July 11, 2023
Eight to be Honored at Homecoming for Achievement, Service
By Jim Urbanek
The Ole Miss Alumni Association will recognize eight distinguished alumni with its highest annual awards as part of Homecoming 2023.
University of Mississippi Alumni Hall of Fame inductees for 2023 are: Charles C. Clark (BBA 72) of Birmingham; Carlyle “Smitty” Harris (JD 81) of Tupelo; Mary Donnelly Haskell (BM 81) of Oxford; Stephanie J. Hickman (JD 91) of Chicago; and William Young (BBA 82, JD 84) of Dallas.
Created in 1974, the Hall of Fame honors select alumni who have made an outstanding contribution to their country, state or the University of Mississippi through good deeds, services or contributions that have perpetuated the good name of Ole Miss.
Rose Jackson Flenorl (BAEd 79) of Cordova, Tennessee, will receive the Alumni Service Award for service to the university and the Alumni Association over an extended period.
Dr. Lauren Lyles-Stolz (BSPhSc 13, PharmD 16) of Alexandria, Virginia, will receive the Outstanding Young Alumni Award, which honors alumni who have shown exemplary leadership throughout their first 15 years of alumni status in both their careers and dedication to Ole Miss.
Langston Rogers of Oxford will receive the Honorary Alumni Award, which recognizes individuals who, though not graduates of the University of Mississippi, have consistently demonstrated extraordinary commitment, support, dedication, loyalty, leadership or service that has enriched the substance of and contributed to the advancement of the university’s or Alumni Association’s missions, reputation or prestige.
“These inductees have all made Ole Miss proud with their accomplishments in their careers and their service to the university and their communities,” said Ole Miss Alumni Association CEO Kirk Purdom (BA 93). “We are happy to have the opportunity to recognize and honor them as part of Homecoming.”
The Alumni Association will host a gala for the honorees on Thursday, Oct. 26, in the Gertrude C. Ford Ballroom at The Inn at Ole Miss. Those interested in attending the dinner must register in advance by calling the Alumni Association office at 662-915-7375.
Hall of Fame Awards
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Charles C. Clark, a native of Jackson, graduated from the University of Mississippi with distinction in 1972. While at Ole Miss, he served as president of the School of the Business Administration student body and of Pi Kappa Alpha Fraternity, as well as a member of ODK, Phi Kappa Phi, Men’s Judicial Council and Who’s Who. Upon graduation he joined the Big Eight accounting firm Ernst & Ernst, earning his CPA designation in 1973.
In 1974 he entered the Master of Business Taxation program at the University of Southern California.
Upon completion in 1976, he joined the Big Eight firm Peat Marwick (KPMG) in Jackson, became a tax partner there in 1982, and transferred to Birmingham in 1984 to become tax partner in charge, later adding the same roll for the KPMG Health Care & Life Sciences practice for the Southeast region.
In 1997, after 21 years at KPMG, he joined his publicly traded client, Caremark Rx. There he served as executive vice president, primarily working on mergers, acquisitions and divestitures. Clark was an instrumental member of the executive team that successfully turned around the company, which was later acquired by CVS. In 2005, after leaving Caremark Rx, he started his own company, Clark Capital, which has been actively investing in small, early-stage technology companies.
Clark served as president of the Ole Miss Alumni Association in 2009-10. He was inducted into the Patterson School of Accountancy Hall of Fame in 2012, where he serves on the school’s Professional Advisory Council. He has also served as president of the Accountancy Alumni Chapter and of the Birmingham Ole Miss Alumni Club. He was inducted into his fraternity’s Hall of Fame in 2007.
Clark and his wife, Ginger, reside in Mountain Brook, Alabama. They have two daughters, Lee Dicks and Ginger Ann, a son, Charlie (BBA 05), and six grandchildren.
“Ole Miss has provided me great opportunities in life and has helped me build invaluable relationships over the years, for which I am extremely grateful,” said Clark.
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Carlyle “Smitty” Harris entered the Air Force on Jan. 2, 1951, and served through the rank of Sergeant before being accepted for aviation cadet training. Upon completion he was commissioned a 2nd Lieutenant and was sent to fighter training. In his career he flew the F84G, F-86, F-100 and F-105 fighters.
