Dan Harrison Memorial Scholarships
The Dan Harrison Memorial Scholarships are awarded to student journalists each year during the Great Plains Journalism Awards.
Sponsored by the Tulsa Press Club and funded by generous donors, the scholarships are given in honor of Dan Harrison, president of the Tulsa Press Club in 2009 and one of the original architects of the awards program.
The scholarships are given to students with award-winning portfolios who exemplify the characteristics Harrison displayed: integrity, leadership ability, and creativity.
Harrison, a former broadcast journalist, was senior vice president for administrative services and corporate relations of ONEOK and ONEOK Partners at the time of his death. From 2005 until 2012, he was vice president of investor relations and public affairs. He also served as president of the ONEOK Employee Political Action Committee.
In 2011, Harrison was named to Institutional Investor magazine's "All-American Executive Team: Best Investor Relations Professionals," tying for first place in the Energy category, Natural Gas & Master Limited Partnership sector.
"Dan was loved and respected at ONEOK, both as a friend and leader, and is greatly missed," said Terry K. Spencer, president and chief executive officer of ONEOK. "Dan's contributions to ONEOK and its employees are too numerous to name, and the way in which he was able to tell ONEOK's story in such a meaningful way to the investment community - and to all of our audiences - is a great legacy.
"In the years I knew him, his tenacity never ceased to amaze me, " Spencer said. "Even during his fight with his illness, he continued to provide counsel and leadership to me and to his team."
Active in the community, he was a member of the board of trustees of the Tulsa Community Foundation; a member of the executive committee and board of directors for the Tulsa Regional Chamber of Commerce; chair of VisitTulsa, the chamber's convention and tourism initiative; and past director of the executive committee of the National Association of Publicly Traded Partnerships.
He was a founding board member of Leadership Oklahoma, served on the board of Tulsa Opera and was a member of the Oklahoma Commission on State Government Performance.
"For 22 years, Dan was one of my most loyal and trusted friends," said John W. Gibson, non-executive chairman of ONEOK, ONEOK Partners, and ONEGAS. "In the seven years I served as CEO, Dan contributed so much to our organization. In the areas of communications and investor relations, Dan made ONEOK the 'best in class'.
Harrison is survived by his wife Mary Ann, herself a former journalist, and his daughter Annie.
Sponsors of the Dan Harrison Memorial Scholarships
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ONEOK
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ONEGAS
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John Gibson
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Terry Spencer
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Pierce Norton
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BOK Financial
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David Roth
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Walsh Branding
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Andrew Ziola
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Steve Bradshaw
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Tulsa Press Club Foundation
Dan Harrison Memorial Scholarship Winners
2019 Student Photographer of the Year
James Year - University of Iowa
2019 Student Editor in Chief of the Year
Alex Nicoll - University of Arkansas
2019 Student Designer of the Year
Lily Anne Smith - University of Iowa
2019 Student Writer of the Year
Marissa Payne - University of Iowa
2019 Student Broadcaster of the Year
Kaylyn Kluck - University of Iowa
2018 Student Photographer of the Year
Cooper Kinley - Kansas State
2018 Student Editor in Chief of the Year
Connor Mitchell - University of Kansas
2018 Student Writer of the Year
Darby VanHoutan - University of Kansas
2018 Student Broadcaster of the Year
Katelyn Fuller - Oklahoma State
2017 Student Photographer of the Year
Kurt Steiss - Oklahoma State
2017 Student Writer of the Year
Stenson Payne - Oklahoma State
2017 Student Editor in Chief
Sarah Baker - Baker University
2017 Student Designer of the Year
Tabitha Levi - Oral Roberts University
2016 Student Photographer of the Year
Kurt Steiss - Oklahoma State
2016 Student Editor in Chief of the Year
Kassie McClung - Oklahoma State
2016 Student Designer of the Year
Gerald Brown - Oral Roberts University
2016 Student Writer of the Year
Kasia Kovas - University of Missouri
2016 Student Broadcaster of the Year
James Packard - KOMU