Presenting the Kirkpatrick Medal Inaugural Class 2024

Animal Wellbeing 
Harvey Payne | Wildlife Photographer

Images by wildlife and nature photographer Harvey Payne have appeared in hundreds of newspapers, magazines, books, and calendars including The New York Times, National Geographic, America on My Mind, and the Audubon Society. Currently the community relations coordinator for the Nature Conservancy’s Joseph H. Williams Tall Grass Prairie Preserve, Payne is a retired attorney and municipal judge for Pawhuska, Hominy, and Barnsdall, Oklahoma. More than one hundred of his photos are included in a permanent prairie exhibit at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C. Payne was crucial in the development of the Nature Conservancy's Joseph H. Williams Tall Grass Preserve in Pawhuska, Oklahoma, where he also served eighteen years as director.

Arts
Nan Sheets (Posthumously) | Painter Printmaker Museum Director Creator of Oklahoma City Art Community

The Oklahoma City arts community might look quite different today had it not been for the late Nannine Jane “Nan” Quick Sheets. Artist, arts advocate, teacher, and museum director. A pharmacist by education, she studied art in her free time, and after moving to Oklahoma City in 1916, began taking art classes at the Broadmoor Academy of Fine Arts in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Her Oklahoma City home, “the Elms” was a salon for visiting artists and later was converted to a commercial art gallery, which today is JRB Art at the Elms in the historic Paseo Arts District. Sheets served as director of the Oklahoma Art Center of the Works Progress Administration which she later turned into a museum. Sheets was also inducted into the Royal Academy of Art and Oklahoma Hall of Fame. One of her paintings, which prominently features the American West, is part of the Oklahoma State Capital Collection. She also wrote about art for The Oklahoman newspaper and The Oklahoma Woman magazine.  

Culture
Governor Bill Anoatubby | Chickasaw Nation

Bill Anoatubby, governor of the Chickasaw Nation, set the bar for culture in the state of Oklahoma. By promoting Native American culture, he has given all Oklahomans a unique sense of place. Under his leadership, he has worked to not only preserve but also share Chickasaw culture, heritage, and language through artistic programs, learning opportunities, and a world-renowned cultural center in Sulphur.

During his four decades in office, Anoatubby has overseen the growth of the tribe, methodically constructing a diverse portfolio of economically strong businesses such as gaming, hospitality, tourism, banking, manufacturing, and chocolate. Income from these industries funds programs and services to benefit Chickasaws and their communities that address aging, education, health care, and housing. Today, the Nation employs nearly 14,000 people. The Chickasaw Foundation funds dozens of Oklahoma nonprofit organizations, ranging from the Ardmore Animal Clinic, Meals on Wheels of Norman, and the Rush Springs Volunteer Fire Department to the Oklahoma Literacy Coalition and Special Olympics Oklahoma. 

Education 
Angela McKenna | Music Educator

Vocal music teacher Angela McKenna has devoted more than twenty years to helping her young students find their voices. Currently the choral director at Classen School of Advanced Studies in northeast Oklahoma City, McKenna has placed more than two hundred students in All-Region and All-State Choirs. McKenna directs more than one hundred students in musical theater at Studio J Performing Arts Center in Edmond, where she has spent much of her teaching career. In recognition of her innovative teaching methods, she has received the “Every Kid Counts” award and was named Sequoyah Middle School Teacher of the Year and Edmond Public School Teacher of the Year. She also has been a finalist for Oklahoma Teacher of the Year. She holds degrees in music education and educational leadership from the University of Central Oklahoma, as well as National Board Certification in education. 

Environmental Conservation 
Ed Brocksmith | Co-Founder, Save the Illinois River

Oklahoma Journalism Hall of Fame member Ed Brocksmith co-founded Save the Illinois River (STIR) in the early 1980s. The only nonprofit created for the preservation of the upper and lower Illinois River, STIR seeks to protect Flint Creek, Barren Fork Creek, and Tenkiller Lake, as well as their tributaries. The Tahlequah, Oklahoma resident, and his fellow citizens formed STIR in response to a permit that allowed the discharge of treated sewage into the Illinois River watershed by neighboring Fayetteville, Arkansas. This action led to a United States Supreme Court decision in 1992, Oklahoma v. EPA, that set in motion water quality rules to protect Oklahoma rivers from interstate water pollution. Since that time, Brocksmith and STIR have worked tirelessly through laws and ordinances to ensure the continued protection of the scenic river in northeast Oklahoma. STIR members monitor water quality issues and follow the Oklahoma Legislature, Oklahoma Scenic Rivers Commission, and other state and federal agencies.