matrix Service Company and Summit Bank.  He and his wife Pat are lifelong residents of Tulsa.             

August 10, 2011

Congressman John Sullivan is a fourth generation Oklahoman, who has tackled many key policy issues since being elected to Congress in 2002.  He was recently tapped to serve on the House Energy and Commerce Committee Leadership team for the 112th Congress as the Vice Chairman of the Subcommittee on Energy and Power.

During his time in Congress, Congressman Sullivan has fought hard for his constituents with the common sense Oklahoma values of less government, fiscal restraint and working to ensure that Americans keep more of their hard earned tax dollars in their pockets and out of the hands of Washington bureaucrats. Congressman Sullivan is a cosponsor of the Fair Tax Act, which will abolish our nation's dated tax system. As a member of the Republican Study Committee, a fiscally-conservative group of House members, Congressman Sullivan has taken the lead to slow the growth of the federal government and control runaway spending.

Congressman Sullivan is pleased to continue his service on the influential House Committee on Energy and Commerce. The oldest legislative standing committee in the U.S. House of Representatives, this committee is responsible for legislative oversight relating to telecommunications, consumer protection, food and drug safety, public health, air quality and environmental health, the supply and delivery of energy, and interstate and foreign commerce. Within the House Energy and Commerce Committee, Congressman Sullivan is proud to serve on the following Subcommittees:  Energy and Power (Vice Chairman), Environment and the Economy and Oversight and Investigations.

As a Member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, Sullivan developed a comprehensive plan to fix our broken health care system - a plan that includes prevention and detection, a plan that ensures access to quality care for all Americans and a plan which addresses the issue of long term care. We must increase access and affordability of health care, while still maintaining the high quality of care our doctors give to Americans every day.  He looks forward to working in Congress to make health care affordable and accessible for Oklahomans and all Americans.

August 3, 2011

Dr. Gerard Clancy, MD, was named president of the University of Oklahoma-Tulsa in 2006. He is responsible for all OU-Tulsa programs and the development and growth of the OU-Tulsa Schusterman Center. Clancy was named Dean of the University of Oklahoma College of Medicine-Tulsa in 2001.

Clancy serves on numerous community boards in the Tulsa area. He received the 2002 National Alliance for the Mentally Ill Community Psychiatry Award at the national meeting. The Oklahoma State Medical Association awarded him the 2003-2004 Award for Community Service for the development of a community partnership to improve access to care for the medically underserved. Under his leadership, the IMPACT team, a mobile psychiatric team, and the Bedlam Alliance for Community Health, a network of clinics providing free medical care, have become a safety net for the underserved in northeastern Oklahoma.

Clancy is published in the basic, clinical and educational sciences. He has written a modifiable electronic medical textbook on emergency psychiatry that was recently adapted for use in Spain and on U.S. Navy ships across the world. He continues to work across the country on the development of outreach psychiatric programs for those with refractory severe mental illnesses. He continues to teach students and residents and sees patients regularly.

He attended the University of Iowa for the majority of his formal education. Clancy received a bachelor's degree in biochemistry, completed an American Heart Association Research Fellowship and completed his medical degree. Clancy served as a faculty member of the University of Iowa in the Department of Psychiatry. He was involved in the leadership of several major initiatives at the University including establishing mobile clinics for individuals who were homeless and mentally ill. 

July 27, 2011

Stephen Prescott, MD, became the ninth president of the Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation in the spring of 2006. A leader in studies of the basic mechanisms of human disease, Prescott came to OMRF from the University of Utah, where he founded the innovative Eccles Program in Human and Molecular Biology & Genetics and also served as the executive director of the Huntsman Cancer Institute, an NCI-designated cancer center.

At OMRF, Prescott has initiated the largest campus expansion in the foundation's 65-year-history. In early 2009, OMRF began construction of a research tower that, when completed, will nearly double the size of OMRF's laboratory facilities and will add 200 scientists, technicians and support personnel to OMRF's current 450-person staff. The new research tower will be a one-of-a-kind "green" facility, expected to earn gold-level LEED certification. When completed, it is believed the OMRF tower will be the first medical research facility to harness the wind to help power its labs.

A native of Texas and an undergraduate at Texas A&M University, Prescott received his MD from the Baylor College of Medicine prior to completing his training in internal medicine at the University of Utah. He then undertook advanced research training at Washington University School of Medicine (St. Louis). In 1982, Prescott joined the faculty of the University of Utah, where he became a professor of internal medicine and held the H.A. & Edna Benning Presidential Endowed Chair. He has authored more than 250 scientific articles and has trained over 40 research students and postdoctoral fellows.

