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Ken Brasfield Will Become the Seventeenth Member
of the Alumni Hall of Fame / Homecoming 2001 Events
(Press Release 10-30-01)
Office of Public Information
Hank Mooney

To Eastern Oklahoma State College students on the Wilburton campus today, Homecoming (November 3) will be among the days they will remember. These will be the times that will have them back for their ten, twenty or thirty year reunions at Eastern when their time rolls around--it'll seem like just yesterday to them too.

Saturday  will be the day for alums to join the activities and reunite with their classmates for a full day and evening of activities.

For one Eastern alum who will be returning for the Eastern Oklahoma State College Alumni Association Hall of Fame initiation, homecoming will bare a special meaning.

 Ken Brasfield has been named by the Eastern Alumni Association Board of Directors to take his place in the Alumni Hall of Fame during induction ceremonies at the annual Homecoming banquet.

 When Brasfield won the 1995 Jackson, TN, Man of the Year Award, his citation included statements from others that said when they needed something done, they knew they could turn to Brasfield to get it done. That's a commitment Brasfield and his construction company has cherished for more than 30 years; that's a commitment they continue to meet today.

 Brasfield graduated from Eastern in 1960. He was an outstanding student leader and baseball player while at Eastern and can be found throughout the college yearbook involved in a number of campus activities. He went to Oklahoma State University from Eastern where he continued to play baseball for OSU. His 1962 team was inducted into the OSU Hall of Fame.

 Brasfield compiled an outstanding record of corporate and community leadership in Jackson. He served as president of United Way, Chamber of Commerce, YMCA, Boy Scouts Council, American Cancer Society, Rotary and the Jackson Arts Council. He also served as Chairman of the Board of the Regional Hospital and helped found the Carl Perkins Center for the Prevention of Child Abuse.

 His ownership of Brasfield Construction began as a residential builder and moved into commercial work by the early 1980's. His management style features extraordinary attention to his customers and to quality. Brasfield uses a team-oriented approach to create a motivated and effective workforce which shares 40 percent of the profit. Brasfield Construction has received the Jackson Chamber of Commerce Cornerstone Award, the Chamber's highest award,  for their community service. The company does pro bono construction for many non-profit groups and returns 20 percent of company profits to the community.

 Alumni activities will begin early Saturday with a 9 a.m. Hilltopper Breakfast for retired faculty and staff followed by an Alumni Coffee and Registration in the Student Union Coffee Shop and an 11 a.m. General Alumni meeting.

 A free barbeque lunch will be available for everyone attending the activities from 11 a.m. until 1 p.m. with special recognition lunches in the East Cafeteria for Brasfield and friends.

 The Lady Mountaineers will begin their second home basketball game at 1:30 p.m. in the Field House followed by the men's game at 3:30 p.m..

 Brasfield will become the seventeenth member of the Eastern Oklahoma State College Alumni Hall of Fame when he is officially inducted during the Alumni Hall of Fame Homecoming Banquet slated for 6:30 p.m. as the highlight of Eastern's Homecoming day of activities.

 Theatre Eastern will hold their third production of Musical Comedy Murders of 1940 at 8:30 p.m. Saturday following the Hall of Fame Banquet for the community and alumni. The play was written by John Bishop and is directed by Ruth Askew Brelsford. A Homecoming dance will follow the play in the campus hang-out, Boonies, to complete the day of activities.

 The Alumni Association began the Hall of Fame 14 years ago with three distinguished alumni followed by two the next year. Since that time, the Association has added one distinguished alumni each year.

 The Hall of Fame began during the first meeting of the Alumni Association, Dec. 5, 1987, when the new organization directors were seeking a method to inspire current Eastern students and honor distinguished alumni. Recipients must have had a dynamic impact on education, the state or nation and attended Eastern to be considered for the Hall of Fame.

When Brasfield  is officially inducted into the Hall of Fame, he will join McAlester native George Nigh who served  in the Oklahoma House of Representatives, Lieutenant Governor, Governor and president of the University of Central Oklahoma.

He also joins Dr. E.T. Dunlap, who has been recognized nationally for his contribution to education and served as Eastern President and Chancellor of Oklahoma Higher Education; Scott Salmon, who was a nationally known choreographer; Rita Smith Kipp, class of 1966, who serves as professor of anthropology at Kenyon College, Gambier, Ohio, a widely published author and Wilburton native. He also joins J.D. Williams who was inducted while an attorney in Washington, D.C., and, among other things, served as Editor of the George Washington Law Review and Federal Bar Journal.

Billy West became the sixth Eastern alumni to be elected to the Hall of Fame. West served as a laboratory research scientist at the Centers for Disease Control, Atlanta. Sidney Carney, among other achievements, served as Bureau of Indian Affairs Area Director in Anadarko where he developed and supervised programs benefitting more than 40,000 Indians within a four state area.

Ross Harlan, Oklahoma City,  was added to the Hall of Fame in 1992. He served as Senior Vice President of Administration and Public Affairs before his retirement from OG&E.

"Pat" Murphy, Tulsa,  followed Harlan in 1993. He established the Frank W. Murphy MFR, an international company holding 15 United States and foreign patents in the area of instruments and control systems.

Sports journalist "Spec" Gammon was inducted in 1994. He served as sports information director at Texas A&M and became known as the radio voice of Texas A&M football. Don Parham became the eleventh member added to the Hall of Fame and began his academic career as an educator in southeast Oklahoma  more than 40 years ago. He is recognized not only as one who has experienced success in athletics but also as one whose life's work has stressed high academic standards.

Dr. Robert H. Purcell became the twelfth member. He is a research scientist and serves as the head of hepatitis viruses section, Laboratory of Infectious Diseases, at the National Institute of Health in Bethesda, Maryland.

Dr. Charles Montgomery serves as the Director of the Center for Comparative Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston Texas. He is recognized as an expert in comparative medicine throughout the world.

Dr. Henry Migliore, Jenks, was added as the 14th member of the Hall of Fame last year and is a university professor and consultant in strategic management. He has lectured in universities and consulted with organizations around the world.

James F. Howell became the 15th member of the Hall of Fame in 1999. He was admitted to practice law in Oklahoma in 1963 and since that time has been admitted to practice in the United States District Court of Oklahoma for the Western District; The United States District Court for the Eastern District of Oklahoma; The United States Court of Appeals, Tenth Circuit and The Supreme Court of  the United States of America. He was elected to the State Senate in 1970 and served until 1986.

 Guy L. Curry, class of 1961, became the 16th member of the Hall of Fame last year. Curry is a professor of industrial engineering at Texas A&M University. He has served as a consultant for a number of national and international firms. During his tenure at Texas A&M he has garnered funded research grants of more than $4 million, authored or coauthored three books and has 50 papers published in 31 refereed journals.

Ken Brasfield, left, from Jackson, TN, will become the 17th Eastern Oklahoma State College former student to be inducted into the Eastern Oklahoma State College Alumni Hall of Fame Saturday, November 3, during the annual Hall of Fame Banquet. Others inducted into the Hall of Fame before him include: from top left, Scott Salmon, George Nigh, Dr. E.T. Dunlap, J.D. Williams, Rita Smith Kipp. Second row, from left: Billy West, Sidney Carney, Ross Harlan, Pat Murphy, Spec Gammon. Third row, from left: Don Parham, Dr. Robert Purcell, Dr. Charles Montgomery, Dr. Henry Migliore, James Howell and Guy Curry.

Alumni information