Presenter Bios
Dr. JoAnna Hibler
Dr. Joe Anna Hibler is a native Oklahoman and has spent most of her life in western Oklahoma. Hibler received a bachelor’s degree from Southwestern State College in 1960, a master’s degree from Oklahoma State University in 1961, and her doctorate from Oklahoma University in 1971. She taught her first four years at Altus High School and served as an adjunct instructor at Altus Junior College. In 1965, she returned to her alma mater as an instructor in the Division of Business.
She later chaired the Office Administration/Business Education Department before becoming the dean of the School of Business. Four years later, the Board of Regents of Oklahoma Colleges appointed Dr. Hibler as president of Southwestern. When she assumed her duties on July 1, 1990, Dr. Hibler became the first woman in 55 years to serve as president of a university in Oklahoma. Dr. Hibler retired June 30, 2001, ending her eleventh year as president and a 40-year career in education.
Following her retirement, Dr. Hibler served a nine-year term as a member of the Board of Regents of Oklahoma Colleges. She also served as a board member of the Women’s Foundation of Oklahoma, the Thomas P. Stafford Museum, and the United Methodist Foundation.
Dr. Hibler is a life-time member of the National Business Education Association, Oklahoma Education Association, Oklahoma Retired Educators Association and Delta Kappa Gamma. She has been inducted into the Oklahoma Educator’s Hall of Fame, Oklahoma Education Hall of Fame, Western Oklahoma Hall of Fame, and Dewey County Hall of Fame.
Her civic activities include Kiwanis, Sorosis Club, FUMC Finance Committee, Wesley Foundation Board, and teaching classes on professional etiquette at area high schools and SWOSU.
Dr. Hibler has been a member of the Lambda Chapter of Delta Kappa Gamma since 1966. She served as chapter president, state president, and a member of the Scholarship Committee, the Personal Growth and Services Committee, and was the recipient of the Lois-Marguerite Morse International Scholarship, the Gamma State Long-Term Scholarship, and the Gamma State Short-Term Scholarship.
Her hobbies include traveling, reading, needlepoint, and sports.
She later chaired the Office Administration/Business Education Department before becoming the dean of the School of Business. Four years later, the Board of Regents of Oklahoma Colleges appointed Dr. Hibler as president of Southwestern. When she assumed her duties on July 1, 1990, Dr. Hibler became the first woman in 55 years to serve as president of a university in Oklahoma. Dr. Hibler retired June 30, 2001, ending her eleventh year as president and a 40-year career in education.
Following her retirement, Dr. Hibler served a nine-year term as a member of the Board of Regents of Oklahoma Colleges. She also served as a board member of the Women’s Foundation of Oklahoma, the Thomas P. Stafford Museum, and the United Methodist Foundation.
Dr. Hibler is a life-time member of the National Business Education Association, Oklahoma Education Association, Oklahoma Retired Educators Association and Delta Kappa Gamma. She has been inducted into the Oklahoma Educator’s Hall of Fame, Oklahoma Education Hall of Fame, Western Oklahoma Hall of Fame, and Dewey County Hall of Fame.
Her civic activities include Kiwanis, Sorosis Club, FUMC Finance Committee, Wesley Foundation Board, and teaching classes on professional etiquette at area high schools and SWOSU.
Dr. Hibler has been a member of the Lambda Chapter of Delta Kappa Gamma since 1966. She served as chapter president, state president, and a member of the Scholarship Committee, the Personal Growth and Services Committee, and was the recipient of the Lois-Marguerite Morse International Scholarship, the Gamma State Long-Term Scholarship, and the Gamma State Short-Term Scholarship.
Her hobbies include traveling, reading, needlepoint, and sports.
Dr. Carl Farinelli
Dr. Carl Farinelli, Professor of Educational Foundations and Leadership at NSU. After dropping out of high school in Madison County, Arkansas in1968, he went to the Gary Job Corps Center in San Marcos, Texas, where he earned his GED. He received the National Job Corps Person of the Year Award in Washington, D.C. in 1977.
Dr. Farinelli earned his Associate Arts degree from Blinn College in Brenham, Texas. He earned his Bachelors of Arts in English and German and his Masters of Educational Counseling from Sam Houston State University in Huntsville, Texas. He has lifetime certifications in Texas for school counseling, school administration (mid-management), and for teaching high school English and German. He taught, counseled and served as Curriculum Coordinator and Principal in inner-city schools in Houston from 1973 to 1988.
