School of Accounting will honor five at Wilton T. Anderson Hall of Fame Banquet

Monday, February 28, 2022

Media Contact: Sarah Johnson | OSU School of Accounting | 405.744.8046 | sarah.johnson11@okstate.edu

Oklahoma State University’s School of Accounting will honor five outstanding alumni and friends of the school during the 2022 Wilton T. Anderson Hall of Fame and Awards Banquet on April 24 at the ConocoPhillips OSU Alumni Center.

This year’s distinguished alumni being honored with induction into the Wilton T. Anderson Hall of Fame are:

• Karen Chapel — who earned her bachelor’s degree in accounting from OSU in 1977 — is the director of finance transformation with Resources Global Professionals, a publicly traded global consulting firm to create transformative change.
• Jon Evans — who earned his bachelor’s degree in accounting from OSU in 1987 — is the chief operating officer at Paycom.
• Donald Herrmann — who earned his bachelor’s from John Brown University in 1985, master’s from Kansas State University in 1987 and Ph.D. in accounting from OSU in 1995 — was a professor in accounting at OSU for 13 years before his passing in 2018.
• Darton Zink — who earned his bachelor’s in accounting from OSU in 1994 — is the president and chief executive officer at Zeeco Inc., the world leader in advanced combustion equipment and environmental solutions.

“Each of these alumni have been exceptional in their accomplishments and have truly put together “hall of fame” careers,” said Dr. Audrey Gramling, head of the School of Accounting. “The School of Accounting is proud to have them as alumni and looks forward to recognizing their distinguished careers.”

Distinguished Friend of the School of Accounting honoree is:

• HJ Reed has been a longtime supporter of the OSU School of Accounting. He earned his bachelor’s degree at OSU in general administration, business administration and management in 1977. He served as manager of government affairs for Phillips 66 before his retirement in 2021.

“When I started as head of the School of Accounting, HJ was one of the first people to offer support and assistance,” Dr. Gramling said. “I have truly enjoyed having HJ’s support and guidance over the last several years. Not only has he been instrumental in helping us build the future of accounting at OSU, he has supported OSU in so many ways over the years. I am thrilled that we will be honoring HJ with this award that affirms our appreciation for all that he has done.”

After obtaining her CPA certificate, Chapel started her career as an auditor with KPMG’s Tulsa and Dallas offices. She has spent her career in the accounting and financial management of commercial real estate and project management consulting on IT software with companies including RGP, CBRE, Trammell Crow Company, Grant Thornton and SCI Realty Group.

Chapel was recognized as one of the honorees in the Spears School Tributes: 100 For 100 in 2014. She currently serves as a member of the AICPA, the OSU School of Accounting Advisory Board, a lifetime member of the OSU Alumni Association and the steering committee for the North Texas OSU Brighter Orange event, which recently raised a record $200,000 in scholarships for OSU students from North Texas.

She has shown her appreciation for the School of Accounting in many ways including endowing the Wilton T. Anderson Chair in Accounting. She is an active volunteer for several charitable organizations, such as the American Red Cross, Wilkinson Center, Family Outreach Center, Meals on Wheels and Highland Park United Methodist Church community outreach program. 

Chapel resides in Dallas and has two sons — Bret, an OSU finance graduate and Andy, a University of Texas economics degree recipient and an accounting master’s graduate from Notre Dame — as well as three grandchildren who she hopes one day will be Cowboys. 

Evans has more than three decades of senior financial and operations management experience. He oversees Paycom’s ongoing business operations. During his tenure at Paycom, he has led the effort to transform and automate many of the processes to help scale one of the more rapidly expanding companies in the world. His leadership has been integral in Paycom being named one of the country’s fastest-growing companies and a nationally ranked top workplace.

Prior to becoming COO, Evans was Paycom’s senior executive vice president of operations after serving as executive vice president of accounting. He joined Paycom in 2014 as director of accounting after having served as the chief operating officer of a holding company with businesses in multiple industries, including business support services, defense logistics and manufacturing.

Evans is a certified public accountant and serves on the board of trustees at the Oklahoma City National Memorial and Museum.

