Three Accomplished Oklahoma City Public Schools Alumni to be Inducted into Wall of Fame

Oklahoma City – Sports, business and the arts will be well represented at this year’s Wall of Fame Humanitarian Awards Dinner as three outstanding Oklahoma City Public Schools’ alumni, Skip Bayless, L. Thomas Dulaney, Jr. and Carolyn Hill, are honored for their distinguished careers. Bayless, Dulaney and Hill will each be inducted into the Wall of Fame at The Foundation for Oklahoma City Public School’s annual dinner on October 23, 2008 at the Skirvin Hilton.

2008 Wall of Fame Honoree Skip Bayless

Bayless, an alumnus of Mayfair Elementary School, Taft Junior High and Northwest Classen High School, will be introduced at the ceremony by Craig Humphreys, WWLS Sports Animal host. "Skip Bayless has enjoyed a career unmatched by any sports-journalist in this country over the past thirty-plus years! From his feature stories for the Miami Herald and Los Angeles Times, to his columns in Dallas, Chicago, San Jose and ESPN. . .from his three best-selling books on the Dallas Cowboys to his daily televised debates on ESPN's 'Cold Pizza' or 'First Take,' Skip might offend or infuriate, or make you laugh or cry. But he will make you think," said Humphreys.

After 34 years in newspapers, magazines, radio and television, Bayless is amazed and honored he has been selected for the Wall of Fame recognizing outstanding alumni of Oklahoma City Public Schools. Bayless says: "Trust me, it wouldn't have happened if Liz Burdette (his sophomore year advanced English teacher) hadn't pushed me into writing and if Frank Boggs, the legendary Daily Oklahoman columnist, hadn't encouraged and recommended me (for Vanderbilt University’s Grantland Rice Scholarship)." Bayless went on to work at several of the nation’s top newspapers, including the Miami Herald, Los Angeles Times and Chicago Tribune. At the Dallas Morning News and Dallas Times Herald, Bayless won numerous awards, including Texas Sportswriter of the Year three times. He wrote three best-selling books, wrote for Sport and Sports Illustrated magazines, and worked in radio. Today, Bayless is a fixture of ESPN’s First Take’s First and 10 segments, one of ESPN’s greatest ratings successes.

2008 Wall of Fame Honoree L. Thomas Dulaney Jr.

Dulaney, an alumnus of Nichols Hills Elementary School, Harding Middle School and Classen High School, will be introduced at the ceremony by Lela Sullivan, 2003 Wall of Fame Honoree. "Tom represents a 'zest for life.' Loyalty to family, friends and the community perfectly describe Tom. His presence in a room not only brings smiles to faces, but brings goodness to all those present," said Sullivan.

L. Thomas Dulaney Jr.'s life is a study in citizenship. As chairman of Dulaney's, Inc., Dulaney steadily grew the business and founded its successful subsidiary, Best Video. Today he serves as general partner of the Luther T. Dulaney Company, which concerns itself with real estate and investments. As successful as he has been in his business, he has been equally successful in cultivating success in many cultural and service organizations that enrich the lives of our community. He was a founding member of the Pops Concert Series of the Oklahoma City Symphony as well as the Phaythopen Charity Auction to benefit the Oklahoma Arts and Science Foundation, the genesis of the Allied Arts Foundation. He is a past president of the Rotary Club of Oklahoma City and one of only 11 recipients in its 95 year history of the "Service Above Self" award in the Service Category. He and his brother Richard have also given generously to Nichols Hills Elementary.

2008 Wall of Fame Honoree Carolyn Hill

Hill, an alumnus of Culbertson Elementary School, Webster Middle School and Central High School, will be introduced by Frank Hill, a shareholder with the law firm of McAfee & Taft. "Through her passion for the arts, strong leadership and bold vision, Carolyn Hill transformed the Oklahoma City Museum of Art from a small museum at the fairgrounds into a vibrant and very important cultural component of our city and state. Equally adept at promoting Roman Art from the Louvre or NBA basketball, Carolyn has played a major role in our collective effort to elevate Oklahoma City to the next level. Carolyn is one of those very special people who will leave her indelible mark on the fabric of our community," said Hill.

