Oklahoma City University’s Meinders School of Business honored five local business leaders at the annual Oklahoma Commerce & Industry Hall of Honor today at the Cox Convention Center.

    Governor Bill Anoatubby of the Chickasaw Nation was the recipient of the Chairman's Award.

    Anoatubby began work for the Chickasaw Nation in 1975 as its health services director. He went on to direct the Chickasaw Nation’s finance department and serve as special assistant to the governor and controller before he was elected as the tribe’s first lieutenant governor in 1979. In 1987, he was elected to his first term as governor. He has since been re-elected to serve each term, and began his sixth term in office in 2007.    

    Anoatubby manages more than 11,800 employees, more than 50 government programs and numerous tribal businesses. Under his financial leadership, the Chickasaw Nation became one of the first tribal governments in the United States to be certified as an A-102 tribe, with superior ratings for management and fiscal controls.

    During his first term, Anoatubby established goals of economic development and self-sufficiency for the Chickasaw Nation and its people. Today, the Chickasaw Nation is well on the way to achieving those goals.

    Prior to working for the Chickasaw Nation, Anoatubby worked for the American Plating Company, managing the office operations of the firm, and Little Giant Corporation, performing accounting, systems and budgetary control, cost monitoring, financial analysis and electronic data processing.

    “Our inductees exemplify the finest standards of personal and professional excellence,” said Dr. Vince Orza, dean of OCU’s Meinders School of Business. “We are pleased to honor their achievements and proud of the example they set for students at the Meinders School of Business and beyond.”

    Other inductees are: Gerald Gamble, Lifetime Achievement Award; Jack Allen, Entrepreneurial Spirit Award; Kurt Leichter, American Dream Award; and Dave Lopez, President’s Award.