Green and Jones Installed to Academic Positions During OBU Convocation

September 1, 2016

Dr. Daryl Green and Dr. Galen Jones were installed to academic positions during Oklahoma Baptist University's annual Convocation service Aug. 31.

Endowed chairs and professorships are awarded to select professors who are outstanding teachers and who have demonstrated exceptional ability in their academic disciplines. The gift, which provides an endowed academic position, is invested in the University's permanent endowment fund, and the annual earnings are used to assist with compensation.

In each installation, Dr. Stan Norman, provost and executive vice president for campus life, presented the recipients with a certificate in recognition of exemplary scholarship and excellence in teaching. OBU President Dr. David W. Whitlock presented the recipients with the medallions representing the chairs and professorships.

Dr. Daryl Green, assistant professor of business, is the third recipient of the Dickinson Chair of Business. He received his Bachelor of Science in mechanical engineering from Southern University, master’s degree in organizational management from Tusculum College, and a doctorate in strategic leadership from Regent University.

Before joining OBU, Green worked for the U.S. Department of Energy’s Environmental Management Program for more than 27 years. In this role, he managed more than 400 projects with an estimated budget of $100 million. He was an active member of Payne Avenue Missionary Baptist Church in Knoxville, Tennessee, serving as an ordained deacon, Bible lecturer and youth advisor.

Once a talk show host, he has contributed also to the scholarly research in his discipline through books and articles published in noted academic journals. Additionally, he is a member of editorial boards in several academic journals including “Strategic Leadership Review” and “Management and Economics Research Journal.” His “Family Vision” column, syndicated through the National Newspaper Publishers Association, reached more than 200 newspapers including USA Today and Associated Press, reaching more than 15 million readers.

He met his wife, Estraletta, at Southern University, where they were both studied engineering. Married for 27 years, they are proud parents to three children, Mario, Sharlita and Demetrius.

Paul Dickinson established the Dickinson Chair of Business in 1987. He was the founder and executive officer of an Ardmore-based wholesale automotive parts business. In 1988, just three years before his death, he was awarded an honorary Doctor of Laws degree by OBU. For his strong and faithful support of many academic areas at the University, including religion and business, the College of Business was named in his honor. The faculty member who holds the Dickinson Chair of Business will teach business courses and provide instruction to students in the concepts of free enterprise and the application of Christian ethics to business.

Dr. Galen Jones, assistant professor of church planting, is the inaugural recipient of the Floyd K. Clark Chair of Christian Leadership. Jones holds degrees from the University of Cincinnati and the Beacon Institute of Ministry in Columbus, Georgia. He received both the Master of Christian Education and Doctor of Philosophy in Christian leadership from The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky.

Prior to joining the faculty, he served as the church planting coordinator for the Georgia Baptist Convention. In his 25 years of ministry, he has served Christ in a variety of roles including senior pastor, missionary, and church planter, as well as staff roles at churches and para-church ministries.

A native of St. Louis and veteran of the U. S. Army, he has been married to the former Cathy Renee Thomas for 28 years.

OBU Alumnus Al Clark gifted resources for an endowed academic position in honor of his father, Floyd K. Clark. The gift, which established the Floyd K. Clark Chair of Christian Leadership, recognizes Floyd Clark’s commitment to providing educational opportunities through OBU to his sons and to the undertaking of Baptist higher education.

A native of Pittsburg County, Oklahoma, Floyd Clark’s formative years were during the Great Depression of the 1930’s. In 1942, he joined the U.S. Army, serving as the supply sergeant in an ammunition company, participating in the Normandy Invasion and the occupation Army in France. Later, he served in Korea with the Oklahoma National Guard’s 45th Infantry Division. In 1958, the family moved to Midwest City, Oklahoma, where he went to work at Tinker Air Force Base until retirement in 1974.

In 1946, he married Edriss Dutton in the First Baptist Church of McAlester. They were married 63 years until her death in 2009. Floyd and his wife had three sons, Al, Joey, and Del, and all three sons attended OBU.