Lasallian Founder's Alumni Award: Dedication to Quality Education, David Ruskoski

November 9, 2023

 From the Bishop Kelley Class of 1981.

Our next recipient is receiving an award for Dedication to Education which is one of the five tenets of the Lasallian Charism.  And if you ask 1981 graduate, David Ruskoski, how he developed high academic standards, he will tell you he did that here at Bishop Kelley.  A 1981 BK grad, David reminded us that when he was a student here, the grading scale was 93% for an A, 85% for a B, 77% for a C, and 70% for a D.  He said that made college courses feel a bit easier since the normal grading standard, the one we use today, is not as high. 


When David graduated from Bishop Kelley, he first earned Associate’s degrees from Tulsa Community College in History and German.  He then attended the University of Oklahoma where he earned his Bachelor’s degree in Communication and Criminal Justice. Eventually, he moved to Atlanta where he studied at Georgia State University, earning a Master’s in History and completing his coursework toward a Ph.D., also in History.


In 2000, David moved back to Tulsa from Atlanta and became an Adjunct Professor at TCC while writing his dissertation on a World War I topic.  During this same time frame, David was a high school teacher, with most of his teaching done at a Title I high school in the Tulsa Public School system.  While teaching high school, David also coached boys basketball and girls soccer.  He graduated from Georgia State University with a Ph.D. in History in 2006 and was initially an Assistant Professor of History at Tulsa Community College where he is now an Associate Professor of History.


Dr. Ruskoski has led several “study abroad” trips to Europe, given lectures about American History at TCC’s Sister College, Jilin (Gee-Lin) Normal University in Siping (Si-ping), China, and has given several presentations about his research into the first World War at TCC, the University of Tulsa and many other places including Chaumont (Show-Mont), France.


David serves on the Tulsa Council for Holocaust Education and he has given several presentations at the Tulsa City/County Library. A year ago, he organized and hosted an event called “Tulsan’s Remember the Holocaust” that featured Holocaust Survivors who live in Tulsa. 


David continues to serve on the Tulsa Holocaust Education Committee.  He serves on the Advisory Board of the YMCA.  He’s also served multiple years on the United Way “Day of Caring” volunteer committee. David is a single parent to his three grown children, Heather, Laurel and Paul.  Paul is a 2022 BK graduate and he currently attends Lewis University in Romeoville, Illinois which is also a LaSallian institution. 


David has twice received TCC’s Faculty Award for Teaching Excellence and he also received the Outstanding Alumni award from Tulsa Community College.  David credits two Bishop Kelley faculty members for being exceptional educators.  Donna Yadon, according to David, brought an amazingly positive attitude to her classes.  David says, as an educator, Brother Michael Witt was as brilliant as any that he encountered in his college career.


Please join us in congratulating this year’s recipient of the award for Dedication to Education, Dr. David Ruskoski.


Lasallian Founder’s Alumni Award

Recognizing the accomplishments of Outstanding Bishop Kelley Alumni who exemplify the five core principles of the Lasallian Mission; Faith in the Presence of God, Quality Education, Concern for the Poor & Social Justice, Respect for All Persons & Inclusive Community.


If you know a deserving BK Alumni, please nominate them here:

https://www.bishopkelley.org/alumni#LasallianFoundersAlumniAwardsNominationForm

Thank You 2025 Auction Sponsors!

August 25, 2025
With over 350 in attendance on April 26, 2025 at Jarboe Hall, the BK community raised just over $312,500 (net) towards purchasing school bus transportation.

2025 Alumni Awards

July 24, 2025
Outstanding Young Alumni: Sam Littlefield ’10 Sam Littlefield attended Marquette from 1996 - 2006 before attending Bishop Kelley in the fall of 2006. At Bishop Kelley, Sam was President of Student Council his senior year, was also named Mr. Kelley, and was honored with the Bishop’s Medal upon his graduation in 2010. Sam set sail west and attended the University of San Diego from 2010 - 2014. While there, Sam served as President of his fraternity during his junior and senior years. He graduated with a BA in English in 2014. During his senior year, Sam applied to Gallo Winery’s esteemed sales rep academy and out of 5,000 applicants, was one of the 14 selected for this role out of college. He received world class sales training for a year before an opportunity presented itself for Sam to work as an Account Manager at a global digital marketing agency in downtown San Diego. In 2016, Sam moved back home to Tulsa eager to take on a role at Littlefield Agency, which his father, David, started in 1980. Sam has been at Littlefield for almost 9 years—becoming President in 2020 during the pandemic! Sam bought the agency in 2021. His role now is leading the charge on all new business and fostering key client relationships for ongoing accounts while running agency operations day-to-day. Sam has a staff of 24 all-stars…all here in Tulsa. This year, AD AGE, which is a global media industry magazine, named Littlefield as a Best Place to Work—one of the highest national marketing awards you can receive as an agency. Sam was recently elected as the youngest Chairman in MAGNET, which is an international group of over 30 independently owned marketing agencies made up of successful CEOs and Principals throughout the world. Sam met his wife Tara in December of 2016 and they were married in December of 2018 at Christ The King in Tulsa. Tara is a Doctor of Medical Dentistry and she owns and operates Littlefield Dentistry. They have two beautiful children: four-year-old Matthew and two-year-old Veronica.