Herrmann was an incredibly loved and admired accounting professor at OSU for more than a decade. He lost a courageous fight with brain cancer on May 8, 2018. After earning his bachelor’s and master’s, he worked as an auditor for Deloitte in Colorado before moving to Stillwater to pursue his Ph.D. in accounting from OSU in 1995. He then spent nine years at Oregon State University before accepting a faculty position at Oklahoma State University in 2005 where he stayed for the remainder of his career.

In addition to his research, teaching and textbook authorship, he served in various roles, including department head and Ph.D. coordinator. Herrmann is widely published and highly regarded for his various research papers on the subject of international accounting. He authored 33 peer reviewed articles, many in high impact generalist journals in accounting including publications in "Journal of Accounting Research," "Accounting Review" and "Journal of International Business Studies."

His publications were praised for being unique, thorough and accessible to scholars and practitioners alike. He is coauthor of several financial accounting textbooks used to teach fundamental accounting principles. Herrmann was awarded the title of full professor in 2018 shortly before his passing and held the Oscar S. Gellein and Deloitte and Touche Professorship.  He was also awarded the “Professor of the Decade Award” for his dedication to his students and his lasting influence over their educational and professional careers.

Herrmann spent 13 years in Stillwater where he was active in the community, served as an elder at Countryside Church, led numerous Bible studies and coached many youth sports teams. Don is survived by his wife, Mary; children, Rachel, David, Nathan and Micah; son-in-law, David; daughters-in-law, Sarah and Lindsey; and four grandchildren, Lucas, Harper, Hadley and Landon.

Zink has expanded Zeeco’s global footprint providing innovative, reliable and advanced combustion and environmental equipment, resources and services. Zeeco was founded in 1979 by his father, John Smith Zink. After graduating from OSU in 1994, Zink served at Zeeco in various roles, including manager of proposals and estimates, director of international sales, director of finance and vice president before being appointed president and CEO in 2000.

In his more than 20 years of leadership, he has profitably grown the company to more than 25 locations and more than 1,500 employees worldwide, with installations in more than 100 countries. Expansions under his guidance include manufacturing operations and sales offices in North America, Asia, Europe, the Middle East and the United Kingdom.

In 2021, OSU honored Zink and Zeeco as part of its inaugural Cowboy100 Honoree Gala and Blazing15 awards, which recognized OSU graduate-owned and led businesses for their success and the difference they make in the world. "The Journal Record" recognized him as one of Oklahoma’s Most Admired CEOs in 2021 for his consistency in demonstrating strong leadership, integrity, values and commitment to excellence. Zeeco was also listed in "Oklahoma Magazine’s" Great Companies to Work For in 2021 – making the list for the fifth year in a row.

Zink and his wife Jamie have been married for more than 20 years and have two sons, Reed and Keller. He serves as a trustee of both the John Steele Zink Foundation and the John Zink Foundation, where he oversees operations at Zink Ranch, which is used by approximately 30,000 Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, parents and volunteers annually. He also serves on the board of the Girl Scouts of Eastern Oklahoma, the Indian Nations Council of the Boy Scouts of America, River Parks Board of Trustees and as chairman of the River Parks Foundation.

Reed was responsible for legislative, regulatory and political activities in 14 states in the Mid-Continent region of the United States for Phillips 66. He is a member of the Bartlesville Leadership Team and Executive Committee and Board of Directors of the State Chamber of Oklahoma. He serves on the board of directors for Oklahoma 2030, Environmental Federation of Oklahoma, Oklahoma Society of Professional Advocates, the Board of Governors for the OSU Foundation and Executive Committee of the Edmond Chamber of Commerce. Reed is the co-chairman of the Edmond Chamber of Commerce Governmental Affairs Committee and a member of the Economic Club of Oklahoma. 

He was most recently chairman of the Refinery Group for the Oklahoma Oil & Gas Association, a trustee on the Edmond Economic Development Authority and a member of the Board of Directors of the Oklahoma State University Alumni Association. Reed is a graduate of Leadership Bartlesville Class I and Leadership Oklahoma Class XII.

Reed and his wife, Gail, have two daughters, Chelsea and Melissa.