Malaysian 24 Seasons Drum

The Malaysian 24 Seasons Drum (M24D) uses 24 sets of Chinese lion drums and drummers to create a percussion ensemble that plays a Malaysian-Chinese style music. Established in 2003, the group of OSU students was recognized as the first and only festive drum team in the United States.

The ensemble performs at OSU’s homecoming and at sporting events, including a performance during a 2010 NBA halftime show. Their performance in the professional sports arena earned them international acclaim from Asia Week Magazine. M24D also performed at the Midwest Olympics hosted by the U.S. Malaysia Higher Education Department at Southern Illinois University.

Sponsored by Lee Bird and the Office of International Students Scholars, two drummers attended the second annual International Invitation of 24 Festive Drum held on Sept. 15, 2012, in Johor Bahru, Malaysia, the birthplace of the festive drum.

Brian “Bru” Brurud

Brian "Bru" Brurud (’84 geology) is the president and founder of Check-6, Inc., with headquarters in Houston and Jenks, Okla. The company is composed of former fighter pilots, TOPGUN instructors and special operatives. Creating leadership, safety and simulation programs for companies including BP and Chesapeake, Brurud and his employees use their vast experience to ensure predictable outcomes for high-risk, high-reliability industries, which help companies to manage risk, spare resources and save lives. Brurud is an expert in developing effective and efficient solutions for use in dangerous environments.

The Bartlesville, Okla., native is the most decorated Navy fighter pilot since the Vietnam War, completing 436 carrier landings, 99 combat missions, 17 surface-to-air missile attacks and one aircraft ejection. Following his retirement from the Navy, Brurud served as a Lieutenant Colonel for the Air National Guard and also flew for FedEx. He is a geologist by training and worked for Schlumberger for several years following graduation from OSU.

T. Boone Pickens

Oklahoma State graduate, energy entrepreneur and national statesman on energy policy T. Boone Pickens views America’s dependence on OPEC oil as the greatest threat to the country’s national security and economic prosperity.

In developing The Pickens Plan for America’s energy future, he presents a case for transitioning away from OPEC oil to domestic alternatives, especially natural gas as a transportation fuel for heavy trucks. Pickens’ well-honed messages and old-fashioned barnstorming have resonated with Americans. He has also tapped the power of social media, drawing rapper Drake into the energy discussion via Twitter (@BoonePickens).

Pickens grew from humble beginnings in Depression-era Holdenville, Okla., to be one of the nation’s most successful oil and gas executives and entrepreneurs. Coined the "Oracle of Oil," he has been uncannily accurate in predicting oil and gas prices and established a successful energy-oriented investment fund called BP Capital.

Pickens is also a generous philanthropist who has donated nearly$1 billion to charity, with more than half going to his alma mater, OSU.

Follow Pickens http://twitter.com/boonepickens

Kathleen Robinette

Kathleen Robinette planned, organized, negotiated and directed the first successful 3-D whole body human measurement survey (CAESAR), receiving Good Housekeeping’s Women-in-Government award and being featured by the Washington Post.

Prior to coming to OSU as the department head for Design, Housing and Merchandising in October, Robinette spent 30 years working for the Air Force Research Lab, where she led research in 3-D automated scanning and modeling for product design and evaluation.

Robinette is co-founder and president of the World Engineering Anthropometry Resource (WEAR) Association, a Paris-based nonprofit organization that is developing an engineering anthropometric resource, which collects human body measurements for use in product, clothing, footwear, headgear and furniture design.

She is a fellow of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society and the Air Force Research Laboratory and serves on the National Academies Board on Research Data and Information.

Rand Elliott 

Rand Elliott (’73 architectural studies) started Elliott + Associates Architects three years after graduating from Oklahoma State University with a bachelor’s degree in architecture. Using a poetic approach called "word paintings," Elliott communicates his vision with clients and incorporates the history of each space into his buildings.

Under Elliott’s direction, the Oklahoma City firm’s unique method has won widespread acclaim with 10 National Honor Awards from the American Institute of Architects, making Elliott + Associates the only firm in the state to receive that distinction.

Elliott’s portfolio includes more than 250 additional awards for architecture, interiors, lighting and graphic design in buildings around the world. Elliott was named a 2010 OSU Distinguished Alumni for his accomplishments.

AJ Johannes

OSU Professor AJ Johannes hopes his invention, a waterless sanitation device, will benefit as many as 2.5 billion people worldwide who do not have access to modern plumbing. Created on OSU’s campus with fellow professor Gary Foutch, the device will reduce groundwater contamination and the spread of related diseases.

