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OPUBCO President: Take time to be introspective

Pierson
From left Gary Pierson with Interim Dean Daniel Pullin.

Gary Pierson, president and CEO of the Oklahoma Publishing Co., says it is hard for a business professional to reserve thinking time. “Take time to be alone and think — without your cell phone or computer. Be introspective,” Pierson told business students Sept. 20 at the Price College of Business Distinguished Speaker Series. Pierson’s comments:

  • “Answer the questions that are important to you.”
  • “It takes commitment, courage and vision to succeed in business.”
  • “Drama and ego are a curse in business.”
  • “Active and productive are not the same.”
  • “Hire character, teach skills.”

Pierson oversees mergers and acquisitions, develops and implements strategies for expansion of OPUBCO’s diversified business interests, and corporate governance. Prior to that, he served as OPUBCO’s general counsel. Before OPUBCO, he was a vice president of McAfee & Taft, Oklahoma’s largest law firm. He earned a bachelor of business administration in finance and a doctorate of law from OU.

The Price College of Business Distinguished Speaker Series runs every fall and spring. Business executives from a range of backgrounds, industries and geographies interact with global leaders, the Oklahoma business community and Price College students.

Former Visa chair discusses financial literacy

Saunders
From left Joseph Saunders with Interim Dean Daniel Pullin.

The E. Deane Kanaly Lecture Series featured Joseph Saunders, former chairman and CEO of Visa Inc., on Oct. 4 at Meacham Auditorium at Oklahoma Memorial Union. Saunders, who retired earlier this year, led Visa through the most transformative years in his company’s history changing the way cardholders pay. He is known in the finance industry for merging Visa’s six independent regional associations into one big company and in 2008, pulling off the then-largest IPO — initial public offering — in U.S. history.

Saunders addressed several topics with the Price community including Visa’s commitment to global financial literacy that involves teaching money management fundamentals. To reach young people, he encouraged his team to create mobile phone apps called the Peter Pig’s Money Counter and Tooth Fairy.

The E. Deane Kanaly Lecture Series is named in honor of the late E. Deane Kanaly, founder and chairman of Kanaly Trust Co., who earned a bachelor's in 1952 and a master's in 1953 from OU, both in business. The lecture is funded through his wife, Virginia L. Kanaly, who is a 1952 business alumna.

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