JUNE 2024 | 51 THE OKLAHOMA BAR JOURNAL Ada Jobs Foundation board and member of the Mercy Hospital Board of Trustees, Oklahoma African American Educators Hall of Fame board (the first non- African American to serve on the board), chair of the Council of Presidents for the Great American Conference and past chair of the Council of Presidents for the Regional University System of Oklahoma (RUSO). Additionally, he serves on the Board of Trustees for the Oklahoma Excellence in Education Foundation and the Scientific and Natural Resource Foundation Board of Directors. He is also active in the ECU Alumni Association and served on several committees as appointed by the chancellor of the Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education. He is also an advisory board member for the Miss Ada Pageant and the Jasmine Moran Children’s Museum in Seminole. He serves as a trustee of the Seminole State College Foundation. Tom J. McDaniel (OU College of Law, 1963) was the 16th president of OCU, a position he held from 2001 to 2010. The construction and dedication of the Meinders School of Business, the Wanda L. Bass Music Center, the Ann Lacy Visitors and Admissions Center and the Norick Art Center all occurred during his tenure. The capital improvements were part of a successful $100 million centennial development campaign that doubled the university’s endowment and allowed the creation of new academic programs in nursing, dance and film, as well as new athletic programs in rowing, wrestling and volleyball. Prior to his service to OCU, Mr. McDaniel served as president of Northwestern Oklahoma State University in Alva, becoming the first and only graduate (1960) of that school to serve as its president. He has served in the past as administrative director of state courts in Oklahoma and as vice chairman of Kerr-McGee, where he also was a member of the Board of Directors. He is a former state chairman of the Oklahoma Fellows of the American Bar Association and served as chairman of the board of trustees of Columbus Elementary Enterprise School, Oklahoma’s first charter public school. He became president of the American Fidelity Foundation in 2011. He is active in the community, serving on numerous boards and commissions and currently serves as chairman of the Citizens Advisory Board for the Maps III projects. He and his wife, Brenda, were selected as 2010 “Treasures of Tomorrow” by the Oklahoma Health Foundation. In 2006, he was inducted into the Oklahoma Hall of Fame. Burns Hargis, John Hargrave and Tom McDaniel will co-present “Tales from the Principal’s Office” during the Annual Luncheon on Thursday, July 11, at noon as part of the OBA Annual Meeting. This year’s Annual Luncheon will be held in the University Ballroom at the Embassy Suites in Norman. During the event, several of the 2024 OBA Award winners will also be honored. Tickets for the event may be purchased for $75 for the luncheon only or in addition to your Annual Meeting registration. Register now at www.okbar.org/annualmeeting. Sponsored by the OBA Family Law Section.
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