Prescott served as a senior editor of the influential Journal of Biological Chemistry and Journal of Clinical Investigation. He also served on advisory committees for the National Institutes of Health, the American Heart Association, the American Cancer Society, and multiple universities. He has been elected to the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the Association of American Physicians, the American Society for Clinical Investigation, the Royal College of Physicians in Ireland, and the Royal Academy of Medicine in Spain. Prescott was a member of the board of the American Red Cross Biomedical Division and the National Human Genome Research Institute's Advisory Council. He was a member of the Institute of Medicine Committee on Large-Scale Science and Cancer Research and chaired the Utah Governor's Task Force on Technology Transfer. Among other awards, he has received the Utah Governor's Medal for Science and Technology, the Houssay-Braun-Menendez Medal from the Argentine Association for the Advancement of Science, and the Sol Sherry Prize from the American Heart Association.

Prescott has consulted for pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies in the United States, Europe and Japan, and has served on the scientific advisory board or board of directors of four biotechnology companies. He is the founder of LineaGen, a biotechnology company. In 2006, following nomination by President George W. Bush and confirmation by the U.S. Senate, Prescott joined the board of trustees for the Udall Foundation.

July 20, 2011

A native Tulsan, C. Renzi Stone is president and CEO of Saxum, an integrated communications firm offering expertise in public relations, marketing, creative and social media. Stone has grown his business from a one-person start-up in 2003 to one of the largest independent agencies in the region. Stone is the creator of the Saxum Experience, which gives clients a balanced mix of strategy, execution and connections to communicate important information across all platforms.

He is active in media, business and political circles. He is a frequent contributor to news organizations on a number of topics. Also, he is currently president of the Americas for IPREX, one of the world's largest international public relations networks in the world. He is a member of the Young President's Organization (YPO). Stone is politically active in local, state and national politics and serves as an advisor to a number of elected officials. Stone is a University of Oklahoma graduate where he was a four year letterman and three year starter on the men's basketball team. He is married to Lee Anne Stone and has a son, Jackson (4).

July 13, 2011

David Stewart is the President and Chief Executive Officer of Cherokee Nation Entertainment, LLC, the wholly owned tribal company that manages and operates the gaming, retail, hospitality and entertainment enterprises of the Cherokee Nation. Under his leadership, CNE has experienced tremendous growth over the last five years, including the construction of Oklahoma's first resort gaming destination. CNE also operates seven casinos and a horseracing track and has recently undergone expansions totaling $280 million at the newly branded Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Tulsa and Cherokee Casino West Siloam Springs. Employment at CNE has more than tripled in the past four years and currently employs more than 3,400 people in northeastern Oklahoma, making it one of the area's largest employers.

Mr. Stewart was one of the lead negotiators with the State of Oklahoma on the State-Tribal Gaming Compact, which allows electronic gaming machines at three of Oklahoma's horse racing tracks and expands the definition of Class II gaming for Oklahoma's Indian tribes.

David Stewart, a Cherokee citizen, began his career with the Cherokee Nation in 2001 in Stilwell, OK, as Chief Executive Officer for Cherokee Nation Industries, Inc., a wholly owned corporation of the Cherokee Nation that is 8(a) certified by the Small Business Administration and performs manufacturing and personnel contracts for the U.S. Department of Defense and other major customers. CNI has been in business since 1969 and currently employs nearly 1,000 people with approximately $90 million in annual sales.

Mr. Stewart earned his Master of Science and Bachelor of Arts business degrees from Oklahoma State University in 1978 and 1977, respectively. He was certified in Oklahoma as a Certified Public Accountant in 1978.

Civic duties include the Board of Directors for The Oklahoma Academy for State Goals and the Metropolitan Tulsa Chamber of Commerce. He currently serves on two Chamber of Commerce committees, the Tulsa's Future Oversight Committee and the Executive Committee of the Tulsa Convention and Visitors Bureau.

July 06, 2011

Since 1915, the first meeting in July has meant a new year and change of administration for the Rotary Club of Tulsa. This week, Phil Lakin assumes the spot behind the podium as the 98th president of our club.

In business, Phil is CEO of the Tulsa Community Foundation.  At home he is husband to Adriane and father to three busy young sons.

He has been a Rotarian since March of 2000. Phil is a Paul Harris Fellow and a Club Foundation Fellow.  At his inaugural meeting he will outline his goals for the year and introduce his leadership team.