On April 4, 1965, on a bombing mission Harris was shot down over North Vietnam and spent the next eight years as a POW. He knew a fast effective communication system called the Tap Code, which he was able to pass on to other POWs. This system allowed them to act as a cohesive group to resist the enemy efforts to exploit them. He was also a leader of about 50 POWs who were taught a covert way to send coded messages in letters to and from spouses. This provided limited contact with the U.S. Department of Defense. For his Air Force service, Harris was awarded two Silver Stars, three Legion of Merits, the Distinguished Flying Cross, two Bronze Stars for Valor, two Air Medals, two Purple Hearts and two Commendation medals.
Harris retired from the Air Force in 1979 and entered the University of Mississippi School of Law, joining the Mississippi Bar in December 1981. His post Air Force employment includes banking, law and marketing. Harris has served as a director of Sanctuary Hospice House, Tupelo Boys and Girls Club, Leadership Lee County, Tupelo Rotary Club, North Mississippi Medical Center and as vice chairman of the Tupelo Airport Authority. He served two terms as president of Tupelo Country Club and is a permanent member of the Tupelo Veterans Council. He is the recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Air Force Association. The Yocona Area Council of Boy Scouts of America named him 2021 Distinguished Citizen.
Harris and his wife, Louise, have two daughters and a son, seven grandchildren and four great-grandchildren, all living in Tupelo.
“Ole Miss was the perfect place for me after my retirement from the Air Force, a fine institution with excellent curriculum, staff and a very competitive student body,” said Harris. “I am delighted to be included in this prestigious group.”
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Mary Donnelly Haskell is an accomplished singer and actress who graduated with honors from Ole Miss in 1980. She is a member of Chi Omega Fraternity, served as commander of Angel Flight (AFROTC) and was crowned Miss University and Miss Mississippi in 1977. After moving to Los Angeles following her graduation, she began building extensive television and theatrical careers on the West Coast, starring in productions of “Annie Get Your Gun,” “Barnum” and “Seven Brides for Seven Brothers” as well as starring in episodes of many television series and over 20 movies for television. More recently, she co-starred in Emmy Award-winning movie musical “Dolly Parton’s Christmas on the Square.” She has released three studio albums as well as four personalized children’s music CDs.
Haskell has performed at venues including the Kennedy Center and the White House but is very proud to have shared her talent with Oxford and Ole Miss including several symphony concerts at the Ford Center, “Mississippi Rising,” the Oxford Shakespeare Festival’s production of “Hello Dolly” and, most recently, the UM Music Department’s celebrated production of “The Light in the Piazza.”
Haskell has served on the board of directors for the Ole Miss Alumni Association and the UM Foundation. She currently serves on the Ford Center Advisory Board and is a member and past chairman of the Ole Miss Women’s Council for Philanthropy. She is married to her college sweetheart Sam Haskell (BA 77). Together they co-chaired the university’s Capital Campaign MomentUM and were recently awarded the 2023 Concerto Award by the university and Ford Center for their commitment to philanthropy in the arts. As an elder at First Presbyterian Church of Oxford, Haskell volunteers with More Than a Meal and the Food Pantry. She also serves as vice chairman of the Haskell Scholarship Foundation.
The Haskells have two children: Sam Haskell IV and Mary Lane Haskell, as well as three grandsons Sam V, James and William.
“I am humbled to join this distinguished circle of almost 50 years of honorees; varied legacies, all born from a love of Ole Miss,” said Haskell.
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Stephanie J. Hickman is president and CEO of Trice Construction Co., a Chicago firm that specializes in complex concrete construction projects, particularly for utility companies. Under her leadership, the business has grown from a small residential construction company into an award-winning infrastructure contractor serving Fortune 500 corporations and major public entities.
A Chicago native, Hickman and her family moved to Shannon, in Lee County, just before she entered ninth grade. She enrolled in the University of Mississippi in 1979 and pursued a degree in public administration until 1982, when she transferred to Eastern New Mexico University, where she graduated.
Hickman returned to Ole Miss in 1988 for law school, serving as a member of the Mississippi Law Journal and president of the Black Law Students Association.
Hickman spent 25 years as an attorney, lobbyist and utility executive, working in management for Exelon Corp., Duquesne Light Co. and ComEd, where she managed state legislative issues, initiative and relationships. In 2006, she bought out her uncles and took over Trice Construction, the company they started with her father in 1967. Shifting the contractor’s focus to projects for electric and natural gas utilities, she soon found herself doing business with her former executive colleagues.
