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OBU—Oklahoma Baptist University

Dr. Ed Minars, Ex '49

August 15, 2012

Editor's Note: Oklahoma Baptist University alum Ed Minars, a 1949 graduate, is a 2011 recipient of the OBU Alumni Association's Profile In Excellence Award. The award is given to a former student who has "demonstrated recognizable accomplishment in his or her profession, business, avocation, or life service in such a way as to bring pride and honor to the University." Each year, Profile In Excellence recipients are featured in OBU Magazine.

July 2011 marked the 63rd anniversary of the relationship Dr. Edward J. Minars has cultivated with OBU. Through the years, Ed Minars, ex '49, has experienced OBU as a student, a staff member of the maintenance department and a member of the Board of Trustees. He has been a 26-year charter member of the National Board of Development, co-chairman of two capital fund campaigns and an annual financial supporter on the President's Council. He served as an instructor for the Ministry Training Institute, a lecturer in psychology and as the university counselor.

"These past 63 years have been happy years of experiencing and sharing the Bison spirit with whomever I meet," Minars said. "This relationship has spanned nearly two-thirds of the history of OBU, providing opportunities to know many of the great professors and administrators of the University."

Minars has shared a personal relationship with 14 of the 22 presidents or interim presidents who have served OBU during its 101-year history. Of the 150 faculty and staff members who have served 20 years or more at OBU, he has known 119 of them as his teacher or as a colleague.

A native Missourian, Minars earned his bachelor's degree at Oklahoma State University, his master's degree at Fort Hays State University and his doctorate at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. His love for his alma mater is shared by his daughter

Chelan Minars, '78, her husband Stephen Dras, '77, and their daughter, Lyndsey, '08; and his daughter Dena Minars Studstill, '81, her husband, Tim Studstill, '80, their son, Jonathan, '11, and their daughter, Julie, a member of the Class of 2015.

Click the following link to view a full list of previous Profile in Excellence recipients.