The project was featured at the Reinvent the Toilet Fair, hosted by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, which funded the professors’ research.

Johannes is a professor of chemical engineering at Oklahoma State and focuses his research on mathematical modeling in areas including combustion, reactor design and low-temperature plasmas. His articles have been published and presented around the world.

Mary Larson

OSU Professor Mary Larson creates oral histories of events by using interviews to capture stories of Oklahoma’s past, including the 1957 anthrax outbreak and OSU’s educational outreach to Ethiopia during the 1960s. She recently worked on two grants with the Cherokee Nation and has an ongoing project with ethnic enclaves in Oklahoma.

Larson took the position as the professor and head of the Oklahoma Oral History Research Program (OOHRP) in 2009. With more than 20 years of experience conducting oral histories, Larson currently serves as president of the national Oral History Association.

In addition to her role with the OOHRP, Larson serves as the Doris Neustadt Professor of Library Services. She has master’s and doctorate degrees in anthropology with a specialization in ethnohistory, both from Brown University. Larson’s previous experience with land-grant universities includes the University of Alaska, Fairbanks and the University of Nevada, Reno.

Jim Bose

OSU Professor Jim Bose conserves energy using a method from the late 1800s that harvests heat from the soil using a device called a ground-source heat pump. Bose first used the geoexchange as a solution to a job he was working on in Oklahoma City.

With the price of fossil fuels rising, Bose is dedicated to implementing the ground-source heat pump throughout the state and nation. His research shows a heat pump can cut an Oklahoman’s utility bill in half despite the increased cost of installation. The pumps also provide thousands of valuable jobs to the state through sales, manufacturing and installation of parts.

Bose received his bachelor’s degree in 1960, master’s degree in 1962, and doctorate degree in 1966, all of which were in mechanical engineering from Oklahoma State University. He is a professor, the director of Engineering Technology and the department head of Mechanical Engineering Technology. He also serves as the executive director of the International Ground Source Heat Pump Association.

Melanie Page

Psychology Professor Melanie Page is leading Oklahoma State to foster a creative culture through an ecovillage planning process to generate a development plan for a cutting-edge "sustainable living learning community." With a focus on food, energy and water, the stakeholder group is designing ecovillage housing capable of generating revenue by producing its own food, energy and green products and services.

Since graduating with her Ph.D. in quantitative psychology from Arizona State University in 1998, Page has received more than $3 million in state and federal grants. Her primary research areas include a statewide project to prevent childhood obesity and investigations of interest in math and science as well as women’s career progression.

Page also serves as the director for the OSU Institute for Creativity and Innovation. She is a Riata Faculty Fellow for the School of Entrepreneurship and was invited to attend the American Psychological Association’s Women in Leadership program.

Bob Sternberg

Oklahoma State Provost Bob Sternberg developed the Sternberg Test of Mental Ability (STOMA) as a seventh-grade science project after performing poorly on IQ tests in elementary school. His early experience with standardized testing convinced him that the format was not an accurate measure of knowledge. The resulting career path led him to become president of the American Psychological Association and the Federation of Associations in Behavioral and Brain Sciences. Sternberg was named one of the top 100 psychologists of the 20th century.

With a bachelor’s degree from Yale, a doctoral degree from Stanford, and 13 honorary doctorates, Sternberg has published more than 1,400 articles, chapters and books. His primary areas of research include intelligence, creativity, wisdom, leadership, thinking styles, love and hate.

In 2010, Sternberg became OSU’s provost and senior vice president, overseeing all academic programs on campus, and serves as Regents Professor of Psychology and Education as well as Kaiser Family Foundation Chair in Ethical Leadership.

AC/VP

For the past 10 years, the band AC/VP has reinforced veterinary pathology lecture concepts by rewriting lyrics from classic and contemporary rock ‘n’ roll songs, including Creedence Clearwater Revival’s "Proud Mary," Bad Company’s "Feel Like Makin’ Love" and Lynyrd Skynyrd’s "Free Bird."

With the exception of guitarist Roger Cowan, the entire band is composed of OSU faculty, including Jerry Ritchey, guitar and vocals; Tony Confer, guitar; Tim Snider, bassist; Ed Harris, drummer; Robin Allison, back-up vocals; and Melanie Breshears, back-up vocals.

AC/VP, whose name pays homage to the American College of Veterinary Pathologists, uses entertaining and educational lyrics as an innovative teaching method. Students responded so well to the approach that the group began performing an annual concert on campus eight years ago.

