Hello Sooner Country! Hope you had a happy commencement day! The Alumni Association spent Friday morning with President Boren celebrating some outstanding alumni in Beaird Lounge in the Oklahoma Memorial Union.
 |
| President Boren greets the crowd. |
President Boren opened this prestigious awards ceremony and offered several comments related to the line "Live on, university" from our school chant. "Institutions alone cannot live on themselves. An institution is sustained by individuals. And today we honor some remarkable individuals."
JP Audas, Associate Vice President of the Alumni Association was up next and gave a brief overview of this award. The Regents' Alumni Awards are presented each year to honor alumni and friends for exceptional dedication and service to the University of Oklahoma. The OU Board of Regents and the OU Alumni Association present the awards.
Nominations are accepted from alumni, friends and OU faculty and staff. The names of each year's recipients are engraved on a permanent plaque that hangs in Oklahoma Memorial Union as a testament to the important role that OU's alumni play in the life of the university. Below are this year's recipients:
 |
| Marie Alley |
Marie Alley, a native of Germany, is known locally for her support
of OU and the arts. She has led the way for significant financial assistance
for the students and programs of the Weitzenhoffer Family College of Fine Arts
and the Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art, and has generously dedicated her time to
such entities as the OU Theatre Guild, for which she created the annual
scholarship fundraising tour to New York City and London; the Weitzenhoffer
Family College’s Board of Visitors and Arts! Arts! Arts! Committee; the
University Women’s Association; and the Norman Community Foundation.
Under Marie’s leadership, the Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art
Association doubled its membership and revised its methods of gaining
contributions. As a docent at the museum, she has promoted the arts to hundreds
of visitors who have visited the collections. As a member of the museum’s Board
of Visitors, she spearheaded efforts for an ongoing enrichment fund for
students and faculty.
Throughout her more than three decades as a resident of
Norman, Marie has made a lasting impact on the community. For her support of
Norman, the state and the arts, she was honored with the 2011 Governor’s Arts
Award for Community Service, as well as for her work with the Norman Firehouse
Arts Center’s Chocolate Festival.
 |
| Ann Alspaugh |
Ann Alspaugh, an Oklahoma native and civic leader, has dedicated her
life to enriching both OU and the state of Oklahoma. An enthusiastic supporter
of almost every college and program of study at the university, she has
directly contributed to the excellence of the OU Foundation; Athletics; colleges
of Medicine, Public Health and Allied Health; Gaylord College of Journalism and
Mass Communication; College of International Studies; College of Arts and
Sciences; Oklahoma Center for Continuing Education; and administrative offices
on both the Norman and OU Health Sciences Center campuses.
Ann has served on the boards of the Allied Arts
Foundation, Oklahoma Arts Institute, and National Council of the Aspen Music
Festival and School, among many others. In the community, she has contributed
to such organizations as the Jasmine Moran Children’s Museum in Seminole;
Habitat for Humanity; Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation; Susan G. Komen
Breast Cancer Foundation; Oklahoma Foundation for Excellence; Oklahoma
Educational Television Authority; Red Earth; International Women’s Forum;
Oklahoma AIDS Care Fund; and the Oscar Jacobson Foundation. She is a founding
member of the National Museum of the American Indian-Smithsonian Institution,
in Washington, D.C.
Ann has been honored countless times for civic service
with honors and awards, including the Oklahoma Foundation for Excellence
Distinguished Trustee Award; Oklahoma City Arts Council Mayor’s Award;
Outstanding Philanthropist Award from the National Society of Fund Raising
Executives; Women of the Year Award from the Red Lands Council of Girls Scouts;
and a Doctor of Humane Letters from Oklahoma City University. She also is the
recipient of the Governor’s Arts Award and the First Annual Grande Reverence
Award from Ballet Oklahoma, and has been named as an Oklahoma Health Center
Foundation Treasure for Tomorrow and a member of the Oklahoma Hall of Fame.
 |
| Alan Armstrong - '85 Civil Engineering |
Alan Armstrong in January
2011 became president and CEO of Williams, a 104-year-old, Tulsa-based company
that today is a leading energy-infrastructure service provider in North
America. Since joining the company in 1986, Alan has served in numerous
leadership positions, including president of the company’s natural gas
gathering, processing and olefins-production business.
A 1985 graduate of OU’s civil engineering program, Alan
and his wife, Shelly, who earned a degree in communications from the OU College
of Arts and Sciences in 1984, are energetic leaders in the OU College of
Engineering. In support of the OU Water Technologies for Emerging Regions
Center, he has served as an informal adviser and fundraising advocate, and has
supported the College of Engineering Development Office by engaging potential
benefactors and with the lead gift to privately fund a new development officer
position. In the Tulsa area, Alan has worked diligently to promote the
university and recruit National Merit Scholars to OU, as well as hosted
fundraising events for the university in his home.
