Three Dickinson College Alumni to Speak at OBU Business Forum Friday, March 8

March 4, 2019

The Paul Dickinson College of Business at OBU will host its next Business Forum Friday, March 8. The event will take place at 10 a.m. in the Tulsa Royalties Auditorium in Bailey Business Center on the OBU campus in Shawnee.

The forum will feature a panel of three OBU alumni. They will share their professional experiences since graduating from the university and will share advice with students about what they need to be doing in order to succeed in their careers. The alumni panelists include Nate Geist, Brad Johnson and Doug Ledbetter.

Geist graduated from OBU in 2005 with degrees in accounting and finance. He spent 10 years as a CPA in Oklahoma City before joining Edward Jones in 2015. He now has an Edward Jones office in the Quail Springs area of northwest Oklahoma City. He helps families invest their savings so they may get to and enjoy retirement.

Johnson graduated from OBU in 2005 with a degree in accounting and a minor in mathematics. He joined Finley and Cook’s audit practice following graduation. In 2009, he began working at the Baptist Foundation of Oklahoma where he served as vice president and controller, for eight years. In 2018, he was promoted to senior vice president and CFO. The Baptist Foundation of Oklahoma helps families with estate plans, funds church building loans and manages nearly half a billion dollars for many Baptist entities in Oklahoma, around the country, and even internationally. The Foundation’s largest client is OBU, as the Foundation manages the majority of the university’s endowment, providing scholarship money to OBU for allocation to students.

Ledbetter graduated from OBU in 2005 with degrees in accounting and finance. He joined Ernst and Young’s Oklahoma City audit practice upon graduation. In 2010, he transferred to the company’s Wichita office where he was promoted to partner in 2017. In Wichita, he works with several public and private companies in the aerospace, commodities and manufacturing sectors.

Dr. David Houghton, dean of the Paul Dickinson College of Business at OBU, is excited for current students to learn valuable lessons from these successful alumni.

“It’s always encouraging to see our alumni wanting to support our current students,” he said. “The collective wisdom of our panelists is helpful to our students and their career preparation. Their insights into the finance field and into business practice in general will be extremely valuable.”