Carolyn Hill, a native of Oklahoma City, has been President and Chief Executive Officer of the Oklahoma City Museum of Art since 1994. She received both her bachelor's and master’s degrees from the University of Oklahoma and completed post-graduate studies at The Juilliard School of Music, New York, and The Mozarteum, Salzburg, Austria, where she was awarded a diploma in conducting. During her tenure, the Oklahoma City Museum of Art has gained national recognition with the establishment of a film program, the Museum School, outstanding international exhibitions, and thirteen endowments valued at more than $22 million. She was instrumental in the Museum's successful $40 million Legacy Campaign to fund the Donald W. Reynolds Visual Arts Center, overseeing its design and construction, as well as its $3 million campaign to purchase Dale Chihuly: The Exhibition, the most comprehensive collection of Chihuly glass in the world.

The evening will include performances by the Northwest Classen High School's String Quartet directed by Sarah Chan and Belle Isle Enterprise Middle School’s Eighth Grade Show Choir directed by Ava Bruner. Presentation of colors by the U.S. Grant High School Marines JROTC under the direction of Major D.N. Weber will precede the induction ceremonies.

Since 1985, The Foundation's Wall of Fame has recognized outstanding alumni and community leaders who have added dramatically to the quality of life in our city, state or nation. By illustrating how education can turn their dreams into reality, each honoree becomes a role model to the nearly 40,000 children in the Oklahoma City Public Schools. Past honorees, www.okckids.com/wof, have included Admiral William J. Crowe, Edgar Cruz, Ralph W. Ellison, Vince Gill, V. Burns Hargis, Eleanor Blake and John Elson Kirkpatrick, Bobby R. Murcer, and Donna Nigh to name just a few.

For tickets to the 2008 Wall of Fame Humanitarian Awards Dinner and Presentation or more information, call The Foundation at (405) 879-2007.

2008 Wall of Fame Honorees

Skip Bayless
At Mayfair Elementary School, Taft Junior High and Northwest Classen High School, Skip Bayless clung to the belief that he could at least play college baseball or basketball. That changed the first week of school his sophomore year.

"I took an advanced English course taught by the journalism teacher, Mrs. Burdette," Bayless says. "She assigned book reports, just to gauge our writing ability, and of course I chose a sports book, a biography of Y.A. Tittle. She called me up to her desk after class on Friday of that week and I thought I was in trouble. She said, 'You are going to write for the school paper whether you like it or not.' I resisted at first, but I will be forever grateful to her."

Forty years in newspapers, magazines, radio and television later, Bayless is amazed and honored he has been selected for the Wall of Fame recognizing outstanding alumni of Oklahoma City Public Schools. Bayless says: "Trust me, it wouldn't have happened if Liz Burdette hadn’t pushed me into writing and if Frank Boggs, the legendary Daily Oklahoman columnist, hadn’t encouraged and recommended me."

Mrs. Burdette entered Bayless for a sportswriting scholarship given annually by Vanderbilt University, the Grantland Rice Scholarship. Boggs wrote Bayless a compelling letter of recommendation. Bayless was the award’s first winner from west of the Mississippi.

That May of 1970, Boggs actually wrote his column in The Oklahoman and Times about this kid from Northwest Classen who had managed to win a full scholarship to Vanderbilt for sportswriting. "Most amazing thing that ever happened to me," Bayless says. "The sports columnist I read religiously every morning wrote about ME, and it wasn’t because I’d been great in basketball or baseball, because I hadn’t been."
In his usual dryly humorous way, Boggs zeroed in on Bayless' frustration with getting edged out for valedictorian of a class of 781. He quoted Bayless complaining that he made only one B in high school, in driver’s ed, "because nobody made an A in driver's ed. I don’t believe the girl who’s valedictorian even took driver's ed."

