Dean's Advisory Board

Jim D. Duncan is the president of Benchmark Financial Services, LLC and Benchmark Financial Group, Inc.  Together these companies provide holistic financial services offering choices with wealth accumulation, wealth management and wealth protection for Oklahoma individuals, business owners and their employees. The benchmark companies are independent agencies that offer products and services from many investment companies, money managers and major health insurance carriers. Jim is an investment advisor representative, with over 30 years of experience helping Oklahomans with their insurance needs and wealth accumulation needs. Jim is a graduate of Oklahoma Baptist University with health care and business administration degrees.   Jim is an active member of Village Baptist Church and is devoted to his wife of 39 years.

Stephen Ellis serves as the executive vice president and director of personal banking for MidFirst Bank.  Stephen joined MidFirst in 1996 as a financial analyst and has served in several roles at the bank since.  Stephen currently manages over fifty branches in twenty-one Oklahoma communities along with MidFirst’s call center and consumer mortgage lending groups.  Stephen has worked in the banking industry for over twenty years. Stephen is a graduate of Oklahoma Baptist University and participated in Leadership Oklahoma Class XXIV.  Stephen serves on advisory boards for the College of Business at Oklahoma Baptist University and the University of Central Oklahoma. Stephen and his wife Kristen, who serves on the worship and arts staff at Henderson Hills Baptist Church, reside in Edmond with their two daughters.

Steve Foskin grew up in Bethany, OK. Upon graduation from the University of Central Oklahoma in 1986 with a Bachelor of Science in Accounting, he began his career in public accounting earning the designation of Certified Public Accountant shortly thereafter. After spending seven years in both the public and private accounting sectors, Steve operated an insurance and financial services company for six years. He has since been in the banking industry for the past 10 years.

Steve and his wife Amy, who is a director at Ernst and Young, reside in Edmond with their three daughters. Their twins attend UCO and their youngest is at Edmond North High School.

Gregg Henson holds the position of vice president and corporate controller at Devon Energy Corporation. Prior to joining Devon in 1997, Henson was employed by Kerr-McGee Corporation where he held various positions in internal audit and operations accounting in their Oklahoma City and Calgary offices. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree from East Central University, majoring in accounting. Henson is a Certified Public Accountant and a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants and the Oklahoma State Society of Certified Public Accountants.

He is a contributor, author and subject matter expert for NACVA in the areas of business valuation, litigation consulting, expert witness, financial forensics and various consulting disciplines.  He is a member of the around the valuation world team and was a co-chair for the 2014 NACVA’s Annual Consultants Conference in Las Vegas.  He has also taught continuing legal education classes in the areas of business valuations and financial forensics.

When not working on engagements, T. J. enjoys playing golf, hunting, and snow skiing.  He is married to his junior high and high school sweetheart, Macie.  They live in Oklahoma City with their two dogs.

Diana is one of the founding members of Accel Financial Staffing and helped open the office in 1995. She enjoys developing relationships with clients and helping Oklahoma City companies grow their staff. Diana currently serves on the Oklahoma Human Resource State Council as the district director-west and is the 2019 OKHR State Conference co-chair. In 2018, Diana was awarded the Volunteer of the Year Award chosen by the OKHR executive committee and honored during the 2018 OKHR State Conference.  She is the past president of the Sooner Human Resource Society (SHRS) representing the Moore-Norman area, as well as the past college relations director and certification director for OKHR.  In November 2013, Diana led the SHRS chapter to earn its first national Pinnacle Award, the highest honor given to a SHRM (Society of Human Resource Management) chapter. Diana is the past treasurer of the Oklahoma Ethics Consortium and is a graduate of Leadership Oklahoma City, Class XXVI. She currently serves as a team leader for the Oklahoma City Chamber Total Resource Development Campaign and serves on the OKC Greater Grads committee since its inception in 2007. Diana also enjoys serving on the University of Central Oklahoma College of Business Advisory Board.  Diana maintains both her SHRM-SCP and SPHR certification credentials.

Education

Career Summary

Ms. Waters has held positions across a wide range of industries and has an extensive financial background. She was most recently with Paycom Software as chief accounting officer/controller, where she guided the company through an Initial Public Offering.

Waters is tasked with handling the financial leadership of Petra and Petra’s affiliated companies. She has a strong track record of building high-functioning teams and working across departments. Her leadership has resulted in streamlined processes, tighter internal controls and improved budget insights across departments.

Education

Ms. Waters holds a B.S. in Accounting from East Central University, an MBA in Finance from Oklahoma City University and is a Certified Public Accountant.

Personal

Ms. Waters, a lifelong resident of Oklahoma, currently lives in Edmond, Oklahoma.