ur Rotarian of the Day today is Robert Reins. Robert was born in Tulsa, Oklahoma on November 21, 1947. He attended and graduated from Central High School in 1966. He received a B.B.A. degree from the University of Oklahoma in 1970 and then both a masters in business administration and a law degree from the University of Tulsa.

Robert is the executive vice president for BancFirst Tulsa. His wife, Linda, works for the University of Tulsa, and they have three children: Jennifer, who lives in Tulsa; Jamye, who lives in Bartlesville; and Colleen, who is a senior at Christian Brothers University in Memphis, Tennessee. They also have one granddaughter, Gracie Wells.

Robert was inducted into Southside on March 6, 1997, and was proposed by David Hughes. He served our club as president during the 2004-2005 Rotary year.

His interests are golf, photography and backpacking.

Robert, thank you for arranging today’s program. We appreciate it.

This Week’s Program

David Dyson

ur speaker today is David Dyson, Ph.D. He has served at Oral Roberts University in Tulsa, Oklahoma, for 28 years, including the positions of registrar, department chair, assistant dean and dean of the school of business, and serves now as a tenured professor.

His name is listed in several Who’s Who lists, including Who’s Who in Finance and Industry, Who’s Who in South and Southwest, and Who’s Who in American Education. He has recently been named as a Leading Educator of the World by the International Biographical Centre in Cambridge, England.

He earned his Ph.D. at the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville in Strategic Human Resource Management in the Sam Walton College of Business.

David is a member of the Academy of Management and has had more than 20 articles published and has given many presentations to learned societies. He has made professional presentations in several African nations, as well as Albania, Canada, India and Mexico.

David and his wife Linda have been married for 34 years. They have two children: Ben, who is a graduate of the OU Law School and now works as the assistant athletic director for compliance in the athletic department at Oklahoma State University; and Laurel, who graduated from Jenks High School with a 4.0+ GPA and was selected as Miss JHS.

Laurel is now a senior at ORU and has a GPA of 4.0. Ben is married to Becky, a teacher in Norman, and they will celebrate their seventh wedding anniversary in June. They are parents to Brayden Benjamin, born April 23, 2007.

David, Linda, and Laurel are Paul Harris Fellows. David has served as the international director for the Sunrise Rotary Club and currently serves as the chairman for Shoes For Orphan Souls for Rotary District 6110. He was also a member of Southside before joining Sunrise. (What, were we too rowdy for him?)

David has most recently been involved in a Micro-Banking program in South America. This will be his topic today.

David, thank you for being with us today. The Rotary Club of Southside Tulsa welcomes you back.

Southsider Quick Notes

Last week…
- Our ROD last week was David Nammar and our speaker was Clint Howard.

- Be Wise, Immunize is May 2. We’ll need volunteers!

- Keith, Donna, and Tom have returned from Uganda! Donna gave us an update on their time there:

• - They visited medical clinics and schools in the area.
• - They attended two Rotary meetings, one with a goat roast.
• - They visited the Bishop McAllister school.
• - They met Stephen, the orphan we sponsored, and he thanked us for our support. They also met our other orphan, Peterson.

- Here’s the weekly update on Biscuit Acres:

• - We need to match the funds that Randy has committed (see below). Pledge, network, whatever you need to do. Get donations from outside the club.
• - We’ve settled on a design for the dog biscuit plaque. It looks really great. Thanks, Steve and Cindy!
• - Also, we’re ready to distribute donation boxes to pet supply stores and veterinarians in the area.
• - For a biscuit plaque, it’s a $125 donation. For a bench, it’s a $1,000 donation. For a picnic table, it’s a $1,500.
• - Remember, the dog park opens in June!
• - Randy Sullivan has committed up to $5,000 to Biscuit Acres for a challenge contribution to all members of Southside to COLLECTIVELY match his $5,000. Member contributions can be in the form of a pledge to the Southside Rotary Foundation and given to the Foundation over a period of months. $100 per person will get us there. Of course, a higher contribution will help those members who cannot do the $100. Members are encouraged to use the pledge form to receive commitments and contributions of all sizes from as many non-Rotarians as possible. Thank you, Randy, for this wonderful opportunity.
• - Remember, if you have any ideas or would like to help out in any way, let Don or John Benjamin know!

- Next week, we’ll be having a break-out meeting at the BOK Center. If plans change, I’ll let you know.