William E. “Bill” Lobeck was inducted into the Tulsa Hall of Fame in 2010

As a couple, Kathy Taylor and William E. “Bill” Lobeck impact Tulsa through a broad range of philanthropic, business and civic interests.

Bill Lobeck’s entrepreneurial vision, financial management and leadership skills have fueled the success of major brands in the daily car rental industry. Lobeck began his career in the daily car rental industry in Norfolk, Virginia. He created the first dealer repurchase program and established a special purpose leasing company which today are significant components of current automotive and daily car rental industries.

In 1979, Lobeck became president and CEO of Dallas-based American International. During his 11-year tenure, the company grew from 18 offices in 7 states to nearly 300 offices across the country.

In 1981, Lobeck and partners purchased Thrifty Car Rental. Under Lobeck’s leadership the company’s profitability and growth led to a successful IPO in 1987.

When Chrysler acquired Thrifty, Lobeck remained as president and COO. As part of Chrysler, he formed Pentastar Transportation Group and acquired three additional companies, today known as Dollar Thrifty Automotive Group. In 1995, Lobeck and partners acquired National Car Rental from General Motors. Lobeck brought National into the AutoNation family becoming president and COO of AutoNation’s Rental Group.

When AutoNation’s rental group fell into financial difficulty, Lobeck and Cerberus Capital Management acquired the assets of the companies bringing them out of bankruptcy as Vanguard Car Rental USA in 2003. The company became one of the industry’s most financially successful companies. In 2007 Vanguard was acquired by Enterprise

Rent-A-Car.

Aside from transforming companies into profitable ventures, Lobeck is involved in a broad range of philanthropic activities including diabetes, domestic violence and blindness, museums, leadership development, organizations, and universities. Lobeck was awarded an honorary doctoral degree from his alma mater, Old Dominion Universi

Kathy Taylor was inducted into the Tulsa Hall of Fame in 2010

As a couple, Kathy Taylor and William E. “Bill” Lobeck impact Tulsa through a broad range of philanthropic, business and civic interests.

Kathy Taylor currently serves as a member of Oklahoma Governor Brad Henry’s cabinet as Chief of Education Strategy and Innovation. She served as Mayor of the City of Tulsa, the state’s second largest city beginning in 2006. Prior to her election as Mayor, she worked with Governor Henry as Secretary of Commerce, Tourism and Workforce Development.

As mayor, Taylor helped lead the passage of the largest investment in Tulsa’s street infrastructure and began a revamp of the city’s comprehensive land use plan, known as PlaniTulsa. She consolidated 1,000 city employees in a new City Hall; worked with state leadership to both acquire the city’s first public hospital and complete a hangar for American Airlines which is the city’s largest employer. Taylor helped lead the city-owned Gilcrease Museum to a successful partnership with the University of Tulsa.

During her term, the BOK Center and the renovation of the Convention Center were completed; a location, funding stream and contract was secured to build a new downtown ballpark for the Tulsa Drillers; and a WNBA team chose Tulsa as its home.

The Mayor’s “Mentoring to the Max” initiative brought over 500 mentors to Tulsa area public schools.

As Oklahoma’s Secretary of Commerce she led the recruitment of Dell’s second largest U.S. facility to Oklahoma. She co-chaired Governor Henry’s EDGE initiative, a statewide effort to build an economic development plan including a research endowment to support job attraction.

Prior to entering public service Taylor was a lawyer and a business owner. She received a B.A. in Journalism and a Juris Doctorate from the University of Oklahoma graduating Order of the Coif. She currently serves on the board of directors of Sonic Industries, Inc.

Gail Zarrow Richards was inducted into the Tulsa Hall of Fame in 2010

In an ambitious and inspiring goal to end chronic homelessness in Tulsa, cousins Judith Z. Kishner and Gail Zarrow Richards serve as co-chairs of “Building Tulsa, Building Lives.”

Kishner and Richards engaged their family’s foundations and the foundations of others to leverage public funding for a debt free and sustainable 76 unit apartment building with single room occupancy and one bedroom apartments. The project provides “housing first”, housing that is safe, affordable, decent, and sustainable with supportive assistance available to residents. The model is unique to Tulsa, but it is attracting national attention in the efforts to address homelessness.

In addition to dining services, common living areas for activities and relaxation, outdoor seating and library and transportation services, the project also provides additional supportive assistance to the residents when needed. Through Kishner’s and Richards’ leadership more than 70 homeless, mental and physical health providers and organizations increased their levels of collaboration to serve residents.

Gail Zarrow Richards is a manager for the Zarrow Family Office, a director of the Zarrow Families Foundation and director and secretary for the Maxine and Jack Zarrow Family Foundation.

She currently serves on the University of Oklahoma Education Board of Advocates, on the Advisory Board of Family and Children’s Services and the Mental Health Association of Tulsa. Richards serves on the Mayor’s Task Force on Homelessness and on the Governor’s Transformation Advisory Board.

She was selected as 2005 Volunteer of the Year by Tulsa People Magazine and received the 2009 Pinnacle Award in Community Service.

Previously, Richards served on the board of Directors of Gilcrease Museum, the Mental Health Association of Tulsa, the Oklahoma Foundation for Excellence, CASA, Planned Parenthood, National Mental Health America, Trinity Hospice Foundation, Children’s Medical Center Foundation, Holland Hall School, Jewish Federation of Tulsa, Undercroft Montessori School, Tulsa Boys Home, Tulsa Community Foundation, and the women’s Health Center of Hillcrest HealthCare System.