Alan serves as chairman of the College of Engineering
Board of Visitors, and in that capacity has spearheaded support of the college
through such initiatives as the founding of the Felgar Society. In his role at
Williams and as a board member of the company’s charitable foundation, he has
ensured that OU and other state educational institutions receive funds to
recruit, retain and graduate the next generation of engineers and business
leaders.
Alan is past president of the Gas Processors
Association and a board member of the Natural Gas Supply Association and the American
Petroleum Institute, and serves on the National Petroleum Council and Business
Roundtable. Alan serves on the board of directors for Junior Achievement,
USA. In the community, he is a board member and past board chairman of Junior
Achievement of Oklahoma and is a member of the executive committee of the Tulsa
Metro Chamber. He is a board member of Tulsa’s Future II Oversight
Committee, the Williams Foundation, Teach for America – Oklahoma, and the
Oklahoma Business and Education Coalition.
 |
| Jim Dicus - '63 Business Finance |
Jim Dicus, a 1963 graduate in business administration and finance,
is the president of Dicus Supermarkets. During his years at OU, he was
president of Lambda Chi Alpha Fraternity, and currently serves as vice
president of the OU Club of Ada.
Jim's passion for helping others and dedication to young
people defines his life of service. In honor of his late son and
daughter-in-law, Jim organizes an annual charity golf tournament, which
raises more than $25,000 each year for such endeavors as the Peggy and Charles
Stephenson Cancer Center and to help scholarship students from the Ada area
attend OU, with funds matched each year by the university.
Jim serves as vice president of the
Ada Industrial Development Corp. He has served in numerous leadership positions
in his community, including as president of the Ada Chamber of Commerce,
Kiwanis Club of Greater Ada, Ada Boys Club, Retail Grocers Association and
Oklahoma Grocers Coupon Association. For 30 years, he has served on the board
of the Valley View Hospital in Ada, including one term as chairman of the
board.
 |
| Bill Hancock - '72 Journalism |
Bill Hancock graduated from the university in
1972 with a bachelor’s degree in journalism. Since that time, he has been an
avid supporter of OU, especially in OU Athletics and the Gaylord College of
Journalism and Mass Communication. A member of the Gaylord College Board of
Visitors, Bill has been a supporter of the college’s JayMac alumni
association since its inception in 1983.
After the tragic loss of their son in
the 2001 plane crash that took the lives of 10 members of the Oklahoma State
University men’s basketball team, Bill and his wife endowed a scholarship
benefiting Gaylord College students pursuing careers in either the newspaper
industry or sports public relations.
After three years in the university’s
sports information office, Bill, a native of Hobart, followed in his
father’s footsteps for a time as editor of his family’s newspaper, the Hobart Democrat-Chief. For more than a
decade, he served on the staff of the Big Eight Conference, first as the media
relations director and then as assistant commissioner in charge of
championships and marketing. In 1989, he was tapped as the first full-time
director of the NCAA Final Four. Named as an administrator of the Bowl
Championship Series in 2005, he became executive director in 2009. He has
served on the U.S. Olympic Committee staff at nine Olympic games and two Pan
American Games, and in 2005, was inducted into the College Sports Information
Directors Hall of Fame.
In Bill’s first book, Riding With the Blue Moth, he describes
how he used a transcontinental bicycle journey to deal with grief after his
son’s death. The book became one of the top-selling sports volumes after its
publication in 2005. He also is the author of This One Day in Hobart, a chronology of his hometown.
 |
| Che Miller, M.D. - '98 Chemistry/Biochemistry, '02 Medicine, '07 Surgery |
As an undergraduate who graduated with
honors in chemistry and biochemistry before attending the OU College of
Medicine, Che distinguished himself through his pioneering research in
geochemistry and neurochemistry, as well as such honors as being named to the
President’s Leadership Class and as a recipient of the Phillips Petroleum
Chemistry Scholar Award, the Department of Chemistry Award and the
Undergraduate Teaching Award. As a medical student, he was voted president of
his class, Outstanding Medical Student and chair of the Oklahoma State Medical
Association Student Section. During his time in the College of Medicine, he
also was the recipient of the OU Leadership Award and Multicultural Service
Award.
An exceptional alumnus who has been
dedicated to the success of the College of Medicine and its students, Che
was the first donor to commit $100,000 to the college’s Second Century
Scholarship Campaign. He serves as a role model for current students and as an
ambassador for OU, promoting the university both nationally and
internationally. In addition to providing surgical services to the university’s
trauma center, he has served as a member of OU’s Medical School Admissions
Committee and as an adviser to the Graduate Medical Education Committee.
