Seven distinguished alums recognized at Spears School Hall of Fame banquet
Monday, November 11, 2013
Seven distinguished graduates were honored Friday night at the annual Spears School of Business Hall of Fame banquet at the ConocoPhillips OSU Alumni Center.
Four Oklahoma State University alumni were inducted into the Spears School Hall of Fame. There were Jennifer Grigsby (accounting, 1991), Chuck Hensley (general business, 1967), Griff Jones (1991) and Linda Livingstone (bachelor’s degree in economics and management, 1982; MBA in 1983, and Ph.D. in ’92). Livingstone was the recipient of the first-ever Outstanding Ph.D. Award during her induction.
Also, OSU alums Emily Drennan, Stephanie Meston and Wilson Taylor were honored as the Outstanding Young Alumni award honorees.
The annual Spears School Hall of Fame Banquet recognizes OSU graduates who have distinguished themselves in their professional careers, displayed effective leadership, made exemplary contributions to their communities and freely given meritorious service to others. Induction into the Hall of Fame is the highest honor the Spears School can bestow.
Jennifer Grigsby is Senior Vice President, Corporate and Strategic Planning for Chesapeake Energy Corp., in Oklahoma City.
An Oklahoma City native, she joined Chesapeake in 1995 and has become an integral part of the company’s management team. As treasurer, she oversees the company’s cash management, risk management and corporate finance functions. As corporate secretary, Grigsby has primary responsibility for the company’s public and privately placed securities, the company’s corporate governance initiatives, and the administration of the company’s stock compensation plans.
She was selected earlier this year as chair of the OSU Alumni Association Board of Directors, and also serves on the Board of Trustees of the OSU Foundation, as a member of The Associates in the Spears School, the Spears School’s Accounting Advisory Board, and is a founding council member of Women for OSU.
Grigsby, an avid supporter of OSU’s athletic teams and the Oklahoma City Thunder, earned a bachelor’s degree in accounting from OSU in 1991, and her MBA from Oklahoma City University in 1999. She lives in Edmond with her husband, Steve, and two children, Reid, 13, and Jack, 10.
Chuck Hensley retired in 2000 after a successful career as a stockbroker, but remains active in his investments through his affiliation with WFG, Inc. in Dallas.
The Checotah, Okla., native began his career with Paine Webber Jackson and Curtis in Dallas in 1970, and attained the title of vice president of sales. After leaving Paine Webber in 1976, he was instrumental in opening the First Boston Corp. office in Dallas. In 1984, Hensley joined Merrill Lynch as manager of the southwest region for all capital market products and institutional relationships. Hensley currently sits on the OSU Foundation Board of Governors.
Hensley earned a bachelor’s degree in general business from OSU in 1967. He lives in Dallas with his wife, Joannie, also an OSU graduate (1968).
Griff Jones is president and chief executive officer of Twin Eagle Resource, a natural gas and power marketing company with headquarters in Houston.
The Tulsa, Okla., native joined Natural Gas Clearing House Corp. shortly after graduating from OSU. The company was later renamed Dynegy, where Jones was named senior vice president and led a number of initiatives within the company’s wholesale power and natural gas business. In 2003, he joined business partner Chuck Watson in founding Eagle Energy Partners, and four years later the highly successful business was sold to Lehman Brothers. Jones and Watson partnered again in 2011 to create Twin Eagle Resource.
Jones earned a bachelor’s degree in finance from OSU in 1991. He lives in Houston with his wife, Mindi, and two children, Kennedy, 16, and Kale, 14.
Linda Livingstone is in her 12th year as dean of the Graziadio School of Business and Management at Pepperdine University in Malibu, Calif.
The Perkins, Okla., native began her academic career at Baylor University in Waco, Texas. She spent 11 years at Baylor where she was an assistant professor and then associate professor of management before serving as associate dean of graduate programs from 1998 to 2002. Livingstone was hired in March 2002 at Pepperdine. She has been actively involved in the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB International), having served on the board since the 2009-10 academic year. She is currently vice chair-chair elect of the AACSB Board of Directors, and will become chair of the international organization in July 2014.
Livingstone earned three degrees from OSU (a bachelor’s degree in economics and management in 1982, an MBA in 1983 and her doctorate in philosophy in 1992). She lives in California with her husband, Brad, and their daughter, Shelby.
In 2001, the Outstanding Young Alumni award was established to recognize alumni who have provided significant service and achievement early in their professional careers.
Emily Drennan, a 2003 Spears School graduate, is a published lyricist, composer and recording artist for television and film and is a studio singer for national radio and TV commercials. She lives in New York City and performs both on and off Broadway.
Stephanie Meston, who graduated in 2005, is a senior associate of finance with American Energy Partners in Oklahoma City. She previously was with ConocoPhillips where her responsibilities included debt capital markets transactions, liability management, and rating agency relationships.
Wilson Taylor, a 2006 graduate, is manager of team operations for the Oklahoma City Thunder of the National Basketball Association. He has the responsibilities for equipment, purchasing, logistics and travel for the team.