Her company was the first African American woman-owned construction firm to be awarded prime and multi-year contracts with companies such as Ameren, ComEd/Exelon, Nicor Gas, Peoples Gas and the Chicago Department of Transportation.
Hickman was named a 2022 Outstanding CEO in Women’s Enterprise Magazine and among the Notable Women in Construction and Design in 2021 by Crain’s Chicago Business.
She serves on the boards of the Museum of Science and Industry, Illinois Black Chamber of Commerce and the Law Alumni Chapter of the Ole Miss Alumni Association. She is a life member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc.
She also serves on the board of trustees of Glenwood Academy, a residential school that provides life-changing solutions for students from challenging circumstances.
“I am deeply moved to receive this recognition from the Ole Miss Alumni Association,” Hickman said. “My years at Ole Miss shaped my thinking and provided early opportunities that developed me as a leader.”
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William Young is a Mississippi native and third generation lawyer who followed in the footsteps of his father, Jimmy Young (LLB 1954), and grandfather, J. Will Young, both of whom enjoyed long and distinguished careers in law and business in Jackson.
Upon graduation from law school at Ole Miss, Young married his wife, Erin (BA 83), and moved to Dallas to begin a 29-year career in private practice. This included 16 years in the Dallas and London offices of Vinson & Elkins, an international law firm, where Young advised on cross-border business transactions. He served as the global head of Vinson & Elkins’ Finance practice, as a member of its management and compensation committees, and as co-head of the Dallas office. While in private practice, Young was consistently rated as one of the top lawyers in his field.
In 2014, Young left private practice and returned to London where he joined his longtime client, the Lone Star Funds, a leading global private equity firm. Young initially joined Lone Star as European general counsel to a related asset management company. He currently serves as Lone Star’s global president and chief legal officer.
Young is a member of the board of directors of the University of Mississippi Foundation and a member of the Lamar Order. He is a past president of the board of directors of Wesley-Rankin Community Center, a Dallas-based civic organization serving the west Dallas community. He is also active in several other civic and charitable endeavors.
Young and his wife live in Dallas and have one son, Will, of Dallas; two daughters, Kathleen and Kirby, each of New York; and one granddaughter.
“I am so honored and pleased that Ole Miss has chosen to recognize me with this honor,” Young said. “The university provided an incredible foundation for me, which I credit for much of the personal and professional success I have enjoyed in life. I will always look back on my time at Ole Miss fondly.”
Alumni Service Award
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Rose Jackson Flenorl serves as manager of Global Citizenship and DEI at FedEx Corporation, one of Fortune’s “World’s Most Admired Companies.” As a visionary leader in the internationally recognized FedEx Global Citizenship group, Flenorl has been instrumental in the design and execution of the company’s major citizenship initiatives. She oversees the company’s DEI employee education and engagement programs as well as initiatives to identify diverse talent. She oversees multi-million-dollar grants, events and employee engagement activities.
Flenorl’s career spans 30 years and includes work in marketing, communications and corporate social responsibility. Prior to joining FedEx, she held positions at International Paper and IBM.
She is a two-time recipient of the FedEx Five Star Award, the company’s highest individual honor, and a two-time recipient of the Marketing and Communications Shining Star Award.
Flenorl is an active community leader in Memphis and nationally. She represents FedEx on the Conference Board Corporate Social Responsibility Council. She is a member of the board of directors of Renasant Bank, the National Civil Rights Museum and Memphis Tourism. Her professional and philanthropic achievements have earned Flenorl numerous prestigious awards and honors.
A native of Clarksdale, Flenorl was the valedictorian of her high school graduating class and was the first African American female to be inducted into the Ole Miss Student Hall of Fame. She was inducted into the Ole Miss Alumni Hall of Fame in 1998 and served as president of the Ole Miss Alumni Association in 2008-09. She was board chair of the University of Mississippi Foundation in 2015-16 and is a charter member of the Ole Miss Women’s Council.
She is also recipient of the Ole Miss Athletics Nathaniel Northington Trailblazer Award, the Black Student Union Legacy Award, the Black Alumni Achievement Award, an inductee into the School of Education Hall of Fame, and recipient of the Pillars of Fraternity and Sorority Life Award.
She and her husband, Richard, are the parents of Lillie Flenol (BA 08).
