Oklahoma City’s Northwest Classen High School inducts new members into Hall of Fame
Oklahoma City Public Schools’ Northwest Classen High School (NW Classen) inducted its fourth Order of the Round Table class into the school’s Hall of Fame on Friday, Nov. 11, during a ceremony spearheaded by The Friends of Northwest Classen.
The school selects alumni with outstanding lifetime achievements and contributions to society to be inducted into the honorable Hall of Fame. Previous inductees include former Oklahoma City Mayor, Ron Norick; celebrity sports columnist Skip Bayless; and space enthusiast and former NASA-mission participant Dr. Patricia Reiff, among other notable names.
This year’s class consisted of Ann Ackerman, Mike Allen, Brooke Cotter Wells, Sean O’Grady and Dr. George Thompson.
“Selecting our annual Order of the Round Table inductees is never easy. The number of outstanding nominees we receive is stunning and this class of 2022 may be one of our most diverse ever,” Selection Committee Chair, Tom Cheatham said in a press release prior to the event.
“I would compare our Northwest Classen Hall of Fame to any hall of fame of any school or university in the country, and this year’s class is extraordinary and serves as a shining example to our current student body of what they can achieve with hard work and effort.”
2022 Order of the Round Table Hall of Fame Inductees:
Ann Ackerman, a 1968 graduate, began her professional career as an engineer before transitioning into education for 25 years. Following her time as an academic professor, department chair, dean and vice president, Ackerman became the CEO of Leadership Oklahoma in 2006. In 2016, she became the fourth president and CEO of the economic development support organization, Oklahoma Business Roundtable. Ackerman was inducted into the Oklahoma Higher Education Hall of Fame in 2017 and received the Distinguished Alumni Award for mathematics from the College of Arts and Sciences at Oklahoma State University (OSU) the following year. She continues to serve in several leadership positions today.
Mike Allen, a 1974 graduate, earned a degree from the University of Oklahoma (OU) before beginning his career with Ernst & Ernst, where he gained Certified Public Accountant or CPA accreditation. After working with Oklahoma-founded Headington Oil in the early 1980s, Allen founded Providence Energy to buy and sell royalties and working interests in oil and gas properties. The energy company is the managing partner in more than 2.1 million net mineral acres and 8.5 million gross acres, nationwide, with more than 5,000 wells in 15 states. Allen is also active in real estate and alternative energy projects. He recently helped connect liquified natural gas support to Romania, which lost natural gas imports from Russia. Allen, a husband and father of four, grandfather of eight, is also actively involved in supporting inner-city ministries.
Brooke Cotter Wells, also known as The Honorable Brooke Cotter Wells, is a 1964 graduate. Formerly the wife of an American serviceman, Cotter Wells spent several years stationed across the nation before settling in Salt Lake City, where she began working with the University of Utah. While working with the university, Cotter Wells earned a bachelor's degree in political science in 1973, then her Juris Doctorate in 1977. Leaving for Texas to work as a legal services lawyer in San Antonio, Cotter Wells returned to Utah to serve the Salt Lake Legal Defenders Association for 15 years, becoming the state’s chief capital-qualified defense attorney. Cotter Wells later served as an assistant U.S. attorney, where she was recognized by the U.S. Department of Justice for her work, and became the chief of the violent crimes division, before being appointed as the first female U.S. Magistrate Judge for the Utah District in 2005. The judge also presides over the nation’s first federal reentry program, Utah’s Reentry Independence through Sustainable Efforts (RISE) court.
Sean O’Grady, a 1977 graduate and trained boxer as a child, went professional with his fighting talents while still a sophomore at NW Classen. The adolescent athlete appeared on the world stage for a title contention match within a few years of graduating high school. He became a World Boxing Association Lightweight Champion of the World in 1981 with a unanimous decision-win over then-champion Hilmer Kenty. O’Grady retired from boxing at 24, with a record of 81 wins and five losses as a professional; 70 of those wins were results of knockouts. O’Grady then earned a broadcasting degree from the University of Central Oklahoma, becoming a commentator soon thereafter for USA Cable Network’s “Tuesday Night Fight.” The boxer turned broadcaster appeared as a supporting actor in several television shows throughout the late 1980s and early 1990s, before establishing his current career as a commercial real estate broker. O’Grady, affectionately known as “The Champ” by boxing fans, continues to occasionally work in broadcasting with networks such as Fox Sports.
Dr. George Thompson, a 1962 graduate, spent two years at the OU before attending OSU, where he earned a Bachelor of Science in physiology. Thompson returned to OU to earn his Doctor of Medicine in 1970. Following his educational accomplishments in Oklahoma, Dr. Thompson joined the UCLA Medical Center for a surgical internship, general surgery residency and orthopedic surgery residency before spending two years in the U.S. Air Force (USAF) and obtained the rank of major while remaining in the USAF Reserves. Dr. Thomspon joined the faculty at Case Western Reserve University and University Hospital Cleveland Medical Center in 1979, following a residency in Toronto, Canada. He served as the director of the division of pediatric orthopedic surgery at Rainbow Babies and Children’s Hospital from 1987 through retirement, and served on the department’s board of directors, where “U.S. News and World Report” rated his division as one of the top programs in the nation. Dr. Thompson was inducted into the Pediatric Orthopedic Society of North America’s Hall of Fame in 2019, as well as OSU’s College of Arts and Sciences Hall of Fame, where he received recognition as the Distinguished Alumni for Integrative Biology. In 2020, Dr. Thompson received the Distinguished Academic Physician Alumni Award from the OU School of Medicine and was the first recipient of the George H. Thompson Distinguished Professorship in Pediatric Orthopedic Surgery. He remains active academically, with a history of receiving hundreds of national and international accolades and achievements.
The Friends of Northwest Classen is a local nonprofit that works to fund basic needs at Northwest Classen High School to enhance faculty and student experiences. To learn more, visit www.nwcfriends.org.
SUBSCRIBE