Judge Ronald Kincannon Selected as the 2022 Commencement Program Speaker

Judge Ronald Kincannon is an Oklahoma Panhandle native, graduating from Plainview High School. He then went on to graduate from Panhandle State in 1970. Kincannon received a Bachelor Science Degree in Psychology with a minor in Math and Military Science. After being commissioned as a Military Intelligence officer in the U.S. Army, he served on active duty during 1971-72 then entered The Army Reserves. While in The Army Reserve, he returned to the Panhandle and served 6-years as a certified State Peace Officer working as a Probation and Parole officer throughout the Panhandle. He transferred to Oklahoma County, after being accepted into law school at Oklahoma City University.

Upon becoming licensed to practice law in the State of Oklahoma, he and his family returned to Cimarron County. He was in private practice for 10-years before being elected to serve as the Associate District Judge in Cimarron County. During his 24-year judicial career, he served in Cimarron County, having frequent assignments in Texas County, where he served as a settlement, criminal docket, and trial judge. Before retirement, Kincannon received professional recognition from the Oklahoma Bar Association, receiving the OBA’s Outstanding Pro Bono Service award in 1991 and Award for Judicial Excellence in 2018. Since retiring from the bench in December of 2018, Kincannon continues to serve as an active retired judge by appointment of the Chief Justice of the Oklahoma Supreme Court.

Throughout his career, Kincannon maintained contact with his alma matter and many of his college classmates. Along the way, he taught as an adjunct business law professor in the early 1990s, serve on the board of No Man’s Land Historical Society for over 30-years, and served on the OPSU Advisory Council during the tenure of Dr. Bryant. Years after serving as a trial judge in a large class action case that was tried by a Texas County jury, Kincannon was charged with distributing a large amount of unclaimed funds resulting from that verdict. The Cy Pres award was divided between programs, one of which was OPSU’s Panhandle Promise. The Panhandle Promise Scholarship program allows Education students to remove the financial barrier and offer incentive for residents to pursue classroom teacher degrees in exchange for a two-year commitment to teach in an Oklahoma panhandle public school.

As OPSU graduates, both Kincannon and his wife, Betty, continue to support youth and community programs within their community actively. Kincannon has served a stint as a Boy Scout Master, as Rotary International District Governor, as a founding member of the Cimarron County Youth Coalition, and for more than a decade served as co-chair of the Cimarron County Stock Show.

Kincannon places his highest priority upon his faith, his country, and his family, with particular emphasis on the Kincannon’s 2-grandchildren: Brynna and Logan.

Interim President Dr. Ryan Blanton stated, “We are honored to have Judge Kincannon as the 2022 Commencement speaker. His story and leadership are things that I believe will inspire this graduating class.”

The 2022 Commencement will be held May 13^th at 9am at the Anchor D Stadium.