Spears School inducts three alumni into Hall of Fame

Thursday, December 3, 2009

(Nov. 18, 2009 Stillwater, OK) – The Spears School of Business inducted three Oklahoma State University alumni into the Spears School of Business Hall of Fame and recognized three others as Outstanding Young Alumni at a ceremony on November 13.

Stan Clark, founder and president of Stan Clark Companies; Beverly Lancaster, retired president and CEO of Learjet; and Brad Williams, tax partner with Ernst & Young, were honored for their successful careers and contributions to OSU. The Spears School also honored Angela Courtin, Bruce Yee and Mita Young as Outstanding Young Alumni. 

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. In 2001, the Outstanding Young Alumni award was established to recognize Spears School alumni who have provided significant service and achievement early in their professional careers.

Stan Clark is the Founder and President of Eskimo Joe’s, Eskimo Joe’s Clothes, Eskimo Joe’s Promotional Products Group, Mexico Joe’s, Joseppi’s Italian Kitchen and the Stan Clark Cos., the management company that oversees these operating companies. Clark opened Eskimo Joe’s two months after graduating from OSU with a degree in business administration in 1975.  Since then, the bar and restaurant has become a household word across Oklahoma.

Clark has served on various boards including the Oklahoma Restaurant Association, the Stillwater Convention and Visitors Bureau, the Oklahoma Tourism Commission and the Oklahoma Heritage Association.  His companies host the two largest fundraising events for the Stillwater United Way – the Three Amigos Golf Classic and the Juke Joint Jog.  An avid OSU fan, Clark supports his alma mater in a variety of ways, including academics and athletics. Clark also is a lifetime member of the OSU Alumni Associaiton.

Among his any awards and recognitions, Clark has received the Distinguished Alumnus Award from the Oklahoma State University Alumni Association, the Small Business Administration’s (Oklahoma Region) Entrepreneurial Success Award, the Stillwater Chamber of Commerce Small Business Person of the Year Award and was inducted into its Hall of Fame, the Outstanding Young Oklahoman by the Oklahoma Jaycees, was a Regional Finalist for Inc. Magazine’s Entrepreneur of the Year and was inducted into the U.S. Small Business Administration’s Hall of Fame. 

Stan is married to Shannon Clark and is the proud father of three: Maguire, 7, and twins Gabi and Hudson, 5. 

Beverly Lancaster enrolled at Oklahoma A&M in 1947, and received a bachelor’s degree in business administration in 1957. He served as a pilot in the United States Air Force for more than 4 years between his enrollment at Oklahoma A&M and his graduation.

After receiving his degree, Lancaster went to work for the Wichita Division of Boeing Company in the finance department and later became the Director of Finance. Subsequently, Lancaster was asked to initiate a new profit center, called the Aircraft Modification Center, to work on commercial airline aircraft. He later became Assistant General Manager and soon after, he was named Director of Operations and the Vice President of Operations of the Wichita Division of Boeing.  Lancaster took a well-deserved early retirement in 1986.

In the fall of 1987, Lancaster came out of retirement and was appointed President and CEO of Learjet. At that time, Learjet was a leverage buy out and hadn’t made a profit in 5 years. Beverly was charged with making the company profitable and selling it. Learjet was sold in 1990 and Beverly has been retired ever since.

Beverly currently lives in Wichita, Kan., with his wife, Evelyn. During the winter months, the couple enjoys living in Green Valley, Ariz. They have three children: Kris who lives in Tucson, Ariz., with her husband, Bill; Karen of Tucson, Ariz.; and Joe, who lives in Plano, Texas, with his wife, Lisa, and their children Christopher and Laura.

Brad Williams is a Houston-based tax partner with Ernst & Young, currently serving as Americas Chief Financial Officer – Tax. His previous role with the company included 12 years as the tax Managing Partner of the Gulf Coast Area.  Williams has a bachelor’s degree in agricultural economics and a master’s degree in accounting, both from Oklahoma State University.

Williams has been the campus recruiting coordinator for OSU and was the director of recruiting for the Dallas office. He is a founding member of the School of Accounting Advisory Board, a member of the Executive Committee and is currently Chair-elect to the board. Williams has served on various boards in his community and for several years was an Elder as well as Finance Director for his church and is currently a member of the finance committee for the Watercolor community in Florida.

Williams has been married to his wife and high-school sweetheart, Denise, for 32 years. They have two daughters, Jennifer and Kelsey. Jennifer is a foreign service officer with the State Department and currently stationed in Lebanon. Kelsey is an elementary school teacher in Spring Branch ISD in Houston. The Williams’ enjoy attending Houston Rocket games and spending time in Florida and Colorado.

Angela Courtin serves as senior vice president of marketing, entertainment and content for MySpace. Courtin graduated from Oklahoma State University with a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering and a master’s degree in business administration.

Prior to joining MySpace, Angela was vice president of integrated marketing for MTV Networks, where she was responsible for overseeing the West Coast. She served as liaison to production and series development, as well as the West Coast client base. Now, Courtin leads MySpace’s marketing, entertainment, content, branding, promotions, and events teams with the objective of increasing growth, expanding public awareness and driving revenue for the company.

Courtin also served as associate producer on HBO’s Big Love. Her MTV trajectory would intersect in 2004 when she served as Vice President of Rock the Vote. Courtin’s work in politics spans the beltway, from the Human Rights Campaign to the Democratic National Committee.

Bruce Yee earned a bachelor’s degree in accounting in 1996 and an MBA in 1998 from Oklahoma State University. He has worked for ExxonMobil for 11 years. He currently serves as supervisor of IT projects business analysis & reporting for ExxonMobil Global Business Services, where he supervises a staff of analysts who are responsible for accounting and reporting for IT projects.

In addition to his current role at ExxonMobil, Yee has served as financial advisor for Upstream Financial Coordination, U.S. joint interest operations support supervisor for Americas Production Controller’s, financial reporting analyst for ExxonMobil Development Company, and internal auditor for Upstream Audit, where he traveled extensively around the world to locations such as Yemen, Turkmenistan and Azerbaijan.

At ExxonMobil, Yee currently serves as team captain for the OSU Financial Recruiting Team. Yee and his wife, Lara, live in Houston. In his spare time, Yee volunteers at a number of United Way agencies in Houston.

Mita Young has worked extensively with ExxonMobil Global Services Company and is currently employed at Horizon Wind Energy. As an asset manager with Horizon, she is the commercial contact for seven wind farm facilities resolving various operational agreement issues and ensuring a variety of requirements are met.

Young graduated from Oklahoma State University in 2002 with a bachelor’s degree in management information systems and received a master’s degree in management information systems from University of St. Thomas in 2004. In 2007, Young earned her master’s in business administration from the University of Texas.

Young currently resides in Houston. In her spare time, she enjoys scuba diving, running and traveling.