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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 1, 2017
Governor Mary Fallin Appoints Former House Speaker Jeff Hickman to Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education
OKLAHOMA CITY – Governor Mary Fallin today announced
she has appointed former House Speaker Jeff Hickman to the Oklahoma State
Regents for Higher Education.
Hickman, of Fairview, served as speaker of the
Oklahoma House of Representatives for three legislative terms from 2014-16. He
was elected to the House of Representatives in 2004 and served until 2016. He
couldn’t seek re-election because of 12-year legislative term limits.
During his time in the House, Hickman, in addition
to serving as speaker, was speaker pro tempore and chairman of the Insurance
and Retirement Committee and of the public safety appropriations and budget,
and revenue and taxation appropriations and budget subcommittees.
Hickman will serve a nine-year term that
expires in May 2026, pending confirmation by the state Senate. He will replace
James “Jimmy” Dean Harrell.
“I’m pleased former Speaker Hickman has
agreed to serve as a state regent,” said Fallin. “His familiarity with the
legislative process and state funding will be helpful to the state regents. He
also is familiar with higher education issues as well as the needs of
CareerTech and common education policy because of his legislative experience. Our
colleges and universities are key to producing the kind of skilled and educated
workforce we need in order to compete globally. As governor, I’ll continue to
support our higher education institutions while always looking for ways we can
improve.”
Since leaving the Legislature, Hickman
has served as chief communications and compliance officer for the Great Salt
Plains Health Center, with four sites in Alfalfa, Garfield, Grant and Blaine counties
serving the surrounding region. He has been involved in his family’s farming
operation in Alfalfa and Woods counties since childhood. He is now the fifth
generation in his family to own and farm land in northwest Oklahoma.
Before being elected to the Legislature,
Hickman worked at the University of Oklahoma (OU), serving as press secretary
to the university president, special projects coordinator in the division of
public affairs and as an assistant to the university’s president and to its athletic
director.
“Governor
Fallin has a steadfast commitment to improving our higher education system in
Oklahoma, which I share,” Hickman said. “I will work to ensure our colleges, universities
and higher education centers continue to provide a quality education for our
students and the workforce that Oklahoma businesses need to succeed.”
Hickman earned a bachelor’s degree with
distinction from OU. He and his wife, Jana, reside in
Fairview.
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 Former Oklahoma House of Representatives Speaker Jeff Hickman
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