Alumni Spotlight

Tara Connor stood at the front of the room, presenting to dozens of communications students ready to network in hopes of finding a potential internship or job. Connor was the keynote speaker at this year’s Communications Networking Event on March 7. The event was hosted by Oklahoma State University’s School of Media and Strategic Communications. Connor, an OSU alumna, remembers the nervousness she had experienced when she was a student at the Communications Networking Event.

 The Oklahoma State University Alumni Association is installing four new members into the prestigious OSU Hall of Fame.

Sarah Coburn, a native of Tulsa, Oklahoma, will be inducted at a ceremony Friday, February 9, at the ConocoPhillips OSU Alumni Center.

Oklahoma native Tom Daxon earned a B.A. degree in economics in 1970 and a M.S. degree in geography in 1978 from OSU. Daxon also earned his C.P.A. certificate between the two degrees. With these tools, Daxon became a nationally recognized expert in state and local government finance.

The youngest of 13 children from a farm in Oklahoma, Anita Hill received her juris doctor degree from Yale Law School in 1980. She began her career at a private law practice in Washington, D.C. There she also worked at the U.S. Education Department and Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. In 1989, Hill became the first African American to be tenured at the University of Oklahoma, College of Law, where she taught contracts and commercial law. Currently, at Brandeis University, she teaches courses on gender, race, social policy and legal history. As counsel to Cohen Milstein, she advises on class action workplace discrimination cases. 

Gaute Vik graduated as candidatus realium in applied mathematics from University of Bergen, Norway, in 1978. He was employed by the Norwegian Defense Research Establishment, providing studies as basis for the Norwegian Parliament to decide on Defense Structure and long-term budgets. In 1982, he was awarded a fellowship from the Norwegian Government to study at OSU. Dr. Vik Graduated in 1984 with a Ph.D in Statistics. He was inducted to the National dean’s list.

2017 Oklahoma State University graduate Corinne Simpson is a Seattle Seahawk media relations/ Communications intern.

School of Media & Strategic Communications alumnae Dani Welniak talks about living her dream as a sports reporter, and offers advice to those who think they would like to do something similar.  

Originally from Tulsa, Jenks High School, Lauren Foley’s first visit to Oklahoma State University immediately attracted her to the college. “As soon as I came on campus for the first time, the very first person I saw said it was “Hello! How are you? It was the family atmosphere that I found here,” she recalled. Lauren had toured other universities, but as soon as she came here, she noticed immediately how friendly and inviting everyone was. “It was that feeling of Cowboy Family that I loved. They were very quick to show me all the opportunities I would have if I did go here.”

An OSU alumna and granddaughter of a former university President has been honored with one of Pi Beta Phi's highest awards.

Lela Bennett Sullivan (B.S. Political Science '67) has received Pi Beta Phi^® Fraternity for Women’s prestigious Carolyn Helman Lichtenberg Crest Award in honor of her community service. Lela has provided a lifetime of service to the Oklahoma City community, including chairing the YWCA Oklahoma City’s $15 million campaign to provide a new shelter for victims of domestic violence and sexual assault.