Hoya Saxa! That’s how I’ll greet our special guest this week. For years, he has led one of the most successful publicly traded companies in Oklahoma. And he is an alumnus of Georgetown University.

      Our speaker this Wednesday is my Georgetown University Law Center classmate, Cliff Hudson. For the last 23 years, Hudson has been affiliated with Sonic Corp. in various leadership positions. Since 2000, he has served as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Sonic. He has also been Sonic’s President, Chief Operating Officer, Chief Financial Officer, and General Counsel.

      Under his leadership, Sonic has grown to new heights. Located in more than 40 states, there are now more than 3,500 Sonic Drive-Ins nationwide.

      Here’s a quiz: Which three states have the most Sonic Drive-Ins? How many are in each of these states?

      Let’s add a couple of other Sonic trivia questions. We know about the company’s first drive-in in Shawnee. But where were the first three franchises of the successful Shawnee facility? And, since 1959, the company has been known as Sonic. What was the name before that? The answers appear below.

      Guiding Sonic only begins to tell the story of Cliff Hudson. Over the years, Hudson has been active in numerous national, state and community affairs.

      From 1994-2001, Hudson served as chairman of the board of directors of the Securities Investor Protection Corporation (SIPC), a presidential appointment. He recently served as Chairman of the Oklahoma City School Board, currently serves as trustee of the Ford Foundation, and is the Chairman of the Board of the National Trust for Historic Preservation.

      Hudson has been honored as a distinguished alumnus of the University of Oklahoma College of Arts and Sciences, and serves as a member of its Board of Visitors. At Georgetown University Law Center, Hudson served as an editor of the International Law Journal, was later a member of its board of visitors, and in 2006 was given the Paul Dean Award for service to the school.

      Hudson and his wife, Leslie, an epidemiologist, have two sons and live in Oklahoma City.

      Please welcome J. Clifford Hudson to the Rotary Club of Edmond.

Andy

Answers to the Sonic trivia quiz:

The three states which currently have the most Sonic Drive-Ins are Texas, with 958, Oklahoma, with 269, and Tennessee, with 229.

The first three franchises were located in Woodward, Enid and Stillwater.

Before 1959, the company was known as Top Hat Drive-In.