TISD will honor standout alumni during April events
Rep. Marvin L. Abney and Dr. Lanny G. Chasteen have been named Texarkana Independent
School District’s 2018 Distinguished Alumni.
They will be honored during several events on
April 6.
They will speak at a Student Leadership Breakfast, scheduled for 9 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. at the Dan Haskins Student Center at Texas High School, 2112 Kennedy Lane. Leadership students from Texas Middle School and Texas High will attend to hear the honorees speak on how the example you set for others and yourself begins at a young age and builds a strong foundation for personal and professional growth.
Abney and Chasteen will also speak and receive their awards during the Distinguished Alumni Luncheon, to be held from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Texarkana Country Club, No. 1 Club Drive. Seating is limited and reservations are required. Contact Tina Veal-Gooch at 903-794-3651, ext. 1013.
Abney graduated from Dunbar High School in 1968 and attended Texarkana College before completing a Bachelor of Science degree in public administration in 1975 from Stephen F. Austin State University. He earned a master’s degree in management from Webster University in 1982, a Master of Business Administration degree from the University of Rhode Island in 2000 and a certificate of advanced graduate study in educational leadership from Johnson & Wales University in 2005.
He served for 20 years in the Army and completed Officer Candidate School and Airborne School. He commanded a U.S. Detachment for the North Atlantic Treaty Organization Headquarters in
Belgium, which included responsibilities at the American Embassy in Paris, France. Abney is a graduate of the Army Command and General Staff College, and while he was stationed in Europe, he taught business law and general business courses at City Colleges of Chicago, European Division.
In his professional career, Abney served as city official for Newport, Rhode Island’s Zoning Board of Review; executive assistant to the Rhode Island Commissioner for Secondary and Elementary Education; and interim director of Human Resources Development at the State of Rhode Island, Department of Secondary and Elementary Education.
In November 2012, he was elected to serve the residents of Newport and Middleton, R.I., in District 73. In May 2016, he was named chairman of the House of Representatives Finance Committee and on the House Committee for Veterans’ Affairs. During the 2017 legislative session, Abney was the lead sponsor of the Fiscal Year 2018 state budget.
Abney serves on the board of incorporators for BankNewport, the board of directors of the Redwood Library & Athenaeum and as vice-chair of the Budget and Revenue Committee of the National Council of State Legislatures.
He has served as vice president on the executive board for the Narragansett Boy Scouts Council and as president of the Newport Education Foundation and the Parent-Teachers Association of American NATO Schools. Abney served as a member of the Newport Public School’s Strategic Planning Committee, the Internal Review Board of Salve Regina University and on the Community College of Rhode Island Foundation’s board of trustees. He is a founding member of Newport Community School’s board of trustees, treasurer of the board of directors of the Martin Luther King Jr. Community Center, a member of the Newport County YMCA’s board of directors and as consultant to the Annenberg Institute of School Reform at Brown University. He was honored by the Women’s Resource Center of Newport & Bristol County as one of their “Men Who Make a Difference.”
He lives in Newport with his wife, Cheryl Lynn (Amado). He is the father of sons Marvin L. Abney II, Christian A. Abney ( Army major) and daughter Tess A. Abney. He has four granddaughters: Sierra, Jade, Mia and Dakota.
Dr. Lanny G. Chasteen graduated from Texas High School in 1960 and earned a Bachelor of Business Administration degree from The University of Texas at Austin, a Master of Business Administration and a doctorate degree in accounting from the University of Arkansas. He is a retired certified public accountant in Oklahoma.
During his 39-year career in accounting, he has served as faculty at Oklahoma State University; head of OSU’s School of Accounting; professor emeritus of accounting at OSU; lecturer in accounting at Rice University; faculty resident for Haskins & Sells, now known as Deloitte, one of the “Big Four” accounting organizations and the largest professional services network in the world; and in summer visiting professor positions at University of Texas at Austin, Texas Tech University, University of Texas at Arlington and the University of Tulsa.
Chasteen has written several articles which have been published in The Accounting Review, Accounting Horizons, Issues in Accounting Education, Abacus, Journal of Accountancy, Journal of Accounting Education and other academic and professional journals. He has served on the editorial boards of The Accounting Review, Journal of Accounting Education and Issues in Accounting Education and has co-authored six editions of Intermediate Accounting, the college textbook which is the standard for students and professionals in the field.
He has held or currently holds memberships in Beta Gamma Sigma and Beta Alpha Psi honorary and professional societies, American Accounting Association, American Institute of CPAs, Oklahoma Society of CPAs, Accounting Programs Leadership Group of the American Accounting Association, Federation of Schools of Accountancy, Financial Executives Institute and the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business.
Chasteen has received numerous honors and awards for his work. They include the Oklahoma Gold Medalist and Elijah Watts Sells National Honorable Mention for the CPA Examination; the Department of Accounting Alumni Award from the University of Arkansas in 1988; Oklahoma Society of Certified Public Accountants Outstanding Educator Award in 1990 and 2007; Faculty Award of Merit from the Federation of Schools of Accountancy in 1999; various teaching awards from Oklahoma State University; and the establishment of the Lanny G. Chasteen Endowed Chair in Accounting at OSU in 2006.
His volunteer service includes serving on the audit committee for the City of Stillwater, Okla., for more than 20 years, being the CROP Walk (Communities Responding to Overcome Poverty) representative and assorted committee appointments at Highland Park United Methodist Church in Stillwater. He serves as an usher for St. Peter’s United Methodist Church in Katy, Texas, and as a home deliverer for Meals on Wheels.
Chasteen lives in Katy with Jane, his wife of 54 years. They have two daughters, Joey Michelle Rhodair and Jamie Lynn Pilloff; one grandson, Jeremy Pilloff; and one granddaughter, Julia Pilloff.
TISD has sponsored a Distinguished Alumni Awards program since 1992 to recognize the outstanding personal and professional achievements of its alumni. Past award recipients include Truman Arnold, Dr. Lenox Dial Baker, Miller Barber, Melvin Bradley, Dr. Karen D. Bradshaw, Billy C. Burnett, Ned Burns, Dr. William Dorland, Lt. Col. Norman “Ken” Dyson, Carl Finch, Theron Goynes, Dan Haskins, Ethel Pauley Jones, David Kusin, Gary Kusin, Prudence Mackintosh, Donald Ray McNeal, George McWilliams, Rick Minter, Jerry “Boo” Mitchell, Jr., Josh R., Morriss, Martha W. Morriss, Lt. Col. Daniel Oosterhous, H. Ross Perot, Dan Petty, Col. Willie Pollard, Jr., Collin Raye, Bill Rogers, Melanie Kusin Rowe, Marjorie Scardino, Vicki Schultz, Robert Wickliffe “Wick” Temple, Dr. David Tilson, III, Sheilah Walker and Dr. Steve Woodle.