NORMAN, OKLA. – The University of Oklahoma Board of Regents announced today the appointment of Mackenzie Wilfong, J.D. as executive secretary.
With more than two decades of experience in higher education, Wilfong will join OU on June 4 from Tulsa Community College, where she has served as vice president of legal affairs, general counsel and chief legal officer for the past seven years. In this role, she advises TCC and its Board of Regents on all legal, policy and government affairs impacting the college’s four campuses.
“Mackenzie Wilfong’s extensive legal background spanning over two decades in higher education brings invaluable expertise to our Board,” said OU Board of Regents Chair Eric Stevenson. “Her insight will play a crucial role in guiding our governance processes and driving strategic initiatives forward.”
As executive secretary of the Board of Regents, Wilfong will be responsible for Board relations; the operational management of the Board of Regents’ Office, including personnel management and budget administration; and serving as the principal aid to the Board as it makes informed decision and fulfills its fiduciary and oversight responsibilities for the university. She will also be the primary liaison between the Board of Regents and university administration.
“We are thrilled to welcome Mackenzie Wilfong to the University of Oklahoma,” said OU President Joseph Harroz Jr. “Her wealth of experience in higher education, coupled with her demonstrated ability to provide strategic advice and foster collaborations to achieve institutional goals, make her an outstanding choice for this key leadership role.”
Prior to joining TCC, Wilfong served various roles during her eight years with the Oklahoma A&M Board of Regents and Oklahoma State University, including associate general counsel and director of equal opportunity, Title IX coordinator and ADA coordinator. She earned a Bachelor of Arts in Public Affairs from OU and a Juris Doctorate from Southern Methodist University.
About the University of Oklahoma
Founded in 1890, the University of Oklahoma is a public research university located in Norman, Oklahoma. As the state’s flagship university, OU serves the educational, cultural, economic and health care needs of the state, region and nation. OU was named the state’s highest-ranking university in U.S. News & World Report’s most recent Best Colleges list. For more information about the university, visit ou.edu.
Three University of Oklahoma graduate students have been named winners of the 2025 Three Minute Thesis competition, which challenges participants to explain their research in three minutes to a non-specialist audience.
Sarah Sharif, a researcher with the University of Oklahoma, has been awarded funding from the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) to create innovative light detectors that pick up mid-wave and long-wave infrared signals at higher temperatures than previously considered achievable.
A team from OU and WVU recently earned a five-year, $3.5 million grant from the National Institutes of Health to study how concept cigarillos influence the potential for addiction. The results will be used to inform the FDA’s impending flavor ban on cigar products and could have wider-reaching implications for other tobacco products that come in flavors, such as e-cigarettes and tobacco-free nicotine pouches.