Now, Bayless says: "I was embarrassed because my flippant remark came off as sexist. Yet, as much respect as I had for Justine Coyle, who was far smarter than I was, I still do not believe she took driver’s ed."

Bayless interned one college summer under Boggs at The Oklahoman -- "greatest summer of my life" -- and Boggs helped him get a job right out of Vanderbilt at the Miami Herald...which soon led to another at the Los Angeles Times...and to the lead columnist position, at age 25, at the Dallas Morning News. Three years later he was hired away by the rival Dallas Times Herald for a salary that made news in the Wall Street Journal.

At the Dallas Morning News and Times Herald, Bayless won numerous awards, including Texas Sportswriter of the Year three times. He wrote three best-selling books on the Dallas Cowboys — "God’s Coach," "The Boys" and "Hell-Bent." He wrote for Sport and Sports Illustrated magazines. And he did radio shows for Dallas-Fort Worth stations KLIF and KTCK, the Ticket.

In 1989, the late, great Dick Schaap invited Bayless to be a panelist on ESPN's "The Sports Reporters," and over the next decade, Bayless became a regular on the New York-based Sunday-morning show. In 1992, Bayless became a member of the original debate team on ESPN, "Prime Monday’s" Knights of the Roundtable segments with Mitch Albom and Michael Wilbon. Bayless also had a weekend radio show on ESPN.

In 1997, Bayless left Dallas to become lead columnist at the Chicago Tribune, where in his first year he won the Lisagor Award for Chicago’s best sports columnist and Illinois’ Sportwriter of the Year. Four years later, he was rehired by his original employer, Knight Ridder, which owns the Miami Herald, to be lead columnist for the Knight Ridder chain, whose flagship paper is the San Jose Mercury News. Along the way, Bayless did regular commentary on the Golf Channel and became a regular guest host for Jim Rome's national radio show.

Finally, in 2004, ESPN hired Bayless to be a regular on the New York-based "Cold Pizza," debating Woody Paige on the daily morning show. In 2007, ESPN moved the show to its Bristol, CT base, changed its name to First Take and made Bayless the fixture of its First and 10 segments, bringing in different debaters each day (writers, broadcasters, entertainers, athletes and ex-stars) to take him on. The show has become one of ESPN’s greatest ratings successes.

"LeBron James has asked if he could come in and debate me," Bayless says. "I've come a long way from Mrs. Burdette's English class. But nothing in life makes me happier than getting back home to see my mom."

His mother Levita lives with her husband Andy in Northwest Oklahoma City and can still beat her son in golf, which keeps things in perspective for him.

L. Thomas Dulaney, Jr.
Luther T. Dulaney, made community service a priority all the while raising a family and building a family-owned business. Following in his father’s footsteps, L. Thomas Dulaney, Jr.’s life is a study in citizenship.

As a child growing up in Oklahoma City during the late 40's and 50's, Tom Dulaney made life-long friendships while attending the Oklahoma City Public Schools. At Nichols Hills Elementary School, lessons of service were reinforced as Dulaney was a member of Cub Scouts and Boy Scouts. Dulaney attended Harding Junior High and Classen High School. After graduating from Kemper Military School, he attended the University of Oklahoma where he was a member of Phi Gamma Delta Fraternity. Upon leaving the University of Oklahoma Dulaney joined the Army Reserve and soon thereafter joined the family business, Dulaney’s Inc., a wholesale appliance distributor.

As chairman of Dulaney's, Inc., Dulaney steadily grew the business and founded its successful subsidiary, Best Video. Today he serves as general partner of the Luther T. Dulaney Company, which concerns itself with real estate and investments. As successful as he has been in his business, he has been equally successful in cultivating success in many cultural and service organizations that enrich the lives of our community.

