Rotary Club of Tulsa

May 23, 2012

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. 

May 30, 2012

One of college basketball's most outstanding players in the history of the sport, Danny Manning became The University of Tulsa's 29^th Head Basketball Coach on March 29, 2012, just days before he would be coaching in the NCAA Final Four as a member of the University of Kansas staff.

Manning spent nine seasons on the KU men's basketball staff. In March 2007, he was named assistant coach for the Jayhawks.

During his time on staff at Kansas, Manning has been part of one NCAA national title, two Final Fours, five NCAA Elite Eight appearances, eight Big 12 regular season conference titles, five Big 12 tournament championships and 269 career victories. As an assistant coach from 2007-12, KU compiled an overall 164-24 mark for an .872 winning percentage. As an assistant coach in 2008 and player in 1988, Manning was on the floor for KU's last two national championships.

In 2011-12, Manning helped lead the Jayhawks back to the NCAA Final Four with an overall 32-7 record and a Big 12 Conference regular season championship. The Jayhawks defeated Ohio State in a semifinal game before dropping a nine-point decision against No. 1-ranked Kentucky in the championship game.

"We are extremely excited to have Danny join The University of Tulsa as our new Head Basketball Coach. He epitomizes everything our university stands for. His impact on young people will extend far beyond the TU basketball program and reach well into our campus and community," said Parmley. "His 15 years in the NBA combined with the last nine years under one of the best coaches in the country, have helped mold him into a great teacher and coach of basketball. He most definitely brings the excitement, the style of basketball, and character that we were looking for in our head coach."

"I'm excited on becoming the head basketball coach at The University of Tulsa. I want to thank President Upham, Ross (Parmley) and the search committee for allowing me this tremendous opportunity to coach at a University with a fine basketball tradition," said Manning on the day of his hiring.

In his role as KU assistant coach, Manning worked with the Jayhawk big men and earned a reputation as one of the best coaches of big men in the country. Eight Kansas bigs were selected in the NBA Draft during his tenure, including Wayne Simien, Julian Wright, Darrell Arthur, Darnell Jackson, Sasha Kaun, Cole Aldrich and twins Marcus and Markieff Morris. Manning recruited 2010 NBA first-round draft pick and Oklahoman Xavier Henry to Kansas.

From 2003 until 2007, Manning served as the Director of Student-Athlete Development/Team Manager at KU. In that position, Manning was the team travel coordinator, oversaw equipment ordering and distribution and organized and assisted in the youth holiday clinic and summer camp program. In 2004-05, Manning also took on many director of operations duties for Kansas.

Kansas Head Coach Bill Self, a person who knows the Tulsa basketball program well, having served as the Hurricane head coach from 1997-2000, had this to say about Manning - "Danny Manning is one of the most accomplished, humble people you'll ever meet. He's done more in his life through the athletic world than just about anybody, but you would never know it in visiting with him as he never ever talks about himself. His focus on deciding to be a basketball coach was to try to share some of his knowledge and make others better. He's certainly done that at a very high level with us here at Kansas. He's been around basketball his whole life, played for so many coaches, been able to steal from everybody and has developed a vast knowledge that will certainly play a huge role in his success as a head coach. Although 46 years old, he's well beyond those in basketball years as far as experience. The University of Tulsa has not only hired a great person and a great ambassador, but also a man that will lead Tulsa to great heights athletically and be competing for championships in a very short amount of time."

Self added, "I mean, who wouldn't want their son to be mentored by a guy who has everything you want your son to be? Think about it: he graduated, won a national championship, and was the No. 1 pick in the draft, an Olympian, two-time NBA all-star, family man, has his priorities straight. Who wouldn't want their son mentored by a guy like that on a daily basis?"

A Jayhawk legend, Manning is Kansas' all-time leading scorer and rebounder, racking up 2,951 points and 1,187 boards in his illustrious four-year career. Manning, the eighth all-time leading scorer in NCAA history, was named a consensus first-team All-America selection in 1987 and 1988, the consensus College Player of the Year in 1988 and a three-time Big Eight Conference Player of the Year (1986, 1987 and 1988).

Manning was named the 1988 NCAA Final Four Most Outstanding Player en route to leading the Jayhawks to an 83-79 victory over Oklahoma for the 1988 national championship. He was also named the MVP of the NCAA Midwest Regional in 1986 and 1988. The 1986 KU squad finished 35-4 and advanced to the Final Four in Dallas.

The No. 1 overall pick in the 1988 NBA Draft by the Los Angeles Clippers, Manning played for seven different professional teams -- the Clippers, Hawks, Suns, Bucks, Jazz, Mavericks and Pistons. He boasts averages of 14.0 points and 5.2 rebounds per game during his NBA career, spanning 883 total games. Manning was a two-time NBA All-Star (1993 and 1994), and won the league's Sixth Man Award in 1998. During his playing days, Manning was a representative for the NBA Players Association.

In 2005, Manning became part of a 20-person committee to help select the U.S. Olympic basketball team and its coaches. Additionally, Manning has been an ambassador for the Governor's Council on Fitness for the state of Kansas and a guest lecturer with university classes and other KU athletic teams.

Manning was inducted into the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame on November 23, 2008.

In addition to his College Basketball Hall of Fame enshrinement, in June 2008 Manning was named to the Guilford County Sports Hall of Fame for his early high school career at Page High School in North Carolina. He is also a member of the Lawrence (Kan.) High School Hall of Fame.

