Three Join University of the Ozarks Board

Nathaniel “Nat” Raggette of Missouri City, Texas; Denton Tumbleson of Clarksville, Ark., and Buck Hill of Idabel, Okla.; have been appointed to the University of the Ozarks Board of Trustees, effective Jan. 1, 2019.

The three were unanimously approved by the board to serve three-year terms during the board’s annual fall meeting in October.

Raggette is managing director and senior oil and gas banker of Natixis, a French investment company with corporate headquarters in Paris. He has more than 20 years of financial services experience and previously worked at RBC Capital Markets, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley and Bright Horizon Resources. He earned his undergraduate degree from Tulane University and his M.B.A. from Harvard Business School.

Tumbleson is community president for Simmons Bank in Clarksville. A 1974 graduate of U of O, he is a past president of the University’s Alumni Association and previously served as a trustee from 1994-97 and from 2002-2014. He and his wife, Jane, have three daughters, Jennifer, Ashley and Lauren.

Hill is the owner and president of SETCO Solid Tire & Rim Assembly Company, a manufacturer and international distributor of solid tires for all makes and models of equipment used in off-road applications. Hill and his wife, Natalie, established the Dylan Giles Hill Memorial Scholarship in memory of their son, Dylan, a 2015 Ozarks graduate. The Hills have a daughter, Brennan; son-in-law, Mitchell; and a grand-daughter, Giles.

Also during the October meeting, several board members were re-elected for three-year terms: Rev. Tasha Blackburn of Fort Smith, Ark.; Allyn Donaubauer of Fort Smith; Catherine Lowry of Little Rock, Ark.; and Dr. Sherilyn Poole of Park Forrest, Ill.

In addition, Dr. Jim Bruning of Fort Smith was elected as the board’s new chair, Poole was selected as chair-elect, and Chris Allen of Clarksville was chosen as secretary.