About the Founder

Jimmie was a lifelong resident of Washington County, Oklahoma who believed that through hard work, individual responsibility and education, a person can achieve their highest goals and dreams. Jimmie’s life was an example of following those beliefs as he came from a working class family in Bartlesville, Oklahoma. The youngest of 5 children of Marion Sr. and Maude Dean, where his grandfather, father and older brother were all self employed plumbers. He attended and graduated from Bartlesville High School in 1960 and then went on to serve in the United States Navy as an aircraft mechanic from 1961-1966. After being honorably discharged from the Navy, he began a 33 year career with Phillips Petroleum Company, retiring in 1999. While working at Phillips Jimmie’s work received recognition from his peers and he innovated and developed solutions, even receiving a patent in 1992.  He was an avid outdoors man who loved hunting, fishing and doing things with his hands and was an excellent mechanic and machinist. Being self reliant was something he took great pride in and he held in high regard others who “paid their own way” in life.

Despite never making a large amount of wages during his lifetime, Jimmie prudently managed his financial affairs and upon his death in 2008, directed his estate to organize a charitable not-for-profit corporation to assist young Oklahoma adults who would “pay their own way”.  Through a testamentary gift, his estate is the original contributor to the Jimmie L. Dean Scholarship Foundation, Inc. that is the endowment from which the financial awards are provided.

Candidates for an award from the Foundation should show achievement in their educational studies, leadership, personal responsibility and character. The awards are targeted to assist those who have worked hard and contributed in providing for their own financial needs while maintaining a solid academic record. Family income does not factor into the decision for an award as the Foundation looks for students who have held a paying job and has shown personal responsibility in their life to prepare themselves for a formal education beyond high school.

Each Scholarship Award granted can be up to $10,000 per academic school year with the actual amount of each award determined by the Foundation. We expect the average award to be less than $10,000 and the actual number of awards will be determined after all applications are received and reviewed.

We are looking for students who have share the traits of Jimmie that have been evident throughout their life. While every application will be carefully considered and evaluated, the candidates that are seeking to major in a technical field of study, have helped provide for their own financial support while growing up in Oklahoma, and have a strong desire to remain in Oklahoma after graduation with their four year degree will be given preference. Students will also have demonstrated academic achievement by obtaining an ACT score of 25 or higher if attending a college or university and a 17 if attending Oklahoma State University Institute of Technology in Okmulgee.

However, some of the majors we do not accept are the arts, business, criminal justice, education, journalism, music, political science, sociology, pre-law, psychology, religious studies, or social sciences,

Since our first awards granted in the 2010 – 2011 academic year, the Foundation granted over $1,500,000 in awards with individual awards ranging from $1,500 to $10,000 per year.  Several students have received lifetime award totals in excess of $25,000.

Robert Boyd has lived in Northeastern Oklahoma his entire life and is Jimmie’s nephew. He is the Founder and President of Boston Street Advisors a financial advisory firm in Tulsa, where he advises Private Equity and Hedge Funds in business development and transaction structuring. He has over forty years experience in the fields of venture capital, capital formation, international finance, and investment banking. Prior to forming his own firm, he held positions as Chief Financial Officer – Treasurer and Manager of Treasury in the manufacturing sector and senior financial analyst for a major international energy company. He is also the founder of Boston Street Capital, a private equity investment firm.

In addition to being chairman of The Jimmie L. Dean Scholarship Foundation, Mr. Boyd is an active board member for the John Starks Foundation.  He previously served as the chairman of the board for Asbury Communities and as a board member of The Oklahoma Health Care Authority. Mr. Boyd has served on the National Advisory Council of the U. S. Small Business Administration, is a Special Advisor to the President of the Wharton Club of New York and is a member of Wharton Private Equity Partners.

He has served on the Economic Development Committee for the City of Tulsa and on the Business Valuation Committee of the Oklahoma Society of CPA’s, and the boards of Inverness Village, Logistics Master, Bios, Effective Teaching and Learning, The University of Tulsa Friends of Finance, The University of Tulsa Alumni Association and The University of Tulsa Graduate Business Studies.

Mr. Boyd holds a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from Phillips University where he played varsity baseball and a Master of Business Administration from the University of Tulsa, graduating with honors. He graduated from the Advanced Management Program from the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania and served as a Fellow of the Wharton School. He obtained his certification as a Certified Public Accountant in the state of Oklahoma and held Series 7, 63, 65 and 79 securities licenses. He lives in the Tulsa area and is married with two children and three grandchildren.

Tony Bacher is a lifelong Tulsan and co-founder of several local businesses. He is currently retired and is enjoying volunteer and recreational activities.

