Southeastern announces 2025 class of Distinguished Alumni

July 8, 2025

Southeastern Oklahoma State University will honor a class of four Distinguished Alumni during Homecoming festivities in the week leading up to November 1, 2025.

The 2025 Distinguished Alumni class consists of:

Dr. Amanda Cobb-Greetham (’92), an award-winning scholar, curator, and professor of Native American studies, currently serving as the John Shelton Reed Distinguished Professor in Native Southern Studies at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. She previously served the University of Oklahoma as a professor in the Department of Native American Studies, receiving the OU Regents Award for Superior University Service in 2023. She has received a Guggenheim Fellowship (2023) and Harvard Radcliffe Fellowship (2021-2022) for her current research Bright, Golden Haze: Oklahoma/Indian Identity in Myth and Memory. She has also won the American Book Award for Listening to Our Grandmothers’ Stories: The Bloomfield Academy for Chickasaw Females, and served as the editor of American Indian Quarterly for nine years. From 2007-12, she served her tribe, the Chickasaw Nation, as the Administrator of the Division of History and Culture. During her tenure, she was instrumental in launching the Chickasaw Cultural Center in Sulphur and directed the museums, archives, language programs, as well as the Chickasaw Press. She received the Chickasaw Nation’s prestigious Dynamic Woman Award, (2018) and has been inducted into the Chickasaw Hall of Fame (2023).

James Dry (’93), who serves District 9 on the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma’s Tribal Council, where he has been instrumental in advancing initiatives supporting economic development, cultural preservation, and quality of life improvements throughout the Nation. Prior to his time as a councilman, Dry rose through the ranks of the Choctaw Nation’s many operations, wrapping up as the Director of Sales and Events for the Choctaw Casino Resort. The Dry family has one of the longest legacies at Southeastern, as James is the fourth generation of five who have earned a Southeastern degree. He was a two-year tennis letterman at Southeastern and since his graduation has continually been a community advocate, also serving on the board of the Durant Area Chamber of Commerce, as well as Chairman of the Magnolia Festival.

Dr. Michael McDougal (’63), who touched the lives of countless individuals in the Texoma region with his life-long dedication to education. He started as a classroom teacher in Sherman ISD after his graduation from SE, then progressed through the ranks of leadership within the district as a principal at every level, an assistant superintendent, and superintendent from 1988-93. Following his service to SISD, he returned to Southeastern and became a cornerstone of the teacher education program, preparing the next generation of educators from 1993-2002. In his role, he instructed and placed teachers all over Oklahoma and Texas, helping spread the legacy of high-quality education at Southeastern. He was also a two-star Major General in the United States Army Reserves, serving over 40 years in the reserves from the time he was a student at Southeastern until 2002.

The late Skippy Smith (’66), who taught and coached in Oklahoma public schools at Valliant and Idabel for 40 years. He played football and ran track at Southeastern, qualifying for the Olympic Trials in the 100-meter dash as a senior. Smith began his coaching career as a football coach at Valliant for the first football team the school had had since 1940, going 21-8 in three seasons. In 1969, Skippy began coaching football at his alma mater, Idabel High School. He would later become the head coach for the boys’ track team. In 1975, the Idabel track dynasty began, with the team winning 15 state championships in 17 years. He retired from the track program in 1991 to take over as athletic director and golf coach. He returned to track coaching in 2001 to help his daughter coach the girls’ track team at Idabel, winning four more state championships. Smith was inducted into both the National and Oklahoma Coaches Halls of Fame, recognized as the Oklahoma Track Coach of the Year five times, and was the district and regional coach of the year numerous times.