Please join us in welcoming our new Rotary Club of Tulsa President for 2011-2012, Phil Lakin.

June 29, 2011

   Don't miss this very special end-of-year meeting where we will recap the Rotary Club of Tulsa's year of accomplishments, poke a little fun and celebrate the good works of President Bob McKenzie.

   And don't forget it's Steak Day. If you are bringing guests, their lunch will be $15 at the Guest Registration Table.

   The Rotarian of the Day will be Ed Monnet, Jr.  This will be a fun and entertaining meeting, so plan to come and enjoy some great Rotarian fellowship!

June 22, 2011

Before becoming the Superintendent of Tulsa Public Schools, Dr. Keith Ballard was Executive Director of the Oklahoma State School Boards Association (OSSBA). He has more than 36 years of service in public education. Dr. Ballard began his educational career in 1972 as a teacher in Coweta Public Schools. He moved to Oologah, Oklahoma, in 1974 where he taught and served in several administrative positions including Superintendent from 1986 until 1992. Dr. Ballard then moved to Claremore where he served as Superintendent of Claremore Public Schools before assuming the position with OSSBA on January 1, 2000.

Although Dr. Ballard has lived in Oklahoma during his entire professional career, he is a native of Kiowa, Kansas, where he attended kindergarten through the twelfth grade. He holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Psychology and Speech from Kansas State University in Hays, Kansas; a Master's Degree as a Reading Specialist from Northwestern Oklahoma State University in Alva, Oklahoma; and a Doctorate in Educational Administration from Oklahoma State University in Stillwater, Oklahoma.

Dr. Ballard has served as an adjunct professor of school law for Southern Nazarene University, Tulsa and Oklahoma City branches, and Oral Roberts University in Tulsa. He currently serves as a professor in Educational Leadership at the University of Oklahoma, but is on a leave of absence while serving as Superintendent of Tulsa Public Schools. In addition, Dr. Ballard currently serves on the State Superintendent's Advisory Council and is past chairman of the Oklahoma Education Coalition and of the Oklahoma Educational Technology Trust. He served on the United Suburban Schools Association Executive Committee where he was the 1996-97 president and was on the executive committee of the Oklahoma Association of School Administrators where he served as president in 1997-98. Dr. Ballard has served on the American Association of School Administrators and the National School Boards Association Liaison Committee representing executive directors on the National School Boards Association (NSBA) Board of Directors. 

Dr. Ballard has also been active for several years with the Oklahoma State Legislature regarding educational issues. He meets regularly with key legislators and other state leaders to help shape educational legislation and policy. Dr. Ballard has been appointed to the state-wide Race to the Top Commission. The commission serves to advise legislators in the development of the Teacher/Leader Effectiveness and Evaluation System. Dr. Ballard has served on several committees to study state-wide educational issues, including School Funding Formula, All-Day Kindergarten, Mid-term Adjustment, Hold-Harmless, Gifted and Talented, and English as a Second Language.

Dr. Ballard has been honored as being named one of NSBA's "Executive Educator 100" in 1988, "Who's Who in American Education" and "Who's Who Among Top Executives." Dr. Ballard was named COOSA District 5 Administrator of the Year for 2010.  He has also been asked to serve as a 2011 Brock International Prize in Education juror.

His wife of 39 years, Christie, is a retired school librarian and has worked part-time as the executive director of the Rogers County Literacy Council. She is now fully retired and baby-sits their grandchildren. They have three children: son Matthew, an attorney in Tulsa, and his wife Traci, also an attorney who works in the Educational Leadership program at OU-Tulsa; daughter Michelle, a fourth grade teacher in Verdigris, Oklahoma; and son Michael, a coach and Spanish teacher in Claremore Public Schools. Keith and Christie have three grandchildren, Ashton Lewis Andrews and Kizer Isabella Ballard and Keaton Castle Ballard.

June 15, 2011

Dr. Shannon Ferrell grew up on a cattle and wheat operation in Western Oklahoma, and went on to receive his bachelor's and master's degrees in agricultural economics from Oklahoma State University.  He then received his juris doctorate from the Oklahoma City University School of Law.

Shannon spent a number of years in private practice, focusing on environmental, energy and corporate law.  He served as president of the Oklahoma Renewable Energy Council in 2006 and helped establish the Hall Estill firm's Renewable Energy Practice Group before joining OSU in the summer of 2007. He continues to work with the wind energy industry, helping landowners negotiate wind energy development agreements and assisting with the development of legislation for the industry.