Richards received a Bachelor of Science Degree in Special Education from the University of Oklahoma.

Individually and in collaboration, cousins Kishner and Richards have tackled problems believed to be intractable and created opportunities for many improving the quality of life for Tulsans in many generations to come.

Judith Z. Kishner was inducted into the Tulsa Hall of Fame in 2010

In an ambitious and inspiring goal to end chronic homelessness in Tulsa, cousins Judith Z. Kishner and Gail Zarrow Richards serve as co-chairs of “Building Tulsa, Building Lives.

Kishner and Richards engaged their family’s foundations and the foundations of others to leverage public funding for a debt free and sustainable 76 unit apartment building with single room occupancy and one bedroom apartments. The project provides “housing first”, housing that is safe, affordable, decent, and sustainable with supportive assistance available to residents. The model is unique to Tulsa, but it is attracting national attention in the efforts to address homelessness.

In addition to dining services, common living areas for activities and relaxation, outdoor seating and library and transportation services, the project also provides additional supportive assistance to the residents when needed. Through Kishner’s and Richards’ leadership more than 70 homeless, mental and physical health providers and organizations increased their levels of collaboration to serve residents.

Judith Z. Kishner is president of the Anne & Henry Zarrow Foundation, a trustee of the Zarrow Families Foundation, and a manager of the Zarrow Family Office.

Kishner serves as a director of the Oklahoma Conference for Community and Justice, and as a director of Saint Francis Health System. She serves on the advisory boards of the Center for Individuals with Physical Challenges and of the Mental Health Association. She is a trustee of the Tulsa Library Trust and president of Spay Oklahoma, Inc.

Kishner is past chairperson of the Nature Conservancy and served on the boards of the Day Center for the Homeless, the National Conference of Christians and Jews and the Alzheimer’s Association.

Kishner earned a B.A and a J.D. from the University of Tulsa.

Michael Wallis was inducted into the Tulsa Hall of Fame in 2010

Best-selling author and award-winning reporter, Michael Wallis is a historian and biographer of the American West with an international reputation as a speaker and voice talent. It has been said, “reading a Michael Wallis book is like dancing to a romantic ballad. He offers his hand and gently guides you across the floor, swaying to the song of the American West.”

Wallis has published seventeen books, including Route 66: The Mother Road, Billy the Kid: The Endless Ride and The Lincoln Highway: Coast to Coast from Times Square to the Golden Gate. David Crockett: The Lion of the West will be published in 2011 followed by The Wild West/365 Days.

Other Wallis books include The Real Wild West: The 101 Ranch and the Creation of the American West; Mankiller: A Chief and Her People; Way Down Yonder In The Indian Nation; and Pretty Boy: The Life and Times of Charles Arthur Floyd. His work has been published in national and international magazines and newspapers, including Time, Life, People, Smithsonian, The New Yorker, and The New York Times.

Wallis has been nominated three times for the Pulitzer Prize and was a nominee for the National Book Award. Other honors include: the Will Rogers Spirit Award, the Western Heritage Award from the National Cowboy Hall & Western Heritage Museum, the Oklahoma Book Award from the Oklahoma Center for the Book, and the Best Western Non-fiction Award from the Western Writers of America.

Wallis was inducted into the Writers Hall of Fame of America, the Oklahoma Professional Writer’s Hall of Fame, the Oklahoma Historians Hall of Fame, and the Oklahoma Route 66 Hall of Fame. He received the Arrell Gibson Lifetime Achievement Award, as well as the Lynn Riggs Award and the first John Steinbeck Award.

In 2006, Wallis’s distinctive voice was heard in CARS, an animated feature film from Pixar Studios. He will be featured in CARS 2, a sequel due for release in 2011.

Robin Flint Ballenger was inducted into the Tulsa Hall of Fame in 2010

Robin Flint Ballenger, an enrolled member of the Cherokee Nation, is the first female chairman of The Flintco Companies, Inc. Flintco is the largest American Indian owned Construction Company in the world and is ranked as one of the largest contractors in the nation. The nearly century old Flintco Companies deliver services from seven offices across the south and southwest. As the third-generation owner, Ballenger’s daily life is spent in the cherishing and furthering of both her ethnic, family and business heritage.

Ballenger earned her bachelor’s degree in philosophy from Middlebury College in Vermont. She has a master’s degree in urban studies from Occidental College and a second master’s degree in gerontology from the University of Southern California.

She is currently a board member of the Philbrook Museum of Art, Tulsa City-County Library Trust, Saint Simeon’s Foundation, Oklahoma Housing Trust Fund Committee, and the Cherokee Nation Education Corporation, and a member of the Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian. She is past president of Clarehouse board of directors and has served on the boards of the Cherokee National Historical Society, Hillcrest Medical Center and Planned Parenthood Eastern Oklahoma.

Ballenger’s professional and civic awards include: American Indian Business Owner of the Year; American Indian Chamber of Commerce of Oklahoma Community Spirit Award; State Large Business of the Year (Flintco); The Journal Record’s 2007 Woman of the Year and Dream Keepers 2009 Charles Chibitty Family Community Contributor Award.