J. Clifford Hudson
Chairman of the Board and
Chief Executive Officer
Sonic Corp.

Clifford Hudson has spent the last 23 years of his career at Sonic Corp., an Oklahoma City-based, publicly-held company that owns, operates and franchises Sonic Drive-In restaurants (NASDAQ: SONC). Today, he is chairman of the board and chief executive officer of this public company with more than 3,300 franchised and company-operated drive-in restaurants. Sonic's common stock is included in the S&P MidCap 600 Index.

Hudson was named chairman of Sonic Corp. in January 2000. Previously, Hudson was chief executive officer (CEO) and president of Sonic Corp., positions he held since April 1995. Prior to that time, he served the company in a variety of capacities, including general counsel, chief financial officer and chief operating officer.

During Hudson's tenure as CEO of Sonic, average drive-in profit has grown from $78,000 to almost $160,000, average drive-in sales from $602,000 to $1.1 million, system-wide sales from $880 million to almost $4 billion and brand awareness has doubled. The company's revenues are seven times greater and enterprise value (the public value of its common stock plus debt) has grown from approximately $200 million to more than $2.0 billion.

In his position, Hudson has earned achievements as the 2004 Silver Plate – Foodservice Operator of the Year Award from International Foodservice Manufacturers Association and 2000 Multi-Unit Foodservice Operators (MUFSO) Golden Chain Award from Nation's Restaurant News. Most recently, Sonic has also received national recognition from publications such as Forbes, Entrepreneur, QSR and Restaurants & Institutions magazines. He has been a guest on various national business programs including CNBC's Squawkbox and Power Lunch, as well as various Bloomberg news programs.

Hudson has been affiliated with many nonprofit and community activities. He served as chairman of the board of directors of the Securities Investor Protection Corporation (SIPC), a presidential appointment, from 1994 - 2001. He recently served as Chairman of the Oklahoma City School Board from 2001-2008, a position created in 2000 as part of a $530 million turn around of a 40,000 student, inner-city Oklahoma City Public School system. He currently serves as trustee of the Ford Foundation (New York) and is the Chairman of the Board of the National Trust for Historic Preservation.

Hudson graduated from the University of Oklahoma, which he attended with Phi Beta Kappa and President's Leadership scholarships. In 1998, Hudson was honored as a distinguished alumnus of the University of Oklahoma College of Arts and Sciences, where he serves as a member of the College of Arts and Sciences Board of Visitors. In 2001, he received the University's Regents Award from its board of regents.

Hudson graduated from the Georgetown University Law Center, where he was a member of the legal honor society, Phi Delta Phi. In 1979, he served as an editor of the International Law Journal, a publication of the Association of Student International Law Societies. He is also a member of the board of visitors of Georgetown University Law Center and in 2006 was given the Paul Dean Award for service to the school.

He and his wife Leslie, an epidemiologist, live in Oklahoma City with their two sons.