The band typically plays in lecture halls and other university venues, but they traveled once to play a concert at the veterinary college at Kansas State University.

Piyush Patel 

Piyush Patel (’98 elementary education) founded and runs a company that generates virtual training programs for creative professionals who produce films, video games, commercials and other projects. Located in Oklahoma City, PL Studios Inc., along with the Digital-Tutors division, works with clients including Nike, Dreamworks, Pixar, EA Sports and Mercedes-Benz.

In 2010, the company was recognized as an official honoree of the broadband category at the 14th annual Webby Awards and was listed as one of the 50 Most Usable Rich Internet Applications of the year by the 2009 O’Reilly’s Inside RIA.

Patel is an advisory board member for the Oklahoma Technology Council, a member of the AIGA Oklahoma board of directors, a member of the Oklahoma State Chamber board of directors and the former president for the Oklahoma Chapter of Entrepreneurs Organization. He was a tenured professor at Northern Oklahoma College before founding PL Studios, Inc.

Alyssa Peterson  

Alyssa Peterson (’11 biological sciences) co-founded an after-school program in South Africa called Ubuntu Youth.

Peterson also spent 18 months in KwaZulu-Natal setting up Thanda, which means "love" in Zulu, before grants and skilled local staff enabled the program to be self-sustained. After the program’s success, Peterson started Ubuntu Youth, which is designed to educate and prepare teenagers and young entrepreneurs for a better future.

Peterson currently serves as the executive director for Ubuntu Youth from South Africa. She volunteers 40-60 hours a week to ensure the program can provide the services needed to help the people of South Africa.

Peterson received the 2010 Social Entrepreneur of the Year Award and the 2011 Women for OSU Student Philanthropist of the Year award during her time at Oklahoma State.

Michael Larrañaga

As a well-respected fire safety professional, Michael Larrañaga (’96 fire protection and safety) has years of experience with events that change people’s lives. His most recently published works address high-impact events including the 2010 BP oil release, critical infrastructure protection, and crowd panic incidents.

In 2007 at the age of 34, Larrañaga became the head of the OSU Fire Protection and Safety Technology (FPST) program and now serves as the director for the Boots & Coots Center for Fire Safety & Pressure Control.

After graduating from OSU, Larrañaga earned master’s degrees from the University of Houston-Clear Lake and U.S. Naval Postgraduate School. He earned a doctorate in industrial engineering from Texas Tech.

Larrañaga is an appointed member of the Board of Scientific Counselors for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention-National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health and is a director of the American Board of Industrial Hygiene.

Michael Davis

Michael Davis is a licensed veterinarian and Oxley Equine Sports Medicine Endowed Professor at the Center for Veterinary Health Sciences, where he is the director of the Comparative Exercise Physiology Lab at Oklahoma State. His research program has received more than $8 million to study exercise in animals, ranging from racing sled dogs at the Iditarod to military explosive detection dogs deployed to current areas of conflict.

Davis was recognized as the Sigma Xi Young Investigator at OSU in 2004, the Oscar Schalm Endowed Lecturer at the University of California-Davis in 2005 and was awarded the Pfizer Award for Research Excellence in 2005 and the Regents Distinguished Research award from Oklahoma State University in 2008. He received the first ACVIM Hero in Medicine award in 2009 for his work benefiting animal athletes.

Victoria O'Keefe

As an OSU clinical psychology doctoral student, Victoria O’Keefe researches risk and protective factors for American Indian/Alaska Native suicide. One of O’Keefe’s published journal articles reports that it was the first study of its kind relating positive psychology to suicide resilience with American Indian college students.

O’Keefe was awarded a Ford Foundation Predoctoral Fellowship that provides her with a $20,000 stipend to be used for up to three years of research. Out of 1,300 applicants, she was selected as one of 60 to receive the fellowship that allows her to continue her studies.

Now in her second year at Oklahoma State, O’Keefe is an enrolled member of the Cherokee Nation, and is also of Seminole descent. She’s originally from Mayfield Heights, Ohio, and received her bachelor of science degree in psychology from John Carroll University in Ohio.

Andrew Gray

Strategic communications junior Andrew Gray was so intrigued about global education that he launched a local chapter of a national organization that builds schools and provides curriculum to impoverished corners of the world. He was only a freshman at OSU when he established Stillwater’s chapter of Pencils of Promise (PoP).