Manning (born 5-17-66) earned his degree in Communication from Kansas in 1991. He and his wife, Julie, have two children -- daughter, Taylor, a sophomore at KU on the volleyball team, and son, Evan.

June 6, 2012

Clifford Hudson has spent the last 23 years of his career at Sonic Corp., an Oklahoma City-based, publicly-held company that owns, operates and franchises Sonic Drive-In restaurants (NASDAQ: SONC). Today, he is chairman of the board and chief executive officer of this public company with more than 3,300 franchised and company-operated drive-in restaurants. Sonic's common stock is included in the S&P MidCap 600 Index.

Hudson was named chairman of Sonic Corp. in January 2000. Previously, Hudson was chief executive officer (CEO) and president of Sonic Corp., positions he held since April 1995. Prior to that time, he served the company in a variety of capacities, including general counsel, chief financial officer and chief operating officer.

During Hudson's tenure as CEO of Sonic, average drive-in profit has grown from $78,000 to almost $160,000, average drive-in sales from $602,000 to $1.1 million, system-wide sales from $880 million to almost $4 billion and brand awareness has doubled. The company's revenues are seven times greater and enterprise value (the public value of its common stock plus debt) has grown from approximately $200 million to more than $2.0 billion.

In his position, Hudson has earned achievements as the 2004 Silver Plate - Foodservice Operator of the Year Award from International Foodservice Manufacturers Association and 2000 Multi-Unit Foodservice Operators (MUFSO) Golden Chain Award from Nation's Restaurant News. Most recently, Sonic has also received national recognition from publications such as Forbes, Entrepreneur, QSR and Restaurants & Institutions magazines. He has been a guest on various national business programs including CNBC's Squawkbox and Power Lunch, as well as various Bloomberg news programs.

Hudson has been affiliated with many nonprofit and community activities. He served as chairman of the board of directors of the Securities Investor Protection Corporation (SIPC), a presidential appointment, from 1994 - 2001. He recently served as Chairman of the Oklahoma City School Board from 2001-2008, a position created in 2000 as part of a $530 million turn around of a 40,000 student, inner-city Oklahoma City Public School system. He currently serves as trustee of the Ford Foundation (New York) and is the Chairman of the Board of the National Trust for Historic Preservation.

Hudson graduated from the University of Oklahoma, which he attended with Phi Beta Kappa and President's Leadership scholarships. In 1998, Hudson was honored as a distinguished alumnus of the University of Oklahoma College of Arts and Sciences, where he serves as a member of the College of Arts and Sciences Board of Visitors. In 2001, he received the University's Regents Award from its board of regents.

Hudson graduated from the Georgetown University Law Center, where he was a member of the legal honor society, Phi Delta Phi. In 1979, he served as an editor of the International Law Journal, a publication of the Association of Student International Law Societies. He is also a member of the board of visitors of Georgetown University Law Center and in 2006 was given the Paul Dean Award for service to the school.

He and his wife Leslie, an epidemiologist, live in Oklahoma City with their two sons.

June 13, 2012

On June 1, 2010, Kenneth Winston Starr, J.D., became the 14th president of Baylor University. Judge Starr was elected unanimously by the Baylor Board of Regents on Feb. 12, 2010, following a search process that included representatives from all parts of the Baylor family.

Starr has had a distinguished career in academia, the law and public service. Prior to coming to Baylor, he served for six years as the Duane and Kelly Roberts Dean and Professor of Law at Pepperdine, where he taught current constitutional issues and civil procedure. He also is of counsel to the law firm of Kirkland & Ellis LLP, where he was a partner from 1993 to 2004, specializing in appellate work, antitrust, federal courts, federal jurisdiction and constitutional law.

Starr has argued 36 cases before the U.S. Supreme Court, including 25 cases during his service as Solicitor General of the United States from 1989-93. He also served as United States Circuit Judge for the District of Columbia Circuit from 1983 to 1989, as law clerk to Chief Justice Warren E. Burger from 1975 to 1977 and as law clerk to Fifth Circuit Judge David W. Dyer from 1973 to 1974. Starr was appointed to serve as Independent Counsel for five investigations, including Whitewater, from 1994 to 1999.

Starr previously taught constitutional law as an adjunct professor at New York University School of Law and was a distinguished visiting professor at George Mason University School of Law and Chapman Law School. After graduating from San Antonio's Sam Houston High School, he earned his B.A. from George Washington University in 1968, his M.A. from Brown University in 1969 and his J.D. degree from Duke University Law School in 1973. He is admitted to practice in California, the District of Columbia, Virginia and the U.S. Supreme Court.

He is the author of more than 25 publications, and his book, First Among Equals: The Supreme Court in American Life, published in 2002, was praised by U.S. Circuit Judge David B. Sentelle as "eminently readable and informative...not just the best treatment to-date of the Court after (Chief Justice Earl) Warren, it is likely to have that distinction for a long, long time."

He has received a multitude of honors and awards, including the J. Reuben Clark Law Society 2005 Distinguished Service Award, the 2004 Capital Book Award, the Jefferson Cup award from the FBI, the Edmund Randolph Award for Outstanding Service in the Department of Justice and the Attorney General's Award for Distinguished Service.

Starr was born on July 21, 1946, in Vernon, Texas, and was raised in San Antonio. He and his wife Alice have three children and six grandchildren. The Starrs made their home in Malibu, Calif., from 2004 to 2010, and lived in McLean, Va., from 1978 to 2004. He has volunteered many hours teaching in the inner city and assisting disadvantaged students with summer internships, after-school programs and guidance for financing a college education.

June 20, 2012

June 27, 2012