Dr. Ferrell is currently an assistant professor in the OSU Department of Agricultural Economics where he specializes in agricultural law.  He has presented more than 40 wind energy leasing seminars with a cumulative audience of over 6,000 as part of the energy education programming provided by OSU's Cooperative Extension Service, and was co-leader of the workgroup to draft the Oklahoma Wind Energy Development Act.

June 8, 2011

Former University of Tulsa quarterback Bill Blankenship was promoted as the 28th Head Football Coach in school history on January 14, 2011.  

Blankenship spent the past four years as an assistant coach for the Golden Hurricane. He returned to his alma mater in January 2007 to coach the wide receivers. In 2008, Blankenship was named special teams coordinator and in 2009 added the responsibilities of running backs coach as well. In 2010, Blankenship served as senior associate head coach, running backs coach and special teams coordinator.

"We're tremendously excited to have Bill Blankenship as our head football coach. As a former TU student-athlete, a highly successful high school coach in Oklahoma and an experienced college assistant coach, Bill is exactly the leader that can move us to even greater success. His character, integrity and core values will provide outstanding leadership for our football team and The University of Tulsa," said Director of Athletics Bubba Cunningham as Blankenship was named the Golden Hurricane head coach.

"I'm ecstatic. This is a day I've dreamed about for a long time. There's an old coaches quote that says 'Luck is when preparation meets opportunity'. I feel like I'm prepared and have been prepared. Fortunately, the opportunity presented itself, and I'm excited to take what I think is a great program and help propel it to even greater heights," said Blankenship at his introductory press conference.

In his four seasons with the Golden Hurricane, Blankenship has been a part of 36 victories, two straight Conference USA West Division titles (2007, 2008), one shared C-USA Western Division crown (2010), two appearances in the C-USA Championship Game (2007, 2008), two GMAC Bowl Championships and the 2010 Sheraton Hawai'i Bowl Championship.

Blankenship has been a key member of an offensive coaching staff that has seen the Hurricane lead the nation in total offense two straight years, with an average of 543.9 yards in 2007 and an average of 569.9 yards in 2008. In 2007, Blankenship's receiving corps had three players total more than 1,000 yards on the season (Brennan Marion, Trae Johnson and Charles Clay). This past season, Tulsa was once again among the national leaders in offense ranking fifth in total offense (505.6), sixth in scoring offense (41.3), 13th in passing offense (288.6) and 15th in rushing offense (216.9).

Blankenship headed up Tulsa's special teams for the last three years, and nearly each area of special teams showed improvement each season. In 2010, Tulsa ranked first in punt return yardage defense, ninth in net punting, 10th in kickoff return yardage defense, 21st in punt returns and 48th in kickoff returns.

After the 2008 campaign, Blankenship was recognized by the Oklahoma Chapter of the National Football Foundation and College Football Hall of Fame with the "Merv Johnson Integrity in College Coaching Award." He was inducted into the Oklahoma Coaches Association Hall of Fame in July 2009.

Before entering the collegiate coaching ranks, Blankenship spent 22 years as an Oklahoma High School coach. Blankenship resigned as the head football coach at Tulsa's Union High School in December 2005 after leading his team to a second consecutive state championship at the Oklahoma Class 6A school.

As a head coach on the prep level, Blankenship compiled a 205-68 record, including an average of 10 wins per season for his last 20 years, appeared in the state championship game eight times and won three state titles.

He spent 14 years as the head football coach and athletic director at Union High School, where he registered a record of 154-26. His teams qualified for the state playoffs 14 times, reached the quarterfinals 10 times and made the semifinals in nine seasons. Blankenship's teams made the state championship game seven times.

He guided his Union team to Oklahoma Class 6A state titles in 2002, 2004 and 2005. Blankenship's teams at Union won eight straight district championships and had a 56-game home winning streak from 1997 through 2005.

Blankenship had more than 100 student-athletes receive college scholarships in his 14 seasons at Union High School.  Before moving to Union, Blankenship coached two seasons at Edmond Memorial High School and before that posted a 34-17 mark in four seasons at Spiro High School. He also coached at Sapulpa High School and Eastwood Christian School.