“I am so grateful for the many people at Ole Miss who helped me succeed,” said Flenorl. “Ole Miss made a tremendous investment in me. It is an investment that I have always been committed to paying forward.”
Outstanding Young Alumni Award
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Following graduation from the University of Mississippi School of Pharmacy in 2016 where she was inducted into the School of Pharmacy’s Hall of Fame, Dr. Lauren Lyles-Stolz completed her post-doctoral fellowship at Eli Lilly and Company in U.S. and International Regulatory Policy and Strategy. Subsequently, Lyles-Stolz served as the manager of Pharmacy Affairs at the Academy of Managed Care Pharmacy. She then became the first pharmacist to become a German Chancellor Fellow. Her research focused on population health management in Germany, Singapore, Israel, Scotland, Spain and Switzerland as a solution to ensure health equity, address rising healthcare costs and improve health outcomes. She also authored her first joint population health publication with Scotland and Germany.
After returning to the U.S., she served as one of the youngest executive directors for the Washington State Pharmacy Quality Assurance Commission (Board of Pharmacy) in the country, where she regulated the profession of pharmacy and helped manage the state’s COVID-19 response. She was then selected as a Atlantik-Bruecke German-American Young Leader, where she traveled back to Germany to discuss transatlantic policy issues with other leaders in the program.
Lyles-Stolz currently serves as senior director of Reimbursement, Innovation and Advocacy at the National Association of Chain Drug Stores (NACDS). She previously covered health care policy for Congressman Bradley S. Schneider (IL) who serves on the House Ways and Means Committee. Prior to joining Congressman Schneider’s staff, she worked as a Congressional Health Policy Innovation Fellow for Congresswoman Yvette Clarke (NY).
She serves on the advisory board for the Society of Health Policy Young Professionals in Washington, D.C., and is the founder and CEO of Lyles-Stolz Consulting and the co-founder and CEO of Gapway Health with her husband, Dr. Patrick Stolz.
Lyles-Stolz was recognized as a member of the inaugural class of the Ole Miss Alumni Association’s 40 Under 40 recipients.
“The 2023 Outstanding Young Alumni Award means that my contributions and work in health care have touched the lives and hearts of many Mississippians, leaders, communities, and the University of Mississippi,” Lyles-Stolz said. “This achievement inspires me to give back and take on new challenges to make a better and healthier world.”
Honorary Alumni Award
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Langston Rogers is in his 42nd year at the University of Mississippi, having joined the Ole Miss athletics department in 1981 as sports information director. When he retired in 2010 after 29 years of service, he held the position of senior associate athletics director for media relations. He continues to serve UM on a part-time basis as special assistant to the athletics director for history.
Prior to joining Ole Miss, Rogers served 17 years at his alma mater, Delta State University, including the first four years as the school’s publicity director before becoming the institution’s first full-time sports information director.
At age 36, Rogers became the youngest president in history of the 3,000‑member College Sports Communicators (CSC) and served 11 years on its board of directors.
Rogers has been awarded numerous times by the College Sports Communicators. A few include the Arch Ward Award, which is presented annually for outstanding contributions to the field of college sports information. He also received its Trailblazer Award, presented to an individual who is a pioneer in the field of sports information and who has mentored and helped improve the level of ethnic and gender diversity within the organization. CSC also honored him with the naming of the Langston Rogers Postgraduate Scholarship, a $10,000 annual scholarship presented to a minority or female athletics public relations professional. The UM Athletics Department honored Rogers with the Nathaniel Northington Trailblazer in Athletics Award, presented to recognize diversity and inclusion contributions to the community.
Rogers is a member of eight halls of fame, including the College Sports Communicators Hall of Fame, the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame and the Ole Miss M-Club Hall of Fame.
Throughout his career, Rogers has served on numerous committees, including a six-year term on the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame Board of Directors.
He is married to the former Paula Lowery of Cleveland, Mississippi. They have two children, Laura (PhD 05) and Bill (BSES 94), and four grandchildren.
“I’m extremely overwhelmed, honored and thankful for being selected to receive the Honorary Alumni Award, and I am simply in awe of those past recipients chosen for this prestigious honor,” said Rogers. “Ole Miss is truly a special place and I remain thankful for having the opportunity to work with so many chancellors, athletics directors, coaches, student-athletes and the Alumni Association staff.”