OKLAHOMA CITY (OBV) – Edmond-based attorney Courtney Warmington is the new board leader for the Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education.
The Regents for Higher Ed recently elected Warmington to chair the board. She succeeds retired educator and superintendent Dennis Casey as chair. Gov. Kevin Stitt appointed Casey to the position on April 1, 2020.
“We deeply appreciate Chair Casey’s steady leadership as our board chair over the last year,” Warmington said. “Looking ahead, we remain focused on affordability, efficiency and innovation to position Oklahoma public higher education to meet the changing needs of the students, families, and businesses we serve.”
Warmington, a labor and employment attorney with the law firm of Fuller Tubb Bickford Warmington & Panach, PLLC, was appointed to the State Regents Board in 2021. She has litigated employment matters in state and federal courts for over two decades. She is also a certified mediator, helping employers and employees resolve complex workplace disputes.
“Regent Warmington’s experience, expertise and thoughtful decision-making will make her an exceptional board chair,” said Chancellor Sean Burrage. “She recognizes the value of higher education for individual Oklahomans and the integral role of our public colleges and universities in addressing Oklahoma’s most critical workforce demands.”
The State Regents also elected Hilliary Communications co-CEO Dustin Hilliary of Lawton to serve as the board’s vice chair, former Oklahoma Supreme Court Chief Justice Steven Taylor of McAlester to serve as board secretary and real estate investor Mitch Adwon of Tulsa to serve as assistant secretary.
Hilliary’s Hilliary Communications provides telephone and broadband service to over 15,000 customers across Oklahoma, Texas and Iowa. He’s also co-publisher of the Hilliary Media Group, which operates two newspapers, the Oklahoma Farm Report and other radio and website outlets. He also has a real estate development company that develops commercial and residential properties across Oklahoma, Texas and Florida. He was appointed to the State Regents Board in 2022.
Taylor is a retired Oklahoma Supreme Court Chief Justice, Associate District Judge and 18th Judicial District Chief Judge. He presided over more than 500 jury trials over more than 20 years as a trial judge, including the state trial of the Oklahoma City Bombing. He was also mayor of McAlester, as well as a prosecutor, defense counsel and Special Court Martial Judge in the U.S. Marine Corps. At age 28, he became the youngest judge in the U.S. Armed Forces. He later achieved the rank of Major. He was appointed to the State Regents Board in 2019.
Adwon is president of Adwon Properties, Inc., a company that provides brokerage and management services for commercial investment properties. He’s a managing member of Polly Properties, LLC, a commercial real estate investment holding company and other multistate real estate investment entities. He was appointed to the State Regents Board in 2023.
The new officer team will lead the nine-member board throughout the 2025-26 fiscal year, ending June 30, 2026.
As the coordinating board for the 25 public colleges and universities of the Oklahoma state system of higher education, the State Regents does the following:
- Prescribe academic standards of higher education;
- Determine functions and courses of study at state colleges and universities;
- Grant degrees;
- Request appropriations on behalf of state system institutions;
- Set tuition and fees;
- Approve institutional allocations;
- Provide final approval of institutional budgets following governing board approval and submission, upon review; and
- Manage numerous scholarships and special programs.
The nine board members are appointed by the governor to nine-year terms and confirmed by the Oklahoma Senate.
