Seminole State College President Lana Reynolds has been named chair of the Oklahoma Academy for 2026. She assumed the role during the Academy’s Board of Directors’ annual business meeting on Jan. 16 in Oklahoma City. Reynolds succeeds BancFirst President and CEO Darryl Schmidt.

The Oklahoma Academy is a statewide organization that brings people together to learn about key public policy issues, consider nonpartisan research and discuss practical solutions that strengthen Oklahoma’s communities. The Academy has more than 500 members and focuses on educating Oklahomans about the major public policy issues so they can take an active role in civic life at the local and state levels.

The Academy describes its work as raising awareness of issues, providing evidence-based research and creating space for civil discourse and consensus-building.

Reynolds is in her ninth year as president of Seminole State College and has worked in Oklahoma higher education for more than 35 years.

She is a past chair of Leadership Oklahoma and currently serves on the boards of the Oklahoma Children’s Health Foundation, the Oklahoma Foundation for Excellence and Oklahoma Christian University. She is also a member of the national board of the Rural Community College Alliance.

Reynolds is a past chair of the Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education Council of Presidents, as well as a past chair of the Council of Two-Year Presidents.

She is a past president of the Jasmine Moran Children’s Museum Board of Trustees, the Seminole Rotary Club and the Seminole Chamber of Commerce. She was selected as Seminole’s Citizen of the Year in 1991 and inducted into the Seminole Hall of Fame in 2024.