Secretary of State - Larry Parman

Prior to being appointed secretary of state, Larry V. Parman served as the CEO of Parman & Easterday, an Oklahoma City estate planning, elder law and business planning firm.  He has also was a partner in Notch It Up Strategies LLC, a firm that offers marketing and executive development programs to business owners and C-level executives.  Parman also served as President of The Hawthorn Group, a public affairs firm in Alexandria, Virginia, and president and CEO of Trencor, Incorporated, an Oklahoma-based financial holding firm.

Parman also served as a captain in the U.S. Army, where he received an honorable discharge in 1978.  He received a bachelor’s degree from the University of Missouri-Columbia and his law degree from the University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Law. 

As secretary of state, Parman serves as a senior advisor to the governor on policy, economic and legislative issues in addition to performing the statutory duties of the office.  

Click here to visit the Secretary of State's office.

Secretary of Finance - Preston Doerflinger

An Oklahoma native, Doerflinger previously served as Tulsa city auditor. Doerflinger has a bachelor's degree in organizational leadership from Southern Nazarene University.  

In addition to serving as secretary of finance, Doerflinger serves as director of the Office of State Finance.  He plays an important role in developing, communicating and implementing executive branch fiscal policies and oversees preparation of the Governor's Executive Budget for submission to the Legislature.

Click here to visit the Office of State Finance.

Chief Information Officer - Alex Pettit

Pettit has global industry, government and Big 4 consulting experience, and is a recognized leader in Enterprise Architecture. He has directed both industry and consulting organizations in diverse roles as a chief technology officer, vice president and BCP service line leader, senior manager and regional director of technology and telecommunications. 

In addition, Pettit is a published author on IT Leadership in Studies in E-Government, Government Technology Magazine, Texas Technology Magazine, the Journal for Enterprise Architecture and most recently, the SIM Guide to Enterprise Architecture (2009).

Pettit holds a bachelor’s degree in science from the University of Wisconsin-Parkside, and a master’s degree in business administration from Loyola University in Chicago.

The chief information officer is a cabinet level secretary and manages the Information Services Division (ISD) of the Office of State Finance (OSF). The CIO has jurisdictional responsibility related to information and telecommunications systems of all State of Oklahoma agencies as provided under the Oklahoma Information Services Act.

Click here to read more about the office of the chief information officer.

Secretary of Energy - Michael Ming

Ming most recently served as president of Research Partnership to Secure Energy for America, a 10-year, $500 million 501(c)3 non-profit organization with over 180 members representing the energy industry, academia and research community. He has served in a variety of capacities in the energy industry, including vice president of production for Oklahoma City-based Bracken Energy Company. Ming was vice president of engineering at K. Stewart Petroleum Corporation of Oklahoma City and was a managing member of Edmond-based K. Stewart Energy Group.

Ming served as a strategic advisor to the U.S. Department of Energy for the department’s strategic planning initiative.  Ming served as an adjunct professor at the University of Oklahoma’s School of Business Energy Management Program.

Ming obtained a bachelor’s degree in petroleum engineering and a master’s degree in engineering management, both from Stanford University.  He attended the U.S. Air Force Academy, earning academic honors.

Click here to visit the Office of the Oklahoma Secretary of Energy.

Secretary of Veterans Affairs - Rita Aragon, Maj. Gen. (retired)

During her 28-year military career, Aragon served as the commander of the Oklahoma Air National Guard and as the Air National Guard assistant to the deputy chief of staff of Staff Manpower and Personnel at the Pentagon, where she was the senior Air National Guard officer responsible for military and civilian personnel management, education, training and resource allocation. Aragon was the first woman in the United States to command a state’s Air National Guard.  She received the Air Force Distinguished Service Medal, the National Defense Service Medal and the Global War on Terrorism Service Medal.

In addition to her military career, Aragon has served as an elementary school teacher and an elementary school principal. Aragon is the first woman Oklahoma Secretary of Military and Veterans’ Affairs.

Click here to visit the Department of Veterans Affairs.

Secretary of Agriculture - Jim Reese

Reese served in the Oklahoma Legislature from 1987 to 2001 before serving as the State Executive Director for the Oklahoma Farm Service Agency. Reese also served as a policy advisor to former House Speaker Chris Benge. Reese has farmed in north central Oklahoma since 1978.

Reese graduated from Oklahoma State University before earning an associate degree in drafting and design from Northern Oklahoma College. He also attended the USDA Supervisory Academy at Texas A&M.

Click here to visit the Oklahoma Department of Agriculture.

Secretary of Commerce - Dave Lopez

Lopez is a longtime civic and community leader and previously served as president of Oklahoma City-based American Fidelity Foundation, a charitable foundation that gives grants for economic development, education, human services and the arts.

Lopez also served as president of SBC Communications (now AT&T) in Oklahoma and Texas. Prior to serving as president, he held a variety of executive positions that took him across the region including stops in Houston, Dallas, St. Louis, San Antonio and Austin.  Before joining American Fidelity Foundation, Lopez served as president of Downtown Oklahoma City, Inc.

Lopez serves on numerous boards including the American Fidelity Corporation, Oklahoma City National Memorial, the City of Oklahoma City Economic Development Trust, the Oklahoma Health Center Foundation, the Oklahoma City Public Schools Foundation and the board of BancFirst Corporation. He also previously served as president of the Oklahoma Business Roundtable and was a co-chairman on the steering committee of Oklahoma’s EDGE Fund.