Che has been honored numerous times
for his research and expertise with such awards as the Aesculpian Award for
most outstanding resident teacher at OU; the Lloyd and Ruth Rader Award for
Resident of the Year; nomination for the Gilson/CMDA Award recognizing
commitment and service to the global community; and appointment to the Gold
Humanitarian Honor Society. A local and national leader in medicine, he was
appointed to the American Medical Association Committee on Long-Range Planning
and was asked to serve on the Oklahoma State Medical Association Foundation
executive board.
In addition to his professional
activities, Che has earned a national and international reputation as a
philanthropist who has dedicated his time and medical abilities to providing
education and health care to seven nations on four continents. From ministry to
mobile surgery operations, he devotes time each year to helping communities
abroad. For his commitment to others, he has been recognized by leaders in such
countries as the Philippines and Bosnia.
 |
| Carolyn Clark Powers - '96 Business Finance |
A 1996 graduate in business
administration, Carolyn Clark Powers is both a dedicated alumna and generous supporter of
OU. The daughter of OU Regent Tom Clark, she made a $100,000 gift to the
Department of Aviation in the OU College of Continuing Education in 2009 to
endow the Tom Clark Scholarship.
Carolyn is known across the nation for
her philanthropic endeavors, particularly in the arts. She currently serves as
chair of the National Committee for the Performing Arts at the Kennedy Center
in Washington, D.C. and was recently appointed to the board of the Grammy Awards. She has served in numerous leadership positions on boards
and committees for such organizations as the Los Angeles Museum of Contemporary
Art, Philharmonic and Colleagues of Children’s Institute; Aspen Art Museum; Aspen
Santa Fe Ballet; Dockery Farms Foundation; DeVos Institute of Arts Management
at the Kennedy Center; Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz; and many more.
In addition to her leadership in the
arts, Carolyn is a passionate advocate of causes that empower underprivileged
children. She helped cultivate The Painted Turtle, a camp created by Paul
Newman for children who are seriously ill, for which she serves as a board
member and chair of its annual fundraiser. In addition, she has dedicated her
time to extending arts education to low-income schools in Los Angeles and the
rural South. Among her numerous personal accomplishments, she has run five marathons, including the Boston Marathon and scaled the summit of Mt. Kilimanjaro.
 |
| Richard Trautman, M.D. - '71 Medicine |
Richard Trautman earned his bachelor’s and
master’s degrees from Oklahoma State University before graduating from the OU
College of Medicine in 1971. He spent years of service in the U.S. Navy Medical
Corps, U.S. Navy Reserve and U.S. Air Force Reserve Medical Corps.
After serving his internship and
residency at the OU Health Sciences Center, he joined the faculty as an
assistant professor in 1978. He now holds the Arnold and Bess Ungerman Endowed
Chair in Psychiatry in the OU Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences,
and is vice chair of general psychiatric services and the medical director for
the Oklahoma Center for Alcohol and Drug-related Studies, an entity dedicated
to preparing researchers and clinicians to address issues related to the acute
and chronic effects of alcohol and drug abuse. Throughout his career in the OU
College of Medicine, he has served as an adjunct professor of anesthesiology;
vice chair for Adult Services and for Clinical Services; professor and director
for Adult Outpatient Mental Health Services; and in numerous instructor positions.
 |
| Leon Unger, Ph. D. |
Leon was recruited to the faculty in the
OU College of Medicine in 1966. In the following four decades, he has
revolutionized both the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (where
he serves as David Ross Boyd Professor and Regents’ Professor) and the teaching
of his field. Since joining the OU Health Sciences Center, he has designed,
organized, coordinated and taught major portions of the Biochemistry and
Medical Molecular Genetics course for first-year medical students. Because of
his outstanding teaching skills, he has been ranked first in the medical
student evaluations of the biochemistry teaching faculty in almost every one of
those years.
In 1975, Leon designed, organized and
implemented the first Biochemistry Review Course for Step I of the National
Medical Licensure Exam for medical students, and in so doing, improved
dramatically the performance of OU medical students on the biochemistry portion
of the exam by an average of 96 points per student. He also was responsible for
introducing concepts into the OU curriculum that are now widely practiced at
medical schools throughout the nation, such as the conceptual relationship
between biochemistry, medical genetics and medical nutrition; clinical
correlations, in which physicians, patients, their families and teams of
students interact to think creatively and solve problems; and biochemistry
concept mapping as a tool for integrative thinking.