In 1988, Dr. Farinelli was hired by Northeastern State University. He taught a variety of graduate courses in Educational Foundations and School Administration for NSU’s College of Education and for several years taught English, College Strategies (for non-traditional students), and Beginning German courses for the College of Liberal Arts. After returning to the Graduate During the intersessions, he continued to teach “The American Song as Literature” during intersessions.
In 1990, he and his family received a special award from the Governor of Oklahoma for the many musical performances the Farinelli Family Band gave in conjunction with Oklahoma Homecoming '90 events around the state and on TV. The song Homecoming Oklahoma, written by Farinelli, was used on Oklahoma Homecoming '90 commercials to promote tourism in the state.
Besides teaching graduate classes in School Administration, Farinelli continues recording and interviewing older Oklahoma musicians, story tellers, and dancers from diverse cultures in order to provide a more complete literature of Oklahoma. Farinelli plays harmonica and sings “Old Joe Clark” with a traditional Ozark musical group in the campfire and hunting scene of the 2001 Disney remake of the film “Where the Red Fern Grows.”
Dr. Farinelli was named the winner of the 2000-2001 Faculty Circle of Excellence Award for Teaching, the 2009 recipient of the “Modeling the Way” award, and was named an NSU Centurion in 2012.
Dr. Farinelli earned his Associate Arts degree from Blinn College in Brenham, Texas. He earned his Bachelors of Arts in English and German and his Masters of Educational Counseling from Sam Houston State University in Huntsville, Texas. He has lifetime certifications in Texas for school counseling, school administration (mid-management), and for teaching high school English and German. He taught, counseled and served as Curriculum Coordinator and Principal in inner-city schools in Houston from 1973 to 1988.
In 1988, Dr. Farinelli was hired by Northeastern State University. He taught a variety of graduate courses in Educational Foundations and School Administration for NSU’s College of Education and for several years taught English, College Strategies (for non-traditional students), and Beginning German courses for the College of Liberal Arts. After returning to the Graduate During the intersessions, he continued to teach “The American Song as Literature” during intersessions.
In 1990, he and his family received a special award from the Governor of Oklahoma for the many musical performances the Farinelli Family Band gave in conjunction with Oklahoma Homecoming '90 events around the state and on TV. The song Homecoming Oklahoma, written by Farinelli, was used on Oklahoma Homecoming '90 commercials to promote tourism in the state.
Besides teaching graduate classes in School Administration, Farinelli continues recording and interviewing older Oklahoma musicians, story tellers, and dancers from diverse cultures in order to provide a more complete literature of Oklahoma. Farinelli plays harmonica and sings “Old Joe Clark” with a traditional Ozark musical group in the campfire and hunting scene of the 2001 Disney remake of the film “Where the Red Fern Grows.”
Dr. Farinelli was named the winner of the 2000-2001 Faculty Circle of Excellence Award for Teaching, the 2009 recipient of the “Modeling the Way” award, and was named an NSU Centurion in 2012.
Robin Hilger
Robyn Hilger, a native Oklahoman and clarinetist, attended Oklahoma City University, graduating summa cum laude in 1999 with her bachelor’s degree in Instrumental Music Education. She completed her master’s degree in School Administration in 2010 at the University of Central Oklahoma.
From 1999 until 2007, she served as the Fine Arts Team Leader and Band and Orchestra Director at Belle Isle Enterprise Middle School in Oklahoma City before joining the Foundation for Oklahoma City Public Schools as Chief Programs Officer in 2007. During her time at the Foundation, two programs she created received national attention and recognition. The Teachers Warehouse distributed more than $1.5 million dollars in free school supplies to OKCPS and the Competitive Edge grant program, which provided funding for artistic and academic competitions in OKCPS. Both programs were honored with the Outstanding Program Award from the Oklahoma Foundation for Excellence. In June 2014, she became the Executive Director of a brand new non-profit, El Sistema Oklahoma. El Sistema Oklahoma is a five-day a week, after-school program for children in Oklahoma City Public Schools. 220 children form three youth symphony orchestras every day. The program is non-auditioned and provided free of charge to participating families. The focus is on using music as a tool to promote a pathway to success, not only in music but in life for under-served children in Oklahoma City Public Schools.
