By Jim Killackey
Staff Writer
As printed in The Oklahoman, January 27, 2008.

Two Oklahoma City men who are leaders in their fields will be honored Thursday during the annual "Evening of Excellence" banquet sponsored by the University of Oklahoma College of Medicine Alumni Association.

The black-tie dinner will be at 6:30 p.m. at the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum, 1700 NE 63.

Carl Edwards will receive the "Distinguished Community Service" award, and Dr. Gordon H. Deckert will receive the "Distinguished Medical Service" award. The Samuel Roberts Noble Foundation in Ardmore will receive the "Distinguished Oklahoma Institution" award for supporting excellence in medical research and establishing a collegial bond with the OU Medical College.

• Carl Edwards is co-managing partner of Price Edwards & Co., the largest Oklahoma-based commercial real estate service company. Edwards has chaired the Presbyterian Health Foundation's board of trustees for the last four years. He was a trustee in 1993, two years before the foundation opened the first of seven buildings in its 27-acre Research Park in northeast Oklahoma City.

As chairman, Edwards has been instrumental in continuing the foundation's financial support for the OU Health Sciences Center.

As a volunteer, he has been vice chairman of the Greater Oklahoma City Chamber of Commerce with responsibility for the bioscience center. Edwards chairs the MAPS for Kids Trust and is vice chairman of the Oklahoma City Water Utilities Trust's board of trustees. Other civic involvements include the boards of the Oklahoma Health Center Foundation, Leadership Oklahoma City, United Way of Central Oklahoma, and Westminster Presbyterian Church.

• Dr. Gordon H. Deckert is an OU David Ross Boyd Professor Emeritus of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences. He is a past president of the Oklahoma Board of Health and is serving his second term on the board.

A 1955 graduate of Northwestern University Medical School, Deckert was named a Distinguished Alumnus Professor of the school in 1978. He completed a medical fellowship at the Mayo Clinic and then came to Oklahoma as chief of medicine at Tinker Air Force Base Hospital.

He joined the OU College of Medicine faculty and served as professor and chair of the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences from 1969 to 1986. His awards are numerous, including the "Public Health Excellence Award" from the OU College of Public Health.

Deckert is a former chief of staff at University Hospital and Clinics. He was a fellow of the American Psychiatric Association and American College of Psychiatrists.

• The Samuel Roberts Noble Foundation is an independent, non-profit institute conducting plant science research and agricultural programs to enhance agricultural productivity.

Founded in 1945 by oilman and philanthropist Lloyd Noble, the foundation's efforts have focused on educating and encouraging area farmers and ranchers to practice resource conservation. With 325 employees representing more than 25 counties, the foundation continues to develop one of the most comprehensive agriculture and plant science research institutions in the world.

The foundation maintains an active philanthropic program and made its first grant in 1946 to OU for scientific instruments in research. Since this grant, the Noble Foundation has paid more than $800 million for charitable purposes.

Three members of the Noble family have served on the OU Board of Regents, including the founder, his son – the late Sam Noble – and Sam Noble's wife, Mary Jane Noble.

Dinner reservations, priced at $250 per person, may be made by sending checks payable to the OU Foundation Inc.-Research Fund to the OU College of Medicine Alumni and Development Office, P.O. Box 26901, Library Room 162, Oklahoma City, OK, 73126-0901.

The Evening of Excellence provides "seed" grants to young medical investigators.

Nearly $2 million in grants have been awarded to 111 investigators since 1985 from proceeds of the OU College of Medicine Alumni Association dinner.

Diabetes, cancer, infectious diseases and genetics are key research areas.

This article appeared in The Oklahoman, www.newsok.com, on January 27, 2008.