Former University President To Be Inducted Into Alumni Hall Of Fame
(Press Release 10-23-07)
Hank Mooney, Office of Public Information

Eastern Oklahoma State College 2007 Homecoming will present a special day for Bill S. Cole who returns for honors during Homecoming activities this year at the Wilburton community college.

After dedicating his life to others, he has been named by the Eastern Alumni Association Board of Directors as the twenty-fourth inductee into the Eastern Alumni Hall of Fame and will take his place during ceremonies at the annual homecoming dinner Friday (November 2) night.

Cole was born in Stuart where he attended grade school. While in junior high, his parents moved to McAlester and he graduated from McAlester High School in 1955. He graduated from Eastern in 1957, East Central State College in 1959 with a BSEd, MNS in Natural Science from the University of Oklahoma in 1965 and a Doctorate in Education from Oklahoma State University in 1973.

He apprenticed as a barber under his father and employed his barbering skills to support himself and his growing family through school. He married his wife Sondra in 1957. The Coles were newlyweds while he was an undergraduate at East Central. He was later to return as chief executive officer of the university.

He began his educational career as a high school biology teacher at Putnam City Schools in Oklahoma City (1959-1964) followed by a science teaching position at Purcell public schools (1965-1967). He took a position at El Reno Junior College as a life sciences instructor and science department chairman (1967-1975), became assistant dean of instruction and 6 months later became president of El Reno Junior College, now known as Redlands Community College, in 1976.

Cole became president of East Central University, Ada, in 1989 where he remained until his retirement in 2006.

As president of East Central University, Cole led the university through the technology revolution, continuous improvements of campus facilities and the development of centers of academic excellence. He oversaw twenty-one construction, renovation or expansion projects, including a new library and university center; sixteen endowments of chairs, professorships and lectureships; over $100 million in grants; the growth of ECU Foundation Inc. from less than $2 million to more than $18 million in assets and ECU’s entry into NCAA Division II athletics.

Cole worked to develop centers of academic excellence, particularly in nursing, history, criminal justice and entrepreneurship. The criminal justice programs are taking on regional and national prominence by providing training for tribal law enforcement organizations. Significant external funding was secured in large part from federal grants.

Inducted into the Oklahoma Higher Education Hall of Fame in 1996, he has held numerous leadership positions, including two terms as chair of the Council of Presidents, an advisory council to the Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education and two terms as president of the Presidents’ Council for the Board of Regents of Oklahoma Colleges. His career in public education spans more than 46 years. He has served on numerous boards and has chaired the Ada Area Chamber of Commerce, the Tri-County Indians Nation Community Development Corporation and the East Central Oklahoma Building Authority and others. He and his wife have five sons and 11 grandchildren.

Cole joins McAlester native George Nigh who served in the Oklahoma House of Representatives, as Lieutenant Governor, Governor and president of the University of Central Oklahoma. He will also join Dr. E.T. Dunlap, who was 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 served as professor of anthropology at Kenyon College, Gambier, Ohio, a widely published author and Wilburton native.

Cole 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 benefiting 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. Dr. Henry Migliore, Jenks, was added as the fourteenth member of the Hall of Fame. He is a university professor and consultant in strategic management.

James F. Howell became the fifteenth member of the Hall of Fame in 1999. He was admitted to practice law in the Supreme Court of the United States of America.

Guy L. Curry, class of 1961, became the sixteenth member of the Hall of Fame. Curry is a professor of industrial engineering at Texas A&M University.

Ken Brasfield became the seventeenth member. He has compiled an outstanding record of corporate and community leadership in Jackson, Mississippi.

Dr. Sue Ellen Read was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2002. She was named the 2001 Professor of the Year by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching and the Council for Advancement and Support of Education.

Charles W. Davidson and John H. Hendrix became the nineteenth and twentieth members of the Hall of Fame. Although Davidson has lived in San Jose, CA, since May of 1952, he was born and raised in Pittsburg County near Bache and has never forgotten his roots that go deep in Oklahoma as Indian Territory. He attended East Central, Eastern (1950-51) and later received a degree in civil engineering from San Jose State University. Davidson has been a homebuilder and developer and currently owns several construction and property management companies. Hendrix has a myriad of life experiences beginning as a high school student cutting pulpwood and logs with hay cutting and bailing tossed in for good measure to Chairman and President of numerous educational and financial boards including his own company, the John H. Hendrix Corporation.

Ray Henson became the twenty-first member of the Hall of Fame. He now serves as Talihina Superintendent of Schools and as a nationally recognized school administrator.

The twenty-second member was Supreme Court Justice Tom Colbert. Colbert is a 1970 Eastern graduate and star-athlete. On Oct. 7, 2004, Colbert became the first African-American to be appointed to the Supreme Court of Oklahoma.

As a national figure with the Boy Scouts of America, Don R. Adkins was inducted last year into the Hall of Fame. He spent 39 years employed as a professional executive within the organization. Atkins retired in 1994, after spending his last 12 professional years as a member of the National Council Staff.