May 14, 2024
SWOSU Foundation Press Release
Southwestern Oklahoma State University (SWOSU) and its longtime philanthropic support organization, the SWOSU Foundation, Inc., have announced the promotion of key personnel in the SWOSU Office of Institutional Advancement (OIA). Based on SWOSU’s main campus at Weatherford in the historic Burton House, the OIA serves as the departmental home of the staff and operations of the SWOSU Foundation, Inc. and its partner organizations, the SWOSU Alumni Association and the SWOSU Athletic Association.
Ms. Erin Adams has been promoted to Director of Development & Engagement. Prior to this latest role, Adams served within the OIA as Advancement Communications Coordinator. Adams will oversee SWOSU’s fundraising and friendraising operations with a strong emphasis on donor services and stewardship, prospect research and cultivation, and improved outreach and reporting. Adams previously led the Clinton Public Schools Foundation, Inc. for six years and the Clinton Chamber of Commerce for four years. A native of the Dallas (TX) area, Adams completed her undergraduate studies at Oklahoma City University and is currently a graduate student at SWOSU. Adams and her husband, Clinton area attorney Luke Adams, are parents of four and grandparents of two. The Adamses reside in Clinton.
Mr. Clarke Hale, ’08 & ’10, has been promoted to Senior Director for Major Gifts & Donor Relations. Prior to this latest role, Hale served within the OIA as Associate Director for Development & Engagement. Hale will serve as SWOSU’s primary liaison to key institutional benefactors and strategic investors and will continue his work in the formulation and implementation of long-term philanthropic initiatives that enhance student learning, faculty development, and university assets. An alumnus of the SWOSU Men’s Basketball program under then-Coach Todd Thurman, Hale is a 2022 inductee into the SWOSU Athletic Hall of Fame (in 2021 he was also inducted into the Azle, Texas Independent School District Athletic Hall of Fame). Hale is a native of Pampa (TX). He and his wife, Kayla (Bader) Hale, ’12, own and operate HaleStorm MedSpa. The Hales reside in Oklahoma City with their two young children.
Ms. Jessica Heard-Perry, ’14 & ’16, has been promoted to Director of Advancement Operations. Prior to this latest role, Heard-Perry served as Advancement Events Coordinator. Heard-Perry will oversee the OIA’s extensive work in funds administration and distribution, event planning and deployment, and university services. A product of the SWOSU Women’s Golf program under Coach Brad Fleetwood, Heard-Perry’s first professional role at SWOSU was in the SWOSU Athletic Department as External Affairs Coordinator. Heard-Perry is a native of Clinton where she remains involved in her family business, United Country Heard Auction & Real Estate. She and her husband, Lyndon Perry, ’16, reside in Weatherford with their daughter.
Ms. Kari Jones, ’94 & ’06, has been promoted to Director of Advancement Projects & Executive Assistant. Prior to this latest role, Jones served as Assistant Director of Institutional Advancement. Jones has served the OIA and the SWOSU Foundation, Inc. for over a quarter century under previous leadership including Jim Waites, ’69 & ’71 and the late Lynne Thurman as well as SWOSU Presidents Dr. Joe Anna Hibler, ’60, the late Dr. John Hays, ’69, and Dr. Randy L. Beutler, ’83 & ’02. In her new role,
Jones will guide the completion of long-term OIA initiatives and projects while also providing administrative support and services. Jones is a native of Shattuck. She and her husband, Willis, a longtime member of the SWOSU Physical Plant team, reside in Weatherford. Their daughter, Lauren (Jones) Eichler, and her husband, Jacob Eichler, will graduate from SWOSU in May 2024.
“I want to thank Erin Adams, Clarke Hale, Jessica Heard-Perry, and Kari Jones for their hard work and continued service to SWOSU,” said SWOSU Foundation, Inc. Executive Director Mr. Garrett King, ’08 & ’18. “These new roles for these key team members reflect a strong, long-term strategic commitment on the part of the Foundation Trustees to improve and enhance our services to students, faculty, staff, alumni, emeriti, and friends, and to provide our generous donor-investors with more high-quality opportunities for philanthropic partnership and involvement with SWOSU.”
For more information, please visit www.SWOSUFoundation.com or call 580-774-3267.
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