Golf, shared values tee up long-distance friendship and memorial gift

If Scott Oki hadn’t been asked to serve on the National Science Center board, he may have never met J. Fleming Norvell. After all, the two lived on opposite sides of the country – Oki in Seattle and Norvell in Augusta.

“Maybe it was that southern hospitality he had going on, but, boy, I’ll tell you, Fleming was a great ambassador for Augusta,” Oki recalled during a February Zoom call. “He was always so gracious.”

Their unique friendship inspired Oki, a retired Microsoft executive, to contribute a generous gift to support the J. Fleming Norvell Golf Scholarship at Augusta University – not only because the fund checks the boxes for two of Oki’s personal passions, education and golf, but because the scholarship honors the memory of Norvell, a cherished friend who passed away in September 2023.

J. Fleming Norvell’s life was guided by a love of God, family and community; a keen interest and commitment to the investment business; and a passion for golf.

“He was just a good human being,” Oki said. “He never spoke badly about anyone or anything. There was a lot of respect there.”

Like Norvell, Oki has strong ties to his family and community, perhaps demonstrated most poignantly through the Densho: The Japanese American Legacy Project, an oral history voiced through some of the 120,000 Japanese Americans – including his own parents – who were incarcerated during World War II because of their ancestry. After the war ended and his parents were released, Oki’s father volunteered to serve in the Pacific Theater.

“Talk about a juxtaposition. He didn’t have to serve, because he was an only son, and yet he felt it was his duty to serve because he was a U.S. citizen,” said Oki, expressing admiration for his father and his legacy.

“Densho is a Japanese term that means to pass on to the next generation,” Oki said. “It mirrors what Steven Spielberg did with recording the histories of survivors of the Holocaust. He was doing it on mainframes. I had just retired from Microsoft, and my world was personal computers. I thought we could probably do the same thing, using personal computing technology. We looked into it; I put together a team; we founded Densho; and fast-forward 30 years, and it’s still alive and well.”

The project includes firsthand accounts, coupled with historical images and educational resources that explore principles of democracy and promote equal justice for all.

An Eagle scout and a patriot, Oki joined the U.S. Air Force after high school and played in the Air Force Academy band in Colorado Springs, while pursuing his education. He earned dual bachelor’s degrees in accounting and computer science from the University of Colorado and later completed his MBA, laying a strong foundation for his future.

Business acumen and success was something else he shared with Norvell, who built a 50-year career in finance and investment, earning recognition as one of the Robinson-Humphrey Company’s top producers. Even after retiring in 2014, Norvell was known for watching the markets and advising friends and family.

Oki joined a young Microsoft Corporation in 1982, and in just 10 years, he had progressed through several executive positions, topping out as the senior vice president of sales, marketing and service. He played a pivotal role in Microsoft’s domestic growth and in constructing its international operations, a stellar success that allowed Oki to retire from the tech giant in 1992 at just 43 years old.

“My life post-Microsoft has been mostly nonprofit philanthropic,” said Oki, who has founded or co-founded more than 20 non-profit organizations and served on numerous boards for both non-profit and for-profit organizations. He said that his personal mission statement is “to marry my passion for things entrepreneurial with things philanthropic in ways that encourage others to do the same.”

Norvell believed in giving back to organizations like the Congaree Foundation and to his church, the Church of the Good Shepherd. He was also a foundational supporter of Augusta University golf and instrumental in starting AU’s women’s golf team. The J. Fleming Norvell Golf House on the Forest Hill Campus is a visible testament to his personal contribution and fundraising efforts toward Augusta Jaguars golf.

Golf was the seed for this long-distance friendship, and it was at one of the world’s most prestigious courses where it bloomed over many years.

At one of the National Science Center board meetings, “Fleming said, ‘Hey, Scott, are you a golfer?’ And I said, ‘Well, yeah, I am,’” said Oki, who owned 11 courses across the greater Seattle area at the time.

“‘The next time we have a board meeting, why don’t you bring your golf clubs, and we’ll go play?’” Norvell told Oki. “And I said, ‘Oh, that would be great!’ I didn’t know he was a member of Augusta (National Golf Club),” Oki confided. “So I brought my clubs. And where do we end up? At the front gates of the National. I was speechless. I didn’t know what to think.

“Here is this storied golf course with all the history, and I am getting to play something as special as that. It speaks a lot about Fleming and how gracious he always was. I mean, he invited me to play many times. It’s a dream come true to play it once, but to play it multiple times is quite extraordinary. Fleming made every instance pretty special,” Oki shared.

“But, you know, that’s Fleming. He was just so unbelievably gracious with inviting me to do a number of things that I never would have imagined ever doing.”

While Oki credits his success at Microsoft for allowing him to pursue a second career of volunteerism and philanthropy, he is also quick to point out the influence of others on his life.

“Fleming had a real impact on me also. He was very involved in the local community, and I appreciate when individuals are deeply involved,” Oki said. “It’s something that I hope these individuals who benefit from the scholarship will always remember, and that they won’t take it lightly.”

“I believe education is a bedrock for society,” said Oki, who at age 77, is 18 months into his PhD program, expounding on his current pursuit and the reason for creating educational endowments like the Scott and Laurie Oki Endowment for Books in Asian American Studies at the University of Washington and the J. Daniel Couger Endowed Chair of Information Systems at the University of Colorado to honor the professor who talked Oki into adding computer science as a second major all those years ago. This decision profoundly changed the trajectory of Oki’s education and future.

Oki said he is pleased to help make a college degree a reality for future student-athletes at Augusta University, and he is glad that an activity like golf, “that they are passionate about, can open doors for them.”

“When you know it’s going to a good cause, and when you know Fleming’s ties to Augusta were lengthy and ran deep, it’s kind of an easy decision to support something like that. I hope Fleming has a smile on his face right now. I think about him a lot.”

Make a gift to the J. Fleming Norvell golf scholarship or to Augusta University Athletics programs. For more information, please email Matt Smith in Philanthropy & Alumni Engagement or call 706-721-4001.