On Nov. 9, 2022, The University of Tulsa proudly inducted three exceptional individuals into the Collins College of Business Hall of Fame. The honorees include Outstanding Business Leader recipient John Lindsay, Outstanding Entrepreneur recipient Jill Donovan and Dean’s Lifetime Achievement recipient Susie Collins Hentschel, all of whom have had substantial impacts on both TU and the Tulsa community. Congratulations to all three honorees!
John Lindsay – Outstanding Business Leader
John Lindsay became president and chief executive officer of Helmerich & Payne (H&P) in 2014. Lindsay began his career with H&P in 1987 as a drilling engineer and was part of the team that created and introduced the first commercial AC drive land rig, the FlexRig3®, that revolutionized the land rig market.
Lindsay has held a variety of positions within H&P from operations manager and executive vice president to CEO. He was instrumental in developing “The H&P Way,” which has helped the company build on its strong culture, technology and innovation. During his tenure, H&P has acquired four software companies, MOTIVE, MagVAR, Angus Jamison Consulting (AJC) and DrillScan. These companies create significant synergies when combined with the FlexRig technology. Lindsay serves on the board of Arcosa Inc., is a member of The University of Tulsa Petroleum Engineering Advisory Board, the Girl Scouts of Eastern Oklahoma Board, the Tulsa Regional Chamber Board of Directors and The Nature Conservancy Oklahoma Chapter Board.
Lindsay and his wife, Christy, are active in the Tulsa community and raised both daughters there. He graduated from TU where he received a bachelor of science degree in petroleum engineering.
Jill Donovan – Outstanding Entrepreneur
Jill Donovan was born in Baltimore, Maryland; was raised in Pensacola, Florida; and graduated from Oral Roberts University, where she met her husband, Terry. She went on to get her law degree from The University of Tulsa and was a practicing attorney and adjunct law professor at TU’s law school when Rustic Cuff was born. Amid all of this, Donovan taught herself how to make cuff bracelets and gifted them to friends and family.
Today, Rustic Cuff jewelry is sold in more than 200 stores across the country. The brand has been featured on national TV shows including Good Morning America, The Today Show and E! News. Donovan has opened her fifth Rustic Cuff retail store on Orlando’s Walt Disney World Property at Disney Springs. She even wrote a book aptly titled The Kindness Effect.
Donovan especially loves the fact that almost as often as her customers buy cuffs to keep, they buy them to give away. “It’s about the connection that is made between two people, sometimes even strangers, when these women are moved to gift the cuff off their own wrists,” she noted. “You can change your world … one act of kindness (or one cuff) at a time.”
Susie Collins Hentschel – Dean’s Lifetime Achievement
Education has always held a special place in Suzanne “Susie” Collins Hentschel’s heart. A retired teacher and reading specialist, Hentschel has taken a great interest in The University of Tulsa for more than 30 years, establishing herself as one of the university’s most enthusiastic advocates.
Hentschel served on the TU Board of Trustees from 2006 to 2019 and continues to hold the title of trustee emerita. For her remarkable devotion to TU, she was recognized with the J. Paschal Twyman Award (2015) and was inducted into TU Athletic Hall of Fame (2019 Order of the Merit Award).
An adventurous spirit led the Iowa native to college first at Barat College near Chicago for her bachelor’s degree and later to California State University at East Bay for her master’s degree. When Hentschel and her late husband Fulton Collins, a three-time Stanford alumnus, moved to Tulsa (his hometown) in 1981, TU pulled at their heartstrings. They felt their investments in this relatively small university could create important opportunities and change lives, and they were correct. As part of their legacy, critical programs and facilities across campus bear their names, including Collins Hall, the Fulton and Susie Collins Fitness Center, the Collins Family Softball Complex, and of course, the Collins College of Business.
In addition to her role as president of Collins Investments, Inc. and as trustee of The Fulton and Susie Collins Foundation, Hentschel’s priorities are faith, family and fitness. She and her husband, Dave Hentschel, have been involved in many nonprofit organizations, such as the John’s Island Community Service League, Bishop Kelley High School, Tulsa’s Day Center for the Homeless and San Miguel School, among many others. Together, they enjoy a blended family of six children and 16 grandchildren.