Numerous civic and educational organizations have benefited from Dulaney's creativity, energy and leadership. He was a founding member of the Pops Concert Series of the Oklahoma City Symphony. Dulaney and three other civic leaders founded the Phaythopen Charity Auction to benefit the Oklahoma Arts and Science Foundation, the genesis of the Allied Arts Foundation. This auction was the prime source of funding for twenty years. In 1998 he was King of the Beaux Arts Ball, the annual ball benefiting the Oklahoma Museum of Art.

As well as giving his energies to the arts for many years, Dulaney exhibited great commitment to the Rotary Club of Oklahoma City, including serving as President in 1972. In 2004 he was recognized with the "Service Above Self" award, one of only eleven recipients in the club's ninety five year history. Dulaney served as co-chair of the Oklahoma City Festival of the Arts in 1982. For over thirty years he served on the board of the St. Anthony Hospital Foundation. Dulaney served seven years as treasurer of the Oklahoma Chapter of the Young Presidents Organization. Other boards he has loyally served on include the State Fair of Oklahoma, The American Red Cross, The Better Business Bureau of Oklahoma City, The Salvation Army, The Oklahoma City Chamber of Commerce, The Oklahoma City Symphony and the First National Bank and Trust Co.

Answering the need of children’s safety, when Nichols Hills Elementary reopened, Wilshire Boulevard exhibited very heavy traffic. Thanks to the generosity of Tom and his brother, Richard Dulaney, the school now has a safe, curved driveway leading to the front door.

In his immediate community of Nichols Hills, he currently is President of the Nichols Hills Crime Prevention Committee and a member of the Nichols Hills Employees Scholarship Fund. He also serves as President of the Touchdown Club at the University of Oklahoma. In 2005 he received the University of Oklahoma Regents Alumni Award.
Tom Dulaney met his wife, Candy Willis, in the Leadership Oklahoma Class X. He is the father of three children Luther III, Lisa Dobbs, Geoffrey and grandsons Scott and Reid Fisher.

Carolyn Hill
"Education has defined every day of my life and continues to. It is the larger picture of ideas which stimulate inquiry, thought process, and the realm of possibility and opportunity," said Carolyn Hill, Culbertson Elementary School, Webster Middle School, Central High School

Carolyn Hill, a native of Oklahoma City, has been President and Chief Executive Officer of the Oklahoma City Museum of Art since 1994. She received both her bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the University of Oklahoma and completed post-graduate studies at The Juilliard School of Music, New York, and The Mozarteum, Salzburg, Austria, where she was awarded a diploma in conducting. An avid art enthusiast, Hill continued her studies over the course of many summers abroad.

She worked in education, music, and the visual arts in New York City for more than 30 years. She spent twenty years in posts including, faculty member and arts administrator at several private schools, including the United Nations International School, where she was Head of the Arts Department. She was music director and conductor for the Livingston Symphony Orchestra, New Jersey, and the New York Music Society Chamber Orchestra as well as Music Theater International's National Tour of 1776. Additionally, she was president and director for twelve years of the Carolyn Hill Gallery, New York, and Carolyn Hill Fine Art, located in New York and Oklahoma City.

Hill returned to Oklahoma City in 1993 and was appointed Executive Director of the Oklahoma City Museum of Art in 1994. During her tenure, the Museum has achieved and maintained fiscal stability, operating thirteen consecutive years in the black, and is debt free. She was instrumental in the Museum’s successful $40 million Legacy Campaign to fund the Donald W. Reynolds Visual Arts Center, overseeing its design and construction, as well as its $3 million campaign to purchase Dale Chihuly: The Exhibition, the most comprehensive collection of Chihuly glass in the world. During her tenure, the Museum has gained national recognition with the establishment of a film program, the Museum School, outstanding international exhibitions, and thirteen endowments valued at more than $22 million.

Hill is a member of the National Arts Club in New York City and serves on the boards of Chamber Music in Oklahoma and the Business Improvement District, Downtown OKC, Inc. She received the By-liners Award for Arts in 1997, the Governor’s Arts Award in 2001, and the Stanley Draper Award for Community Excellence in 2003.