Dr. Shelley Ross Hamby, director of the Valley View Foundation at Valley View Regional Hospital, will become assistant to the president of East Central University on Sept. 1.
President John Hargrave made the announcement today [JULY 15]. Hamby will take over the duties of his assistant, Martha Skinner, who will retire Aug. 31.
Hamby will work part time at ECU and VVRH through Aug. 31.
"It will be very sad to lose Martha Skinner," Hargrave said. "She has worked for four ECU presidents and two interim presidents and I'm sure none of us would have gotten very far without her. Everyone on campus relies on her for some kind of advice or information. We wish her a wonderful retirement.
"I am," he added, "very happy to have Dr. Shelley Ross Hamby returning to ECU."
Hargrave said he plans to build on Hamby's previous experience at ECU and her involvement in the community to assign additional duties to that position.
Hamby, a native of Ada, was an assistant to ECU's vice president for finance, Raymond Johnson, when she came to ECU in 2000. She later became director of purchasing and was assistant vice president of administration and finance under Dr. Steve Turner when she left ECU in 2007 for the Valley View Foundation.
She helped implement a new computer system at ECU and helped oversee the renovation of Danley Hall and the preparatory work for the Hallie Brown Ford Fine Arts Center, such as land acquisition, building demolition, bid solicitation and working with the architect.
At Valley View she raised awareness of the hospital, its needs and its impact on the community. She will continue to work on the foundation's fund-raising Boot Scootin' golf and poker tournament on Aug. 28.
"I'm most proud of seeing the outpouring of community support for the hospital," she said. "The exciting thing about my new job is the relationships that can be built between ECU and the hospital, especially in the nursing and business programs.
"I'm looking forward to continuing to work in the community and helping ECU be an active partner in this area. It's an awesome responsibility, coming into this position," she said.
Hamby earned a bachelor's degree in accounting from the University of Oklahoma and worked several years for an accounting firm in Oklahoma City. She completed teacher certification requirements at ECU and taught in Las Vegas before working for Wet'n Wild water parks in Las Vegas. She traveled internationally to develop water parks and helped build and open Wet'n Wild Cancun.
She also earned a master of education degree from the University of Nevada at Las Vegas and completed a doctorate at OU in adult and higher education administration in 2004.
Hamby serves on the boards of directors of the Ada Area Chamber of Commerce and McCall's Chapel and is vice president of the Ada Lions Club. She and her husband, Jim Hamby, CEO of Vision Bank, are active members of the First Baptist Church in Ada.
She has three step-daughters and two granddaughters. She is the daughter of Jon and Margie Ross of Ada and the granddaughter of the late Melba Cottingham of Ada. They all graduated from ECU.
"I'm very excited about the opportunity to return to the university which has given so much to my family," Hamby said.
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