Chickasaw Nation Governor Bill Anoatubby was recently honored as Distinguished Graduate of Leadership Oklahoma. State Senator Susan Paddack presented the award during the Excellence in Leadership Awards Gala Saturday, Feb. 21 at Southern Hills Country Club in Tulsa.
“It is a great honor to be recognized by an organization doing so much to foster understanding, cooperation and partnerships among state leaders,” said Gov. Anoatubby. “All who have put time and effort into Leadership Oklahoma understand that this is an investment which provides tremendous returns for the individual and for the state of Oklahoma.”
The Distinguished Graduate Award recognizes a Leadership Oklahoma graduate who exemplifies the highest standards of Leadership Oklahoma and whose activities achieved results or set an example of statewide significance.
Anoatubby began an unprecedented sixth consecutive term as governor of the Chickasaw Nation in Oct. 2007.
When he was first elected governor, the Chickasaw Nation had 250 employees and $11 million in annual outlays. Today, the tribe employs more than 10,500 and annual outlays exceed $500 million.
Gov. Anoatubby has long been recognized as a leader on health care issues. In 1994, the Chickasaw Nation became the first tribe in the U.S. to compact with the Indian Health Service to assume administrative and operational control of its own health care system.
Oklahoma Governor Brad Henry appointed Gov. Anoatubby to the Oklahoma Health Care Authority board of directors April 18, 2005. In October, 2007, Gov. Anoatubby was elected to the board of directors of Integris Health, Inc. He has also served on Gov. Henry's Task Force on Mental Health, Substance Abuse and Domestic Violence.
In 2007, Gov. Anoatubby received the Centennial Leadership Award for Preservation of State and Local History from the Oklahoma Heritage Association.
He serves as chair of the Native American Cultural and Educational Authority, the state agency created in 1994 to construct an American Indian Cultural center and Museum in Oklahoma City.
He is also a member of the Oklahoma Heritage Association Board of Directors, the Oklahoma Centennial Commission board, the Oklahoma State Fair Board of Directors, the Jasmine Moran Children's Museum Board of Trustees and the Oklahoma Creativity Project Board.
Gov. Anoatubby is among four to be honored at the event.
Henry Zarrow will receive the Lifetime Achievement Award.
The Lifetime Achievement Award recognizes an individual who has used his or her leadership abilities over a lifetime to improve the quality of life for Oklahoma’s citizens and its future generations.
QuikTrip Corporation will receive the Business Leadership Award.
The Business Leadership Award was created to recognize a business entity for its impact in promoting leadership principles and practice, implementing programs worthy of example and fostering growth of quality leadership.
Griffin Communications will receive the Statewide Community Award
The Statewide Community Award recognizes an organization or company that, through specific projects or efforts, has reached across our valued differences to develop among Oklahomans a keen sense of common purpose and a more profound sense of loyalty to our state. This award has been created to promote a heightened sense of appreciation for the possibilities available when Oklahomans work together as a single statewide community.
