Regional University System of Oklahoma

Susan Winchester is owner and President of the Winchester Group; a business development organization working primarily with non-profits and is currently serving as Governor Kevin Stitt’s Secretary of Licensing and Regulation.

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From 2017-2019, she served as Chief of Staff for Lt. Governor Todd Lamb.  Prior to joining Lamb’s office, she served 8 years as President for the Research Institute for Economic Development, a pro-economic development growth company that worked to ensure Oklahoma’s legislative leaders worked toward progressive business ventures and policy initiatives.

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From 1998 until 2008, Winchester was a member of the Oklahoma House of Representatives, serving as Oklahoma’s first female Speaker Pro-Tempore.  In 2005, she was selected as one of 40 emerging state leaders from across the nation to participate in the Toll Fellowship Program sponsored by the Council of State Governments. Other legislative awards and honors include The Defender of Free Enterprise Award from the Oklahoma State Chamber of Commerce and the Distinguished Service Award from the Oklahoma Institute for Child Advocacy as well as induction into the Oklahoma Institute for Child Advocacy Hall of Fame.

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Winchester is a member of numerous local and state organizations promoting leadership development. She currently sits on the Executive Board and has served as Board Chair for the Oklahoma City National Memorial, The Oklahoma Academy for State Goals and as President of the Regents of the Regional Universities System of Oklahoma.   She is a member and former board member of Leadership Oklahoma, the Economic Club of Oklahoma and Oklahoma City Rotary Club.

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In 2016, she was recognized as a National Mother of Achievement by the Washington D. C. based Association of American Mothers and in 2006 was recognized as the Oklahoma Woman of the Year by the Journal Record.

Before her career in politics, Winchester was a businesswoman in the agricultural industry.  For more than ten years, she co-owned and operated American Dusting Company and Chickasha Flying Service.

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She is married to Supreme Court Justice James Winchester. Together, they have a son, Davis.

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