Bill and Billie Buckles established the William R. and Billie D. Buckles Scholarship in Business to promote business and Northwestern. The Buckles value education at all levels and want to promote higher education to strengthen the local economy while aiding in the education of business majors.
Bill Buckles grew up on a farm near Dacoma, Okla., and graduated from Oklahoma State University in 1964. Bill taught math for two years in Great Bend, Kan., before he returned to Northwest Oklahoma and began a 39-year career with Central National Bank. Bill graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Madison Graduate School of Banking in 1986.
Growing up in Folsom, Okla., Billie began her banking career as a secretary for a bank president. She graduated from the University of Colorado Graduate School of Banking in 1975 and built a successful 24-year career in banking and finance. She became an officer in the National Association of Bank Women, earned insurance and securities licenses, and became an investment adviser.