Hilger is a National Board Certified Teacher in Early Adolescence/Young Adult Music with specialization in Band. She was honored as the Oklahoma City Public Schools District Teacher of the Year in 2005 and Oklahoma Teacher of the Year 2006.
She resides in Oklahoma City with her partner, Stephen Sharpe, and furry children, cats Gordon and Elliott.
From 1999 until 2007, she served as the Fine Arts Team Leader and Band and Orchestra Director at Belle Isle Enterprise Middle School in Oklahoma City before joining the Foundation for Oklahoma City Public Schools as Chief Programs Officer in 2007. During her time at the Foundation, two programs she created received national attention and recognition. The Teachers Warehouse distributed more than $1.5 million dollars in free school supplies to OKCPS and the Competitive Edge grant program, which provided funding for artistic and academic competitions in OKCPS. Both programs were honored with the Outstanding Program Award from the Oklahoma Foundation for Excellence. In June 2014, she became the Executive Director of a brand new non-profit, El Sistema Oklahoma. El Sistema Oklahoma is a five-day a week, after-school program for children in Oklahoma City Public Schools. 220 children form three youth symphony orchestras every day. The program is non-auditioned and provided free of charge to participating families. The focus is on using music as a tool to promote a pathway to success, not only in music but in life for under-served children in Oklahoma City Public Schools.
Hilger is a National Board Certified Teacher in Early Adolescence/Young Adult Music with specialization in Band. She was honored as the Oklahoma City Public Schools District Teacher of the Year in 2005 and Oklahoma Teacher of the Year 2006.
She resides in Oklahoma City with her partner, Stephen Sharpe, and furry children, cats Gordon and Elliott.
Dr. Deena Fisher
Deena K. Fisher, the Dean of Northwestern Oklahoma State University’s Woodward Campus and Professor of History, holds an Ed.D. in Higher Education Administration (Oklahoma State University) and a M.Ed in Social Science Education and School Counseling (Southwestern Oklahoma State University). In 2006, Dr. Fisher attended the “Institute for Management and Leadership in Higher Education” at Harvard Graduate School of Education. She is a contributing editor and developed the teacher/student material for the textbook, Oklahoma—Land of Contrast. In 2012, Fisher was inducted into the Journal Record Woman of the Year’s “Circle of Excellence.” She is a proud graduate of the Leadership Oklahoma Class of XXIV. A board member of the Oklahoma Historical Society (since 2004), she presently serves as Treasurer on the Executive Committee and chairs the Publication Committee.
In addition, she serves as a board member on both the Oklahoma Educators’ Hall of Fame and the Oklahoma African American Educators’ Hall of Fame. She also serves as an advisory board member for the Oklahoma Women’s Foundation. She is an OKCEO Program Outreach Consultant Champion for the Potts Foundation in northwest Oklahoma.
In her community, she is an active board member of the United Fund, Friends of Historic Fort Supply, Plains Indians and Pioneers Museum, William S. Key Correctional Institution Citizen Advisory Board, Woodward Industrial Foundation Advisory Board, and past chair of the Woodward Chamber of Commerce. In 2009, Dr. Fisher was recognized as the “Woodward Citizen of the Year.” As an active member of Rotary International, she currently serves as Assistant District Governor. She has been an active member of Delta Kappa Gamma Psi Chapter for 25 years. She has served President and has served on several committees for Gamma State. She has five grandchildren who are the sunshine in her life.
In addition, she serves as a board member on both the Oklahoma Educators’ Hall of Fame and the Oklahoma African American Educators’ Hall of Fame. She also serves as an advisory board member for the Oklahoma Women’s Foundation. She is an OKCEO Program Outreach Consultant Champion for the Potts Foundation in northwest Oklahoma.
In her community, she is an active board member of the United Fund, Friends of Historic Fort Supply, Plains Indians and Pioneers Museum, William S. Key Correctional Institution Citizen Advisory Board, Woodward Industrial Foundation Advisory Board, and past chair of the Woodward Chamber of Commerce. In 2009, Dr. Fisher was recognized as the “Woodward Citizen of the Year.” As an active member of Rotary International, she currently serves as Assistant District Governor. She has been an active member of Delta Kappa Gamma Psi Chapter for 25 years. She has served President and has served on several committees for Gamma State. She has five grandchildren who are the sunshine in her life.
Updated: March 2017