Click here to visit the Department of Commerce.

Secretary of Education - Dr. Phyllis Hudecki

Dr. Hudecki currently serves as the executive director of the Oklahoma Business and Education Coalition, a business-lead coalition working to improve and strengthen education in Oklahoma. 

Prior to assuming her role with OBEC, Dr. Hudecki served as the associate director of the National Center for Research in Vocational Education at the University of California-Berkeley. Her career also includes positions with the Iowa, Missouri, and Massachusetts state departments of education as well as the U.S. Department of Education.

Dr. Hudecki started her career as a teacher and has served as an assistant principal at a technical high school in Kansas City, Missouri. She received her doctorate of education and baccalaureate in education from OSU.

Secretary of Environment - Gary Sherrer

Sherrer, a former state representative from southeast Oklahoma, served as caucus chairman, assistant floor leader and chaired the House Agriculture Committee during his tenure in the Legislature.  He served as secretary of environment under former Governor Frank Keating and also was appointed the state’s first secretary of agriculture by former Governor David Walters.

Sherrer also serves as assistant vice president for external relations in Oklahoma State University’s Division of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources. 

Sherrer obtained a bachelor’s degree from Southeastern Oklahoma State University in Durant. He volunteered for military service and served as a combat medic during the Vietnam War.

Click here to visit the Office of the Secretary of the Environment.

Secretary of Health and Human Services - Dr. Terry Cline

Dr. Cline serves as secretary of health and human services and as commissioner of the Oklahoma State Department of Health.  

Dr. Cline was appointed commissioner of health in 2009 by the Oklahoma State Board of Health. He previously served as a health attaché at the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad in the administrations of both President George W. Bush and President Barack Obama.  

He previously served as an administrator for the federal Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), an agency committed to improving accountability, capacity and effectiveness in the nation’s substance abuse and mental health service delivery systems.

Additionally, he was a clinical instructor in the Department of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School and chairman of the governing board for a Harvard teaching hospital in Cambridge, Mass.

Dr. Cline is an Ardmore native and earned a bachelor’s degree in psychology from the University of Oklahoma. He earned both a master’s degree and doctorate in clinical psychology from Oklahoma State University.

Click here to visit the Oklahoma State Department of Health.

Secretary of the Military - Major Gen. Myles Deering

Gen. Deering serves as the secretary of the military, and is the adjutant general of the Oklahoma National Guard.  He was first appointed to the post in February 2009.

During his 39-year military career, Gen. Deering has served in a wide variety of areas including in 2008 when he commanded troops for the Multi-National Force in Iraq. Prior to being named adjutant general in 2009, Gen. Deering served as director of manpower and personnel at the National Guard Bureau in Washington, D.C.

He has received numerous military honors including the Bronze Star Medal, the Bronze Oak Leaf Clusters and Legion of Merit.  In 2005, Gen. Deering lead 2,500 Oklahoma National Guard troops during Hurricane Katrina relief efforts and for his actions was given the Hero Award from the Oklahoma Red Cross.

Click here to visit the Oklahoma National Guard.

Secretary of Safety and Security - Michael C. Thompson

Thompson is the secretary of safety and security and commissioner of the Department of Public Safety.

Thompson previously served as a zone commander in the Oklahoma Highway Patrol. Thompson is the first African American to serve as either DPS commissioner or secretary of safety and security.  

He also is a colonel in the Oklahoma National Guard, where he serves as commander of the 90th Troop Command. He is a combat veteran who was awarded the Bronze Star and Combat Infantry Badge after two tours of duty in Iraq.  He also received the Humanitarian Service Medal after his deployment to New Orleans in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.

Thompson earned a graduate degree in applied science from Oklahoma State University and a graduate degree in national security and strategic studies from the United States Army War College. He received his undergraduate degree from Langston University.

Click here to visit the Department of Public Safety.

Secretary of Science and Technology - Dr. Stephen McKeever

Dr. McKeever currently serves as vice president for research and technology transfer at Oklahoma State University and is the executive director of the OSU Multispectral Lab in Ponca City.  

Dr. McKeever first joined the physics faculty at OSU in 1983 rising to the level of regents professor in 1990. He was named a Noble Research Fellow in Optical Materials in 1987 and served as head of the physics department at OSU from 1995 to 1999 and associate dean for research in the College of Arts & Sciences from 2000 to 2003. 

Dr. McKeever obtained bachelor’s and master’s degrees as well as a doctor of philosophy from the University of Wales. He has authored or co-authored more than 190 scientific publications and five books and has six U.S. and nine international patents.

Secretary of Transportation - Gary Ridley

Ridley serves as secretary of transportation and director of the Oklahoma Department of Transportation, as well as the director of the Oklahoma Turnpike Authority.

Ridley has served as secretary of transportation since 2009. He also has held the positions of director of the Oklahoma Department of Transportation since 2001 and director of the Oklahoma Turnpike Authority since 2009.

During his tenure at ODOT, the number of bad bridges in Oklahoma has been reduced and safety features, such as life-saving cable barriers, have become commonplace on Oklahoma’s highways. Ridley also improved the process of preparing the department’s eight-year Construction Work Plan and created ODOT’s four-year Asset Preservation Plan aimed at maximizing the life of Oklahoma’s infrastructure.

Click here to visit the Oklahoma Department of Transportation.