Hamby, Scott to be honored with Distinguished Alumnus Awards at East Central University on May 10

Ada, OK (05/03/2024) — Jim Hamby and Tony A. Scott will be honored as Distinguished Alumni on Friday, May 10 as East Central University conducts its 2019 Evening of Honors and Recognition at 6:30 p.m. in ECU Foundation Hall of the Chickasaw Business and Conference Center.

A reception will be held prior to the event at 6 p.m. Awards will also be presented to Distinguished Former Faculty, Distinguished Service and Distinguished Family as well as the recognition of three Centennial Endowments by the ECU Foundation, Inc.

Here is a look at ECU's two Distinguished Alums:

Jim Hamby

Hamby, a 1973 ECU graduate, has been a longtime fixture in the Ada community, serving as president of Vision Bank since 1990 and as president of both the Ada Chamber of Commerce and Ada Jobs Foundation.

Graduating from Weleetka High School in 1969, Hamby attended ECU from 1969-1973, graduating with a B.S. in education with a major in chemistry and a minor in biology. While at ECU, he was a member of the Pi Kappa Alpha Fraternity along with participating in the Interfraternity Council. He still continues his support as an alumni advisor for the Pikes.

Hamby was in the Army ROTC where he served as a Cadet Corp Commander, was a member of the Pershing Rifles, awarded the DAR Award and was honored as a Distinguished Military Graduate. He was ECU's first ROTC graduate to be commissioned as a Second Lieutenant upon graduation.

After serving in the Army in the 1st Calvary Division from 1973-1977, Hamby launched his banking career as a teller at the First National Bank of Temple, Texas. He later left the bank to obtain an MBA from Baylor University in 1980. He then worked for MBank in Dallas, the largest bank in Texas at the time, where he became a commercial loan officer.

He returned to Ada in 1983 as executive vice president and chief lending officer for the First National Bank and Trust Company, which is now Vision Bank. He became president and CEO in 1990 and continues to serve in that capacity.

Since being back in Ada, Hamby has actively been involved in organizations at ECU. He was a trustee of the Briles Educational Trust from 1990-95 and administered turning it over to the ECU Foundation, Inc. He was on the Finance Committee of the ECU Foundation for numerous years and served several terms on the Board of Trustees and was president of the ECU Foundation twice.

Besides his presidency with the Ada Chamber of Commerce and Ada Jobs Foundation, Hamby has been a board member of the Ada Industrial Development Corporation, plus founding president of the Tri-County Community Development Corporation. He was chairman of the committee that passed the sales tax and obtained grants to build the Pontotoc County Agri-Plex.

Hamby served on the board of the Southern Oklahoma Addiction Recovery and is a member of the Board of Directors for the Jasmine Moran Children's Museum in Seminole.

Professionally, Hamby has been instrumental in the Oklahoma Bankers Association where he served three terms on the board. Vision Bank was selected three times as outstanding bank in its class during the last 20 years of his leadership. He was elected as the Outstanding Banker in Oklahoma in 2005. He has served on and chaired many OBA committees and schools and was a board member for the Federal Home Loan Bank of Topeka, Kansas for 16 years.

Nationally, Hamby has been involved in numerous capacities with the American Bankers Association including the Administration Committee of the Community Bankers Council, the ABA's Federal Home Loan Bank Committee and the ABA's Government Relations Committee, serving as grass roots spokesman. In that capacity, he testified before Congress and spoke at the Heritage Foundation concerning the Dodd Frank Banking Bill. He also served six years on the Mortgage Roundtable, which is a 20-member think tank for the mortgage industry.

Hamby resides in Ada with his wife Shelley and has three daughters and five grandchildren. He is a member of the Lions Club of Ada and has been for 38 years and is an active member of Ada First Baptist Church. His hobbies include golfing, fishing, hunting and skeet shooting.

Tony A. Scott

Scott has done extensive non-profit work for 30 years and has made an impact in the fields of accounting and law.

He grew up in Ada, attended Ada schools, graduated from Ada High School in 1978 and received his bachelor of science degree in accounting and a minor in computer science from ECU in 1982

Scott earned a juris doctorate degree from the Oklahoma City University School of Law in 1991 and passed his bar examination that same year. He also completed his work in public accounting, passing his Uniform Certified Public Accountant examination and later achieved his CPA certificate from the Oklahoma Accountancy Board in 1993.

In 2014, after the lengthy career in non-profit career, Scott joined Heritage Trust Company, of Oklahoma City, as vice president and relationship manager. He currently remains as 'trust officer,' helping clients with estate planning, probate, trust administration and asset management needs.

In addition to his fulltime employments, Scott served as a local, national and international instructor for Becker CPA Review Course from 1992-2001 and taught as an adjunct professor in the schools of business at Oklahoma Christian University, Washburn University and Oklahoma City University.

He has also served in many volunteer roles throughout his 37-year professional career. He currently serves as board secretary and governance committee chairperson for the Student Education of Ethic Development (also known as the "SEED" Foundation). The SEED Foundation's primary mission is to promote business ethics throughout education in high schools, college and universities throughout Oklahoma.

Scott also served on the Board of Directors for the Oklahoma City Estate Planning Council. But the highlight of his volunteer work has been serving on the East Central University Alumni Association Board of Directors, including a two-year term as president from 1992-94.

He launched his professional career with the "Big 8" accounting firm of Peat Marwick Mitchell, now KPMG. His industry focus was on governmental entities, financial institutions and the occasional non-profit organization. Scott left public accounting in 1984 to work for a non-profit client of the firm, the Oklahoma Bar Association. As director of the OBA, Scott was responsible for wide-ranging duties including financial and computer operations, human resource and facility management, meeting planning and special projects. It was at the OBA where he developed a deep appreciation for the rule of law and the lawyers with whom he worked.

Scott became executive director of the Oklahoma Bar Foundation, the philanthropic arm of the organized bar in Oklahoma, in 1994 and in September of 2001, was hired as executive director of the American Board of Trial Advocates, headquartered in Dallas.

He returned to Oklahoma City where he engaged in contract accounting and consulting services in the non-profit area in 2004 and accepted the job of executive director of the Kansas Society of CPAs based in Topeka, Kansas. In addition to his duties at KSCPA, Scott was active in government relations. One of his noted accomplishments was maneuvering cross-border 'mobility' legislation, giving CPAs the flexibility to better serve clients with business interests in multiple states while continuing to protect the public's interest.

Scott returned in 2009 and continued contract accounting and consulting services before accepting the job of chief financial officer and in-house legal counsel for the Oklahoma Heritage Association, now the Oklahoma Hall of Fame.

His wife is Robbie (Hester), a 1979 Byng High School graduate. They have two children, Scott and Jessica, and two grandchildren. Tony is a lifelong motorcycle enthusiast. Tony has historical ties to Ada and ECU as his ancestors played key roles in establishing both.

Sponsorships are available at various levels for the event.

A Gold Sponsorship for $2,000 includes tickets and prime seating for eight attendees, event signage, recognition in program (printed and verbal), acknowledgement in press releases, drink tickets and gift for each attendee.

A Silver Sponsorship for $1,000 consists of ticket seating for eight attendees, recognition in the program, acknowledge in press releases, drink tickets and a gift for each attendee.

A Bronze Sponsorship for $150 includes tickets and guaranteed seating for two, recognition in the program, drink tickets and a gift for each attendee.

Individual tickets are also available at $60 each. Advance tickets are recommended.

To register, contact Ashia Hillman at ahillman@ecok.edu or at 580-559-5651 or go online at ecok.edu/2019EOH.

The registration deadline is April 30.

-ECU-

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