Hall of Fame Member Biographies

Les Crall

The fourth generation of a Weatherford farming family, Dr. Les Crall graduated from Thomas High School and went on to earn a bachelor’s degree in accounting and a master’s of business administration from Southwestern Oklahoma State University (SWOSU). He received his juris doctorate from the University of Oklahoma in 1983 before returning to his hometown and accepting a teaching position at his alma mater.

A member of the SWOSU faculty for 29 years, Dr. Crall taught numerous courses—including accounting, finance, and business law—before serving the final seven years of his tenure as Associate Dean of the Everett Dobson School of Business and Technology. During his time as a professor, he pursued a very aggressive research agenda, authoring and presenting numerous papers on a variety of legal issues relating to the business world.

Heavily involved in campus and community activities, Dr. Crall was an original member of the consortium that created the Reach Higher Program, a degree completion initiative aimed at increasing the number of college graduates in Oklahoma. For 25 years, he worked as the faculty advisor of the student government association at SWOSU, as well as serving terms as the President of the Faculty Senate, the Weatherford Rotary Club, and the Weatherford Chamber of Commerce.

Dr. Crall was also active in university accreditation processes, serving as a consultant evaluator, a readers’ panel member, and a review board member for the Higher Learning Commission of the North Central Association. He also worked as a team chair and led numerous on-site accreditation team visits to area universities. Still active in SWOSU’s business school, Dr. Crall also remains a member of the board of directors of the International Accreditation Council for Business Education.

In the late 1980s, Dr. Crall began assisting the SWOSU Athletic Department with in-game stats for football. He has also been the announcer during basketball games for the last 30 years. He eventually started working with the local broadcaster Wright Radio as the sideline reporter during football broadcasts before transitioning into the role of color commentator, a position he still holds. A founding member of the university’s Athletic Association who still serves on the board, Dr. Crall received the Cecil Perkins Service Award from the Athletic Department and the SWOSU Alumni Association’s Emeritus Award in 2018. Other honors include the Bernhardt Award acknowledging academic excellence at Southwestern, the Weatherford Daily News Readers’ Choice Award for outstanding professor, and the “Brandy Award – Faculty Member of the Year” by a vote of current SWOSU students.

Les Crall and his wife Laurie, a Weatherford Middle School teacher, have one daughter, Carlie, who currently teaches English in the Ft. Worth Public School System. Since retiring from teaching in 2015, Dr. Crall has returned to his family farm to grow peanuts, cotton, corn, wheat, hay, as well as raising a herd of cattle. In addition to his membership in the Oklahoma Bar Association and the Oklahoma Society of CPAs, he currently serves as Chairman of the Oklahoma Peanut Commission and Treasurer of the National Peanut Board.