DURANT, Okla. -- Southeastern Oklahoma State University will honor three Distinguished Alumni as part of Homecoming/Parents' Day 2007.
James Dan Batchelor ('58), Brian Campbell ('83) and Terry Matlock ('81) have been outstanding representatives of Southeastern in careers of great importance to our state.
They will be honored at the Alumni Homecoming Awards Luncheon on Saturday, Oct. 27, at 11:00 a.m. in the old student union ballroom. They will also be recognized prior to kickoff as SOSU hosts Midwestern State University Saturday afternoon at 2:30 p.m.
Dan Batchelor was born in Durant and is a graduate of Durant High School. He earned his Bachelor of Science Degree with honors from Southeastern in 1958, majoring in mathematics with minors in English, physics and speech.
He graduated with honors in 1961 from the University of Oklahoma College of Law, where he was the Outstanding Graduate Student. He was named Law Graduate of the Year 1961 (United States and Canada) by the Phi Delta Phi International Legal Fraternity.
Batchelor was also selected by the American Bar Association as the Outstanding Officer of the American Law Student Association for the years 1956-61.
He is now a practicing attorney and also president and co-founder of the Center for Economic Development Law, a law firm based in Oklahoma City, which provides legal counsel on a wide range of community development projects, urban development and redevelopment activities, and especially the financing of projects involving both the public and private sectors.
Batchelor has served as general counsel of the Oklahoma City Urban Renewal Authority for 36 years. In that role, he has guided the preparation and implementation of approximately $500 million in the expansion and development of the Oklahoma Health Center and developments of equal magnitude in Oklahoma City's Central Business District.
He served as counsel to the city of Durant and the Durant Industrial Authority in connection with the development of the Durant-Cardinal Economic Development Project, which was responsible for bringing Cardinal Glass to Durant.
Batchelor serves as a member of the Board of Directors of FNB Financial Services, Inc., the holding company for the First Texoma National Bank in Durant. He is also secretary/treasurer and a member of the Board of the American Indian Cultural and Educational Authority, an Oklahoma agency which has been charged by the State Legislature with the responsibility of creating a world-class Native American Cultural and Educational Center.
Batchelor and his wife, Barbara, reside in Oklahoma City. He has four grown children and four grandchildren.
Matlock is a 1981 graduate of Valliant High School. He earned his Bachelor of Science Degree in Business Administration and Management, with a second degree in Marketing, at Southeastern in 1985.
He received his Master of Administration Studies from SOSU in 1987.
While attending Southeastern, he was a full-Presidential Leadership Scholar, received a vocal music scholarship and was elected to the student senate.
After graduating from college, he served as Special Administrative Assistant to then-Attorney General Robert Henry. After working with Henry, Matlock became the Southeastern Oklahoma State University Coordinator at the McCurtain County Higher Education Center, where he remained until being elected to the Oklahoma House of Representatives in 1990.
Matlock rapidly progressed through the ranks of leadership in the legislature, serving as committee chairman, assistant floor leader, first assistant floor leader, assistant whip and majority whip.
In 1999, his colleagues elected him to the second-highest-ranking office in the House of Representatives, the office of Speaker Pro Temporč, where he served until his retirement from the legislature in 2002 to take a position with Choctaw Electric Cooperative.
He began his career with the Cooperative in 2002, and in 2004, the Board of Trustees named Matlock the Chief Executive Officer of Choctaw Electric Cooperative. CEC is a member-owned electric cooperative and has
20,292 services with more than 4,000 miles of distribution line.
Matlock and wife Kerrey have three children, Trevor, Taylor and Kerrigan.
Brian Campbell was raised on a farm in Bryan County and is a graduate of Bennington High School. He earned his Bachelor of Science Degree from Southeastern in 1983, completing the requirements for majors in Business Administration, Biology, and Education, along with a minor in German.
He received his Master of Business Administration Degree from SOSU's John Massey School of Business in 2005.
After graduation from Southeastern, he taught and coached basketball at Wapanucka High School. In 1995, he was employed by the Chickasaw Nation and appointed as the Human Resources Director. He has held many important positions within the Chickasaw Nation, including Administrator of Administrative Services, Administrator of Education, Tribal Economic Development Director, and the Indian Community Development Block Grant (ICDBG) Administrator.
From 1995 to 2003, he served as the Division Administrator and Executive Director of Economic Development with the responsibility of oversight and management of the Administrative Services, Treasury, Education, and Commerce Divisions within the Chickasaw Nation.
Campbell has been responsible for numerous departments and in November 2003, was named the Division Administrator of the Chickasaw Nation's Division of Commerce.
As Commerce Division Administrator, he is responsible for oversight and management of all the commercial businesses of the Chickasaw Nation. The Division of Commerce currently has a workforce of approximately 6,000 full-time and part-time employees.
Campbell is also Chairman of the Board of Solora Health Care.
He resides in Ada and is an active member of the community, serving on numerous boards and committees, including Chickasaw Nation Industries, Inc. Board of Directors, the Water Quality Management Council for the State of Oklahoma, and the Southeastern Oklahoma State University John Massey School of Business Advisory Board.