In 1989 Mr. Bacher co-founded Mersch-Bacher Associates Inc, (MBA) with another Tulsan, Carol Mersch, and the company became a leader in IBM AS/400 software development. One of the products MBA developed for IBM was subsequently sold to IBM in a multi-million dollar transaction. This product is IBM’s standard backup and recovery offering for all AS/400’s sold by IBM worldwide. A second product is currently marketed by IBM worldwide.

In 1996 Mr. Bacher co-founded the WebZone which focused on providing residential dial-up processing and other services such as web hosting and design, dedicated access and collocation. WebZone was sold to RMI.NET, which was a regional, publicly traded Internet Service Provider in a transactions valued at $5.25 million dollars in July of 1999. MBA was then sold in December 1999 to Pinnacle Business Systems, a privately held company in Edmond Oklahoma.

Mr. Bacher continued with Pinnacle Business Systems until August of 2001 when he left and purchased the assets of WebZone due to RMI.NET’s bankruptcy filing. Since 2001 he has led TulsaConnect in serving small and medium sized businesses operating two state of the art data centers, both in downtown Tulsa.

Mr. Bacher graduated from Oklahoma State University in 1970 with his Bachelor of Science in Industrial Engineering and was awarded his Master’s degree in Industrial Engineering in 1972. He is a registered professional engineer in Oklahoma and nationally.

Mr. Bacher lives in Tulsa and is married with three children. He is an active member of The First Baptist Church of Tulsa, Tulsa Executives Association and the Owasso Children’s Home.

Eddie Miller was an original Founder and CEO of Bios Corporation, a company established to serve people with developmental disabilities, where he served until 2023. In 1991, Eddie, along with Linda Myers and Glenn Salley, founded Bios Corporation and in January of 1992 he formally joined the company as CEO/President. In 2002, Eddie became President/CEO of Bios Companies, Inc., a holding company whose subsidiaries serve several hundred people in Oklahoma/Tennessee and employs over 1,000.

From August of 1989 until January 1992, Eddie worked for the Homeward Bound Review Panel. The Review Panel was founded to assist in carrying out the purposes of the Homeward Bound v. Hissom Consent Decree, a Federal court agreement that established the community-based services system that serves thousands of Oklahomans today.

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He began his professional career in the field of intellectual and developmental disabilities at a sheltered workshop in 1988. In 1989, he became a job coach through the Oklahoma Supported Employment Project providing him the opportunity to help people pursue meaningful lives through meaningful employment.

He currently serves on the boards Oklahoma Baptist Villages Board of Directors, Oklahoma State Chamber Board of Directors, Advisory Committee of Services for Persons with Developmental Disabilities, Lawrence Peoples Ministries, Board of Directors, President, Home and Community Based Services Council, NSU Pi Kappa Alpha Alumni Association.

Mr. Miller is a native of and resides in Sapulpa, Oklahoma and is a member of Broadway Baptist Church. He graduated Northeastern State University, May of 1989 with a B.A. in psychology. He is married to Kendyll and has 4 children, Jonathan, Zachary, Terrance, and Madison.

Brian Treat joined the board in July 2021. Mr. Treat, along with his wife Jane, owns and operates Chick-fil-A Claremore. The restaurant opened in 2017 and employs nearly 80 people, with a mission to be faithful stewards and to have a positive impact on every one of their team members and guests. The Chick-fil-A Claremore team has raised thousands of dollars to support Claremore area schools, reduce hunger and improve our community, has been recognized with the Symbol of Success and Champions awards and was named Claremore’s Most Friendly Business. Additionally, to help its team members achieve their dreams, Chick-fil-A Claremore has awarded tens of thousands of dollars in scholarships.

Prior to opening the restaurant, Mr. Treat served in a number of executive and legislative roles including as Chief of Staff to United States Senator Tom A. Coburn, M.D., managing a staff of approximately forty located in three offices in Oklahoma and Washington, DC and an annual budget of more than $3 million. He also also co-founded and served as Executive Direcor of a non-profit foundation focused on educating and inspiring younger Americans.

Mr. Treat is a native Oklahoman, born in Tulsa and raised in Rogers County. He is a graduate of the University of Oklahoma, where he earned an undergraduate degree in political science and Master of Public Administration (MPA). He and his wife, Jane, and their three daughters reside in the Claremore area and are active in several faith and community focused organizations.

We want to thank an original board member, Dennis Wing, for his service to the Foundation from 2009-2023.  We are forever grateful to his contributions to the board and his commitment to helping Oklahoma students achieve their career goals.

We want to thank an original board member, Frank McDonald, for his service to the Foundation. Mr. McDonald served from 2009-2014.