Blankenship credits a number of coaching influences in his life for this opportunity to coach the Tulsa Golden Hurricane. "I think back to some defining moments in my career. I go back to F.A. Dry sitting in my living room in 1975 and giving me the chance to come to The University of Tulsa to be a quarterback. Later that month, Barry Switzer sat in my living room giving me the opportunity to go to Oklahoma. They ran the wishbone and he said they would let me be a quarterback, but that I would probably play defense. I respectfully declined because I wanted to play quarterback, and that has probably set this course in motion. I came here and I loved what I did," said Blankenship. "There were a number of coaches that had tremendous influences on me, from F.A. Dry and Jerry Rhome, who was my first quarterbacks coach, to John Cooper, a Hall of Fame coach, and Larry Coker, who was my last quarterbacks coach here. I was raised in a coaches household. My dad was a high school hall of fame coach. L.D. Johnson, also a high school hall of fame coach, coached me in high school. When you start putting all the pieces together, you can tell that I was blessed with the good fortune of being impacted by some tremendous people in my life."

Blankenship was a three-year letterman and quarterback at Tulsa during the 1975-79 seasons. After red-shirting in 1976, Blankenship was the starting Hurricane quarterback in 1977 and '79. During his playing career, he threw for 2,113 yards and eight touchdowns. Blankenship earned a bachelor's degree in biology in 1979, and received a master's degree from Northeastern State in 1985.

He and his wife, Angie, have three sons, all three of whom played college football. Their oldest son, Josh, played quarterback at Tulsa before earning All-America honors at Eastern Washington University, and he is currently the head football coach at Muskogee (Okla.) High School. Caleb was an all-conference tight end at Tulsa, while their youngest son, Adam, played at Illinois State.

THE BLANKENSHIP FILE

Alma Mater: Tulsa '79

College Coaching Experience: 4 years (2007-10). Spent four years as assistant coach at Tulsa.

Playing Experience: Three-year letterwinner at Tulsa (1975-79). Was the starting quarterback in 1977 and 1979.

Bowl Games as a Player

1976            Independence Bowl (Tulsa)

Bowl Games as a Coach

2008            GMAC Bowl (Tulsa)

2009            GMAC Bowl (Tulsa)

2010            Sheraton Hawaii Bowl (Tulsa)

June 1, 2011

Dewey F. Bartlett, Jr. is the 39th mayor of Tulsa. Bartlett has been president of Tulsa-based Keener Oil & Gas Company since 1994. He graduated from Southern Methodist University with a Master's of Business Administration in Finance. Bartlett is a former Tulsa City Councilor, serves as chair of the Oklahoma Energy Resources Board, served on Mayor Taylor's Complete Our Streets committee to recommend a plan for fixing Tulsa's streets, and serves on the Tulsa Airport Authority. A native Tulsan, Bartlett graduated from Bishop Kelley High School. Together, he and his wife, Victoria, have three children - Dewey F. Bartlett III, Ann Bartlett, and Andrea Petersen.

Vision Statement: As Mayor, I am committed to stay the course to create an environment that fuels job retention and growth; reprioritize and streamline local government for efficiency and effectiveness, eliminate substandard housing and improve our neighborhoods, and focus on public safety and justice. The top priority of my administration is to have an open, accountable and transparent government; one that includes respectful interaction between city and county leaders.

We must place the needs of our community first and work together to provide an effective city government which contributes to the quality of life for all Tulsans.

Tulsa's greatest assets are the talent of our people, a low cost of living, quality of life defined by the city's beauty and thriving arts and sports venues, and our abundant natural resources.

I am excited about the direction our city is going. My administration will deliver improved processes and plans that will move our city forward and create reliable government services.

Guiding Principles: In crafting this vision, there are three guiding principles.

• 1. To maintain a vision based on principles and strategies that encourage flexibility, creativity, and continuous improvement.
• 2. To continuously check that my vision is rooted in the values of Tulsans.
• 3. To communicate my vision with optimism that these are principles that are not only worthy of pursuit, but are attainable.

May 25, 2011

Camp Enterprise is an executive styled four-day retreat where qualified high school juniors explore the fundamental challenges, opportunities and obligations of the free enterprise system. Established in 1976, this unique camp was originally developed with the help of the American Management Association (AMA) and the Rotary Club of Tulsa using tools available from Junior Achievement.

The camp provides a select group of 100 high school juniors (recruited from over 45 NE Oklahoma schools) the opportunity to learn team building (ROPES), leadership and motivation skills , all while working within a real business simulation program. Campers will meet and interact with some of Tulsa's top business leaders and work with international students (Rotary Youth Exchange) assigned to their team. It is a global experience about what makes America's free enterprise system work.