CAS inducts 3 new Hall of Famers at 2023 ceremony
Wednesday, September 27, 2023
Media Contact: Elizabeth Gosney | CAS Marketing and Communications Manager | 405-744-7497 | egosney@okstate.edu
Oklahoma State University’s College of Arts and Sciences honored 20 alumni at its annual Hall of Fame event on Sept. 15. Included among them were Bill Goldston, Charles F. “Chic” Dambach and Ron Ward — this year’s three Hall of Fame inductees.
In addition to recognizing Dambach, Goldston and Ward, the college presented 14 Distinguished Alumni and three Rising Star awards to graduates who have achieved exceptional accomplishments in their careers, given outstanding service to their communities and shown unwavering dedication to OSU.
“The impressive group of alumni we’re honoring represent each pillar within the College of Arts and Sciences: arts and humanities, social sciences and math and sciences,” said OSU alumnus and former KWTV news anchor Kelly Ogle, who emceed the event. “We’re surely appreciative that we have legends like [these] still involved in the university.”
The evening’s first Hall of Fame inductee was Goldston, a 1966 graduate from the Department of Art, Graphic Design and Art History. After earning his Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from OSU, Goldston went on to get an MFA from the University of Minnesota. It was there that he met professor Zigmunds Priede, who recommended Goldston for a job at Universal Limited Art Editions in New York City. He has been with ULAE ever since, becoming a master printer and director of the world-renowned printing studio.
“I’m sure a lot of you have had the opportunity to sit on your father’s lap and have him read you stories from a storybook when you were a child,” Goldston said during the ceremony. “My life was a little different; I read the stories to my father because he couldn’t read or write. For me to be in this position, to receive this award tonight, is a great honor.”
Included among Goldston’s professional accomplishments is his OSU-ULAE internship program. Since the 1980s, he has brought more than 100 OSU art students to New York to work with him and other artists in his studio.
The second Hall of Fame honoree of the evening was Dambach, a 1967 speech alumnus. Dambach’s storied career includes serving as president and CEO of the National Peace Corps Association, helping the leaders of Ethiopia and Eritrea reach a peace agreement in 2000 and being nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize in 2017.
“All this began on this campus,” Dambach said during his remarks. “There was phenomenal faculty who took an interest in this young guy who was trying to figure out what to do with his life. I found uniquely here that faculty really cared about students and that just made all the difference in the world.”
Part of Dambach’s OSU legacy is the 2022 establishment of the Dambach Peacebuilder Endowed Fellowship Fund, which is part of OSU Global. The fund awards scholarships to outstanding graduate students whose academic studies and future career plans center around peacebuilding.
The final Hall of Fame honoree on Sept. 15 was Ward, who graduated from OSU in 1972 with a bachelor’s degree in mathematics. The Stigler, Oklahoma, native started Ward Construction and Ward Investments in 1975 and added El Reno City councilman to his list of successes along the way. He and his wife Cindy also give regularly to educational, faith and nonprofit causes through the Ward Family Fund.
“Today, think about all of those young people who ... come here with a dream,” said Ward, addressing the audience during the ceremony. “What we’ve got to do is make sure that they can accomplish that dream, that they have the ability to get here and pursue it.
“I imagine that all of you support this university in one or or another, but consider scholarship as a goal or maybe a portion of what your support of the university is. ... We have to give the least among us the opportunity to fund their dream. Nobody should be closed out because they don’t have the financial ability to do that.”
Ward has stayed close to his OSU roots through the years, with notable contributions to the Beta Theta Pi house construction and serving as OSU Alumni Association president in 2012-13 while the ConocoPhillips OSU Alumni Center was built.
To learn more about the College of Arts and Sciences' Hall of Fame, including bios on all the honorees, visit okla.st/cas-hof. To watch the recorded ceremony and videos honoring Goldston, Dambach and Ward, go to the CAS YouTube channel.
Hall of Fame
Alumni who have achieved exceptional success in their professions, displayed effective leadership, made significant contributions to their communities and shown great loyalty to OSU.
- Bill Goldston – BFA Art, ’66
- Charles F. “Chic” Dambach – B.A. Speech ’67
- Ron Ward – B.S. Mathematics ’72
Distinguished Alumni
Alumni who have brought distinction to OSU through extraordinary achievements in their fields and demonstrated records of distinguished service.
- Kerry Alexander – B.S. Political Science ’86
- Sabine J. Davis – B.A. Languages and Literatures ’93
- Larry “Hank” Hankla – B.S. Sociology ’73
- Landon W. Holman, II – B.S. Geology ’72
- Tanya Johnson – M.S. Statistics ’76
- L.D. Johnston – B.S. Economics and Air Force ROTC
- Charles Onstott – B.A. Philosophy ’92
- Gary Shutt – B.S. Media and Strategic Communications ’74
- Gary S. Smith – B.S. Chemistry ’86
- Ray L. Smith – B.A. History ’80
- Kimberly Strickland, dba Kim Scott – M.M. Music Pedagogy and Performance ’00
- Donita Tefft – B.S. ’80, M.A. ’82 – Communication Sciences and Disorders
- Lisa Wingate – B.A. English ’88
Rising Stars
Alumni who have graduated in the past 10 years and reached major milestones in their chosen careers and shown exemplary commitments to community service and volunteerism.
- Emily Ramseyer Collins – B.S. Multimedia Journalism ’15
- Amber DuBoise-Shepherd – BFA Art ’16
- Victoria Som de Cerff Edmonds – B.S. Computer Science ’15