During his career, Leon has been
honored with numerous teaching awards, including selection by medical students
as the recipient of the Aesculapian Award for Teaching Excellence in the Basic
Sciences in 1991, 2003 and 2008; the Stanton L. Young Master Teacher Award; the
Oklahoma Medal for Excellence in Teaching; and the College of Medicine’s Edgar
W. Young Lifetime Achievement Award.
 |
| Reggie Whitten - '77 Political Science, '80 Juris Doctorate |
The first member of his family to
graduate college, Reggie graduated from OU in 1977 with a degree in political
science and from the OU College of Law with a juris doctor in 1980. Since then,
he has devoted significant time and resources in support of activities that
benefit the university, its students and the greater community. As a member of
OU’s Seed Sower Society honoring donors of $1 million or more, he is especially
focused on programs that enhance the education, health and well-being of young
people from all walks of life. Together with his partner, Michael Burrage, Reggie recently made a major gift to the OU College of Law to establish the
David L. Boren and Molly Shi Boren Public Service Fellowship, which allows law
students to pursue unpaid public interest work during the summer.
In memory of their son, Brandon, Reggie
and his wife, Rachelle (along with brother-in-law Robert Newman), founded the
Whitten-Newman Foundation. As part of its mission to enhance the lives of young
people, the foundation partnered with the Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural
History to create ExplorOlogy, a science education program that makes science
education exciting and relevant to Oklahoma youth by engaging them in authentic
science experiences. As a member of the museum’s Board of Visitors, Reggie and
the foundation also made possible an exhibit highlighting the flora and fauna
of Oklahoma’s Black Mesa area in the museum’s Noble Drilling Corporation Hall
of Natural Wonders.
Reggie is the co-founder of Pros for
Africa, a nonprofit relief organization that has partnered with sports
professionals, physicians and engineers to provide food, water, clothing and
medicine to at-risk children in northern Uganda and southern Sudan. In cooperation
with the OU College of Law, Pros for Africa has provided students in the
International Human Rights Clinic the opportunity to travel to Africa to
experience other cultures, develop a lifetime commitment to meaningful service
and prepare for the increasingly global practice of law. In addition to his
work with Pros for Africa, Reggie spends countless hours of his personal time
sharing the story of his son’s addiction and tragic death with students and
parents through another nonprofit organization he founded called F.A.T.E.
(Fighting Addiction Through Education), warning of the dangers of drug and
alcohol abuse while providing resources for those who already suffer from
addiction.
For his service to others, Reggie has
been honored with the Jasmine Foundation Benefactor Award, the Journal Record Leadership in Law Award
and the Jefferson Society Award from the Oklahoma Association for Justice.
 |
| Robert Zinke - '75 Business, Petroleum Land Management |
After graduating from the Petroleum Land
Management Program in the OU College of Business in 1975, Robert Zinke went on to found Zinke and Trumbo
Inc., now known as Zenergy Inc., one of the most active exploration efforts in
the oil and gas industry. His success led him to be featured in a Forbes magazine article titled “The New
Breed of Wildcatters.”
Robert has been a member of the Price
College Energy Management Board of Directors since its inception in 1996 and
its president since 2003, and has been a member of the college’s Board of
Advisors since 2004. His generous commitments to the college include a $1
million gift to fund a Chair for Energy Management and establishing an
endowment to support the program and its director; the transformational role he
plans to fill in the proposed people and program campaign for Price College,
which includes a challenge grant to the Energy Management Program and a major
gift to an energy expansion initiative in the college; service as a member of
the Energy Management Program’s Capital Campaign Team; and service as chair of
the Arthur B. Adams Society. In honor of his dedication to OU Energy
Management, the program has been named the Robert M. Zinke Energy Management
Program. In 2008, he received the Price College Distinguished Alumni Award.
Robert is an active member of several
professional organizations, including the American Association of Petroleum
Landmen; Tulsa Association of Petroleum Landmen; Oklahoma Independent Petroleum
Association; Independent Petroleum Association of America; Northern Alliance of
Independent Producers; North Dakota Petroleum Council; and Natural Gas and Energy
Association of Oklahoma.
 |
| Singing of the OU Chant after award presentations. |
When the award presentations were over, everyone raised their right hand, first finger extended and sang the OU Chant.
 |
| 2012 Regents' Award Recipients and presenters. |
Later Friday night at Commencement, our Commencement Scholars were recognized. Commencement Scholar requirements are a 3.0+ GPA, Oklahoma resident, must be a working student, must be a student on the Norman campus and must attend Commencement. Those who were selected to receive this scholarship receive $1500 to apply to their tuition for the fall of 2012. These ten scholarship recipients were chosen from a pool of 160 applicants. Winners are Jacintha
Bachman (political science, senior), Julie Butler (petroleum engineering, senior), Amber Ely (social
work, senior), Crystal Hines (finance, senior), Brian Jack(civil engineering, senior),
Chase Magnuson (aviation, junior), Emily Siegrist (health and exercise science,
junior), Travis Poole (civil engineering, graduate), Eric Ray (zoology, senior) and
Skye Tylich (international studies, junior).
 |
| 2012-2013 Commencement Scholars |
