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OFE News Release

Oklahoma Foundation for Excellence Announces New Board Members

September 10, 2008
OKLAHOMA CITY -- The Oklahoma Foundation for Excellence has announced the addition of three new members to its Board of Trustees.

Appointed to serve three-year terms are Jennifer Dickey, an educational consultant/diagnostician and former teacher from WEATHERFORD; Joseph Harroz Jr., president and chief operating officer of Graymark Healthcare Inc. based in OKLAHOMA CITY; and Peter Regan, chairman and attorney with Devonshire Investments LLC of TULSA.

Newly appointed trustees to the Oklahoma Foundation for Excellence (from left) Joe Harroz Jr. of Norman, Jennifer Dickey of Weatherford and Peter J. Regan of Tulsa are introduced at the foundation’s annual meeting.

“We are delighted to welcome these three outstanding young leaders to our Board of Trustees,” said Oklahoma Foundation for Excellence founder and chairman David L. Boren. “They each bring tremendous talents and a strong commitment to quality public education in Oklahoma, and we look forward to the many contributions they will bring to our foundation.”

The Oklahoma Foundation for Excellence is a non-profit, charitable organization founded by then-U.S. Sen. Boren in 1985 to recognize and encourage academic excellence in Oklahoma’s public schools. Through its Academic Awards Program, the foundation provides $260,000 in scholarships and cash awards annually to honor outstanding high school seniors as Academic All-Staters and exceptional educators as Medal for Excellence winners. Through its Local Education Foundation Outreach Program, the foundation provides free technical support and training to local education foundations across the state and sponsors the annual Fall Forum for Local Education Foundations, Oklahoma’s premiere training and networking event for education foundation volunteers, educators and public school supporters.

Among its other initiatives, the Oklahoma Foundation for Excellence coordinates a program to send Oklahoma teachers to the Colonial Williamsburg Teacher Institute each summer and provides subscriptions for schools to receive Colonial Williamsburg Electronic Field Trips. The award-winning field trips help students to experience 18th-century colonial life through live television broadcasts, Web site activities and toll-free access to Williamsburg historians.

In 2005, the foundation launched the David and Molly Boren Mentoring Initiative to promote the growth and establishment of school-based mentoring programs throughout Oklahoma. The Foundation also administers Professional Development Grants for Teachers to attend national conferences and institutes and, in 2006, partnered with the national Fund for Teachers and the Tulsa Community Foundation to provide grants of up to $5,000 for individuals and $10,000 for teams of teachers for self-designed summer professional development opportunities in locations around the world. Thanks to generous bridge funding from the national Fund for Teachers, 363 Oklahoma educators have received grants totaling $1.1 million in the past three years.

(EDITORS: New trustees are listed below by hometown.)

NORMAN – A Norman resident, Joseph Harroz Jr. was recently named president and chief operating officer of Graymark Healthcare Inc., an OKLAHOMA CITY-based healthcare company that owns and operates pharmacies in the central United States and sleep diagnostic centers across the country. Prior to joining Graymark, Harroz served from 1996 to 2008 as vice president of the University of Oklahoma and general counsel to the OU Board of Regents, which governs OU, Cameron University and Rogers State University. Harroz also served two years as vice president for Executive Affairs at OU and was an adjunct associate professor in the OU College of Law. Harroz has also been an attorney for Crowe and Dunlevy and served five years in Washington, D.C., as legislative director and legal counsel to then-Sen. David L. Boren. Harroz serves on the boards of directors of Valliance Bank and Waddell and Reed Mutual Funds’ Advisory Funds and Ivy Funds. He is chairman of the board of Ivy Mutual Funds.

OKLAHOMA CITY -- Joseph Harroz Jr. was recently named president and chief operating officer of Graymark Healthcare Inc. in Oklahoma City. See NORMAN.

WEATHERFORD – An independent educational consultant/diagnostician, Jennifer Dickey began her education career as a special education teacher and was later named a psychometrist and director of special programs in Weatherford Public Schools. As a consultant and diagnostician, she has worked with several small school districts and individuals. Dickey also assists with public relations for Southwest National Bank and is an assistant at Lockstone Funeral Home. Among her many community activities, Dickey serves as co-chair of the Ambassador Committee for the Weatherford Chamber of Commerce and serves on the Human Rights Committee of the Alan Markum Center, a workshop for adults with disabilities. A member of the Oklahoma Bankers Association, Dickey recently completed a four-year term as a board member for the Heartland of America Museum. She and her husband, Jeff Dickey, have three children.

TULSA – Pete Regan is principal of Devonshire Investments, LLC, and also is of counsel with the law firm of Riggs, Abney, Turpen, Lewis and Orbison. He has more than 15 years’ experience in business development and government relations, with prior service as an aide to former Gov. George Nigh and U.S. Sen. David L. Boren. He has served as director of the President’s Action Line at the University of Oklahoma and executive director of the Oklahoma Senate Democratic Caucus. He was founding principal of the Devonshire Institute, a successful government relations firm. He has served on several blue ribbon task forces in higher education and was appointed to the City of Tulsa’s Economic Development Commission and the University Hospitals Authority and Trust. Regan also served as chief of staff and legal counsel to U.S. Congressman Dan Boren. In addition, he is a member of the University of Tulsa Friends of Finance and serves as deputy director of the Nigh Leadership Academy. He resides in Tulsa with his wife, Amy, and son, Jack.