Nov 1, 2014

Rod Whitson is what many would consider a "self-made man" with a great deal of help from the Spears School of Business. Growing up in Miami, Okla., his parents taught him the value of a good work ethic.

Nov 1, 2014

Bob Sandmeyer was raised in Kansas but instead of growing up rooting for Phog Allen's KU Jayhawks basketball team he was a fan of Henry Iba's Oklahoma A&M Aggies. Bob Kurland was his hero.

Nov 1, 2014

Liz Norris McKinley has come a long way since graduating from Oklahoma State University's business school. The Stillwater, Okla., native earned a business degree in 1981 with a double major in marketing and management.

Nov 1, 2014

Ken Seaman, assistant controller at ConocoPhillips, grew up in the small town of Yukon, Okla. It was not evident at the time but Seaman's career was going to take him on a journey around the world.

Nov 1, 2014

Karen Walters Chapel is the Senior Director over Global Finance at CBRE, the world's largest commercial real estate services firm. She has spent her entire career in accounting/financial management and commercial real estate.

Nov 1, 2014

John M. Yeaman has spent his life seeking challenges. A native of Ponca City, Okla., and one of five boys, Yeaman followed his two older brothers to Stillwater to take on the challenges of Oklahoma State University.

Nov 1, 2014

Thomas F. Riley Jr. was born in Chelsea, Mass., to Thomas F. and Evelyn Coughlan Riley. He was offered a scholarship to play football for the University of Tulsa after graduating from Bryan Adams High School in Dallas, Texas.

Nov 1, 2014

Richard (Dick) W. Poole's meteoric rise from instructor of economics to dean of what was then known as the College of Business Administration coincided with the college's growth and expansion. But there was nothing coincidental about it.

Nov 1, 2014

Oklahoma State University was always on Preston Nicholson's radar with his hometown of Hominy, Okla., being within 55 miles of the Stillwater campus. Attending Camp Cowboy just before his freshman year confirmed that he had made the right choice.

Nov 1, 2014

Patricia Anne Tilford has a strong bond with Oklahoma State University. The Tulsa, Okla., native earned her bachelor's degree in secretarial administration in 1960 and her master's in business education in 1978 from OSU's business school.

Nov 1, 2014

Mike Pregler graduated from Oklahoma State University's business school with a bachelor's degree in accounting in 1975. The Tulsa, Okla. native was involved in the Army ROTC two-year program and OSU athletic intramurals during his college days.

Nov 1, 2014

Mae Badiyan's roles as an entrepreneur, lawyer, stylist and consultant are impressive enough. But add her love for her family, Stillwater roots, and the community she grew up in and she makes for one perfect ambassador for Oklahoma State University.