Chickasha small business owner Kelly Wilkerson was appointed by Gov. Kevin Stitt to to a seven-year term on the University of Science
& Arts of Oklahoma Board of Regents in 2020.
A former public school educator who retired after 32 years of service, Wilkerson earned her bachelor’s degree from Southwestern Oklahoma State University and her master’s from Tarleton State University. She later attended the Principal’s Institute at the Harvard University Graduate School of Education. Since 2017, she has owned and operated Chicken Express franchises in Chickasha, Duncan and Lawton.
The Oklahoma State Legislature created USAO's seven-member Board of Regents to govern the institution as it carries out its distinct mission as the only public liberal arts institution within Oklahoma’s higher education system. The governor appoints each member to overlapping seven-year terms with the advice and consent of the Oklahoma Senate.