Oklahoma Higher Education Director Announces Retirement • Oklahoma Voice

OKLAHOMA CITY — The head of Oklahoma’s higher education system announced Tuesday that she will retire after three years in office.

Higher Education Chancellor Allison Garrett said her retirement will be effective in January. She was hired to the role in November 2021, succeeding Chancellor Glen Johnson, who served for 14 years.

In the coming months, she said she hopes to spend more time with her family and “an opportunity to finish my career by doing an international project in the late fall.”

“Serving the people of Oklahoma and working collaboratively with our state regents, elected officials, campus staff and business and community partners to help move this great state forward has been an honor,” Garrett said in a news release.

The chancellor is the chief executive officer of Oklahoma’s higher education system, comprised of 25 public colleges and universities and their local governing boards. He or she also serves as a statewide leader on higher education policy, funding, tuition levels, and course and curriculum offerings.

The Oklahoma Board of Higher Education has not yet outlined its plan for finding Garrett’s successor. The nine-member board is the state’s highest authority on public colleges and universities, and each member is appointed by the governor and confirmed by the state Senate.

Board of Regents Chairman Dennis Casey listed several “key accomplishments” under Garrett, including an increase in the number of college graduates, the development of the system’s Blueprint 2030 strategic plan and updated policies to enable institutions to quickly respond to business needs, among others.

“We thank Chancellor Garrett for her tireless service and advocacy for Oklahoma’s higher education system,” Casey said in a statement. “… We respect her decision and the time she has given us to develop and execute a succession plan.”

Garrett, a native of Neosho, Missouri, served as president of Emporia State University in Emporia, Kansas, and held leadership positions at other universities before accepting the Oklahoma chancellorship. Before that, she spent more than a decade in the corporate offices of Walmart as vice president and general counsel.

She graduated from Oklahoma Christian University with a bachelor’s degree in English, completed law school at the University of Tulsa, and earned a master’s degree in securities regulation from Georgetown University.