Anthony Dillard receives OSU American Indian Alumni Society Distinguished Alumni Award

Choctaw Nation Tribal Councilman Anthony Dillard was recently honored with the Distinguished Alumni Award from the Oklahoma State University (OSU) American Indian Alumni Society.

The award ceremony was held October 26, 2024, at the OSU ConocoPhillips Alumni Center in Stillwater, Okla., with a reception following.

The award was presented to Dillard by Olivia Bunch, a board member of the OSU American Indian Alumni Society, who read Dillard’s nomination biography to those in attendance.

Anthony Dillard is passionate about improving local communities across the Choctaw Nation Reservation and beyond.

After high school, he earned a Federal Junior Fellowship through the USDA to work at the OSU/USDA Wes Watkins Research and Extension Center in Lane. Dillard says that part of the fellowship was to go to college and take classes that would benefit his position at the research center.

He attended school at Southeastern Oklahoma State University in Durant and then transferred to Oklahoma State University (OSU) in Stillwater, where he graduated in 1991 with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Horticulture.

Dillard went back to work at the research center as a research technician. There, his work emphasized several different disciplines of agriculture research, from genetics, plant pathology and molecular genetics. He was employed at the OSU/USDA Wes Watkins Research and Extension Center in Lane, Oklahoma, for a total of 20 years, working there following his senior year of high school, then his college fellowship, and his post-college days, until he was elected as the District 10 Choctaw National Tribal Councilman in 2005.

As the Choctaw Nation’s District 10 Tribal Councilman, Dillard has used his agricultural background to support farming and ranching initiatives that promote responsible environmental stewardship and advance the region’s economic goals.

Other initiatives Councilman Dillard strongly advocates for are education, housing, healthcare, and economic development. The tribe has seen tremendous growth in these areas during Anthony’s time on the council.

He and his wife, Janie, reside in Caney, and he serves on various community organizations and boards.

Upon accepting the award, Dillard said he was honored and humbled and will continue to support the organization in the future. He also said he was proud of OSU’s investment in promoting tribal sovereignty and though they are not the only college or university doing so, he believes they are setting a standard.

The OSU American Indian Alumni Society supports the efforts of the current generation of American Indian OSU students who are enrolling in record numbers. Each year, the society selects an individual to receive the prestigious OSU Distinguished American Indian Alumni Society Award from the OSU family who exhibits outstanding career success, lifetime achievement in society and significant service to the university and the OSU Alumni Association.

The OSU American Indian Alumni Society’s board members are Shauna Williams, Olivia Bunch, Amber Buettner, Tabatha Austin-Harris, Twauna Williams and Jeanine Logan.