When Barry Kelley came to Oklahoma Christian University in 2005, he planned to become an engineer.
Thirteen years later, he was named Oklahoma Christian’s Young Alumnus of the Year, and, while he traded his engineering dream for one of business and finance, he still uses his career and time to impact his alma mater. For his accomplishments, Kelley was recently honored at the 2018 Homecoming Alumni banquet Nov. 3.
While a student at Oklahoma Christian, Kelley started his own car washing and detailing business, which still exists today.
“That got me really interested in business and finance,” Kelley said. “I switched my major after two years from mechanical engineering to finance. That’s what I graduated with, a bachelor in finance with a minor in mechanical engineering.”
Kelley said he credits Oklahoma Christian with teaching him valuable life skills, which helped him in school and as an adult.
“Time management was a big one,” Kelley said. “Another one was probably managing resources, especially financial resources. My wife and I took Kent Hartman’s personal and family finance class.”
According to Kelley, Hartman’s class impacted his financial outlook and the rest of his life.
“I tell people this when they ask me about OC or what I like most about it,” Kelley said. “If I had to pay all the tuition dollars, room and board, all the caf money—everything—but I could only remember and use the information and knowledge from one class, that was the one class. No matter what your major is—no matter what you do—you’re going to have to manage your personal finances and that teaches you how to do that.”
Kelley’s interest in finance led to his work at MidFirst Bank, where he currently serves as a senior financial analyst.
“I do a lot of financial reporting,” Kelley said. “So, as the CFO presents financial material to the Board of Directors and to outsiders, I’m generally the one that’s preparing those reports or reviewing those reports.”
Kelley also works with mergers and acquisitions, as well as helping fund the bank through deposits and wholesale borrowing. He shares his financial knowledge with current students at Oklahoma Christian and serves as part of the school’s National Alumni Council after Bob Lashley asked him to join.
“It’s kind of a sounding board for faculty, staff and the administration at OC to talk to a group of outsiders that have OC in their best interests, but they’re not employed by OC,” Kelley said. “We’re a conduit for communication—a two-way communication between people off-campus and then those running and supporting OC.”
Kelley and his wife, Jill, are regularly on campus, speaking in Hartman’s personal finance class and helping other professors.
“We help students with budgeting,” Kelley said. “We’re not giving huge sums of money to OC to name anything after us or our family, we’re just giving of our time and resources of what we’ve been blessed with. Compared to what other people do for OC, it’s a very small drop in the bucket.”
Being named Young Alumnus of the Year, according to Kelley, came as a shock.
“It’s pretty unique, and it’s something that I wasn’t going after,” Kelley said. “That’s just the way Jill and I are. We aren’t front-stage people, we are kind of behind the scenes and more like support roles. To have someone say, ‘We want to put the limelight on you and showcase you,’ we did have to seriously think about that and consider what our peers and what other alumni might think. Ultimately, we said we wanted to show other alumni how easy it is to get involved. Every little bit helps.”
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