He joined PoP’s mission by starting a $25,000 fundraising campaign to build a school in Ghana, and the local organization’s outreach projects are growing each year. The OSU PoP group works with area students, teaching them how to read, and gives back to Stillwater schools by volunteering at events such as Highland Park Elementary School’s end-of-year carnival.

Gray is in his second year as a Campus Engagement Intern for PoP, serves as a President’s Leadership Council facilitator and works as a LASSO student academic mentor. He was recognized by the national Pencils of Promise organization as the PoP Star of the Month, and he recently received OSU’s Nathan Zane Fleming Emerging Leader Award.

Ann Hargis

First Lady Ann Hargis is active as a primary leader in Oklahoma State’s goal to become America’s Healthiest Campus. She is a certified Samatva yoga instructor, serves on wellness committees and sets an example for the campus community on living healthier lifestyles.

Hargis serves on the board for the Friends of the Library and Friends of Music along with the Women for OSU Leadership Philanthropy Council and the Lahoma Club, a group designed to provide scholarships and encourage interaction between the women of OSU and students.

Hargis is a leader throughout the Stillwater community and the state of Oklahoma. In the city of Stillwater, she serves as a board member for the Stillwater Public Education Foundation, the Oklahoma WONDERtorium and has a long history serving the Payne County Youth Services. In the state of Oklahoma, she serves on the advisory board of Leadership Oklahoma and the Oklahoma Arts Council.

Jayson Lusk

OSU Professor Jayson Lusk researches many aspects of the economics of food health, safety and quality. Some of his most recent work relies on using fMRI to study consumers’ brain patterns as they decide what they are willing to pay for.

Lusk’s findings add to his voluminous work on consumer preferences for economic and policy impacts of many issues including cage-free eggs, milk and meat from cloned animals, and genetically modified foods. As a result of his studies, he has received the Regents Distinguished Research Award and the Sarkeys Distinguished Professor Award from the Division of Agricultural Science and Natural Resources, both from OSU.

Lusk has served the Department of Agricultural Economics at Oklahoma State as the Willard Sparks Endowed Chair since 2005. He earned his bachelor’s degree in food technology from Texas Tech University and his doctorate degree in agricultural economics from Kansas State University.

Brett Carver

OSU Professor Brett Carver developed a wheat breeding procedure that improves the performance of the plant at multiple stages in its growth, enhancing the quality of the crop in the southern Great Plains. The genetic technique is known as GrazenGrain and is one of the many accomplishments of Carver’s research.

Throughout the past 10 years, Carver and his Wheat Improvement Team have created 15 types of wheat that have been commercially produced, with the cultivar Duster leading Oklahoma’s market in seed sales and production. Carver has documented his research in more than 100 journal articles, chapters and books, including a wheat research reference book for graduate students.

Carver is a Regents Professor of Wheat Breeding and Genetics and holds the Wheat Genetics Chair in Agriculture. He has a bachelor’s degree in agronomy from the University of Georgia, a master’s degree in crop science specializing in physiology and a doctorate degree in crop science specializing in breeding and statistics, both from North Carolina State University.

Jamey Jacob

OSU Professor Jamey Jacob is part of the OSU UAS team that designs and develops innovative unmanned aircraft systems (UAS), the fastest-growing area of today’s aviation industry. The success of Oklahoma’s UAS research, including Jacob’s and other OSU faculty such as Andy Arena and Rick Gaeta, was key to the Department of Homeland Security’s decision to select Oklahoma as the test site for its Robotic Aircraft for Public Safety (RAPS) program in June 2012, which is estimated to bring in id=mce_marker.4 million in economic development during its first year throughout the state.

Jacob is a native Oklahoman. He earned his bachelor’s degree in aerospace engineering from the University of Oklahoma and then went on to the University of California, Berkeley to receive his master’s and doctorate degrees in mechanical engineering.

Jacob is the Ray and Linda Booker Professor in Aerospace Engineering for the School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering.

Frontiers New Music Ensemble

Frontiers New Music Ensemble is a student group dedicated to exploring music by composers from the 20th and 21st centuries. Led by Assistant Professor of Music Michael Kirkendoll, the ensemble is composed of 22 students all majoring in some form of music.

Today’s performance is a 1972 piece composed by Steve Reich, titled "Clapping Music" – a revolutionary work demonstrating the minimalist style by using only hand claps. The ensemble is also preparing works of John Cage for a concert Nov. 19 in celebration of his 100th birthday.

The group performs at least three major concerts each year, as well as a concert of contemporary small ensemble pieces. The Frontiers New Music Ensemble will also host the second annual OSU Festival of Contemporary Music in February 2013.