A luncheon, followed by a lecture by Orza, will begin at 12 noon on Tuesday, March 1, in the Centennial Center on the RSU campus in Claremore. Tickets are available for $20 per person, and tables may be reserved, by contacting the RSU Office of Development at (918) 343-6816. The public is encouraged to reserve tickets early since seating is limited.
The title of Dr. Orza’s presentation will be “The Guy on Top of the Mountain Didn’t Fall There.”
“The university is pleased and honored to host Dr. Orza on our campus for our annual Herrington Lecture,” said RSU President Dr. Larry Rice. “Dr. Orza’s career is varied and wide-ranging and our students and the community alike will certainly benefit from exposure to his wisdom and insight.”
In November, Orza was appointed President and CEO of KSBI Television in Oklahoma City with the purpose of reprogramming the station. Orza has created several new daily and weekly programs including two live talk shows, a sports magazine, seasonal specials and several other offerings. In addition, he added a new slate of syndicated programs and formatted the station to achieve a dominant presence in the marketplace.
Prior to accepting the position as president of KSBI, Orza spent more than five years as Dean of the Meinders School of Business at Oklahoma City University.
His business career included 22 years as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Eateries Inc., a company he founded and developed into a national restaurant chain, operating coast to coast under the names of Garfield’s Restaurant and Pub, Garcia’s Mexican Restaurants and Pepperoni Grill Italian Bistros. During his tenure at Eateries, Orza grew the company from an idea to over $100 million in annual sales.
Orza began his television career as a guest on a local talk show which led to a full-time position as business and economics editor and news anchor for KOCO-TV in Oklahoma City. In 1984, he left television to create Eateries Inc. Twenty-two years later, he sold the company to return to television, providing KWTV-TV with regular business and economic commentary and analysis during his tenure as Dean of the Meinders School of Business.
Orza is also author of the book “When I Want Your Opinion I’ll Tell It to You,” a light-hearted, nostalgic look at growing up as a second generation Italian-American.
In addition, Orza has served as keynote and motivational speaker at various meetings and conventions across the U.S.
The late Carl G. and Gladys L. Herrington established the Herrington Distinguished Lectureship Endowment through the Rogers State University Foundation in 1989. The Herrington family initiated the lectureship endowment as a way to provide educational opportunities to RSU students and the community. The Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education provided matching funds for the endowment.
Mr. Herrington, a retired Exxon executive, served on the RSU Foundation Board of Directors and was a long- time supporter of the university. In 1990, RSU awarded him the Jefferson Fellow Award. The university’s Herrington Hall, which houses the RSU School of Business and Technology, was named in honor of the Herrington family in 1995.
Mr. Herrington’s sister, the late Ms. Margaret Herrington, established the Margaret J. Herrington Endowment through the RSU Foundation. She was born in Tecumseh, Okla., and educated at the University of Oklahoma, where she received a bachelor’s degree in business administration, and at Oklahoma City University, where she received her juris doctorate (law) degree.
For more information on the Carl G. and Gladys L. Herrington Distinguished Endowed Lecture at RSU, call (918) 343-6816 or visit the Herrington Lecture website.