The Oklahoma Historical Society will induct Donald L. Fixico, David W. Levy (posthumous), Linda D. Wilson and Timothy A. Zwink into the Oklahoma Historians Hall of Fame during the Oklahoma Historical Society Awards Banquet on Thursday, March 19, at 6 p.m. at the Oklahoma History Center in Oklahoma City.
Instituted in 1993, the Oklahoma Historians Hall of Fame is the highest honor awarded by the Oklahoma Historical Society. This honor recognizes distinguished and long-term contributions to Oklahoma history through demonstrated excellence in the preservation, collection, interpretation and dissemination of Oklahoma history.
Donald L. Fixico (Muscogee Creek, Seminole, Shawnee, Sac and Fox) is a Regents’ and Distinguished Professor of History; Distinguished Scholar of Sustainability; and Affiliate Faculty of American Indian Studies at Arizona State University. He was born in Shawnee and graduated from Muskogee Central High School. A first-generation college graduate, Fixico attended Bacone College before transferring to the University of Oklahoma, where he earned a bachelor’s degree, master’s degree and Ph.D. in history. He is the author and editor of over twenty books on the American West and American Indian history, including recent works such as “The State of Sequoyah: Indigenous Sovereignty and the Quest for an Indian State” and “Chitto Harjo: Native Patriotism and the Medicine Way.” Dr. Fixico has received numerous awards for his teaching and scholarship, including the National Museum of the American Indian Award in History and Education in 2010. He has also mentored dozens of graduate students and has traveled widely, both nationally and internationally, to lend his expertise on Oklahoma and American Indian history.
David W. Levy arrived at the University of Oklahoma (OU) after receiving his Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin in 1967. He retired from OU in 2006 as the Irene and Julian Rothbaum Professor of Modern American History. Dr. Levy was best known nationally for his work on American intellectual and political history. He also became the official historian of the University of Oklahoma by publishing two volumes of “The University of Oklahoma: A History.” He also researched the Civil Rights Movement in Oklahoma and highlighted the state’s importance in national debates concerning equal access to higher education. His 2020 book “Breaking Down Barriers: George McLaurin and the Struggle to End Segregated Education” received the E. E. Dale Award for the Outstanding Book on Oklahoma History from the OHS. A valued colleague and mentor, Dr. Levy was inducted into the Oklahoma Higher Education Hall of Fame in 2006. Dr. Levy passed away on August 9, 2025. Prior to his death, he arranged for the completion of a planned third volume of his history of the University of Oklahoma.
Linda D. Wilson has written, published and edited articles on Oklahoma and women’s history for thirty years. After graduating as valedictorian from Crooked Oak High School in Oklahoma City in 1966, Wilson worked at Tinker Air Force Base. She later transferred to the Veterans Administration Hospital and the Mike Monroney Aeronautical Center. Wilson took classes at the University of Central Oklahoma (UCO) in Edmond in the evenings during this time, earning a bachelor’s degree in accounting with minors in business and history. In 2000, at age 44, she returned to UCO and earned a master’s degree in history. She began working for the OHS while pursuing her master’s and was eventually hired as an associate editor for “The Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture.” She remains an active contributor to the encyclopedia, having written over 250 entries for the publication. She also writes for the “Biographical Dictionary of the Women Suffrage Movement in the United States.” Her 2020 article “‘An Appeal to Reason’: Women’s Suffrage in Oklahoma and Indian Territories, 1890-1907” won the Muriel H. Wright Award for outstanding article published in “The Chronicles of Oklahoma.”
Timothy A. Zwink earned a Ph.D. in history from Oklahoma State University in 1980. He would spend much of his professional career as an Oklahoma historian and administrator in higher education and for the OHS. Dr. Zwink joined the faculty at Northwestern Oklahoma State University (NWOSU) in Alva after completing graduate work, where he taught courses in U.S. history and American Indian history. While at NWOSU, Dr. Zwink conducted research and developed public programs about Camp Alva, a German prisoner-of-war camp during World War II. He joined the OHS in 2002 after serving over a decade as Vice President for Academic Affairs at NWOSU. As Associate Director of Development, Dr. Zwink’s skills as a grant writer directly contributed to the OHS securing the final funding necessary to complete construction of the Oklahoma History Center. He retired from the OHS in 2016 as the agency’s Deputy Executive Director and continues to work as an editorial consultant for books about Oklahoma history.
Each inductee receives the Oklahoma Historians Hall of Fame medal, and their biography is published in “The Chronicles of Oklahoma.”
Tickets to the Oklahoma Historical Society Awards Banquet can be purchased online. Guests are asked to RSVP by Monday, March 9. There will be a cocktail reception at 6 p.m., followed by the dinner and program at 6:30 p.m. Cocktail attire is requested. For more information or to inquire about sponsorship opportunities, please contact Development Officer Brittney Berling at brittney.berling@history.ok.gov or State Historian Matthew Pearce at matthew.pearce@history. ok.gov. The mission of the Oklahoma Historical Society is to collect, preserve and share the history and culture of the state of Oklahoma and its people. Founded in 1893 by members of the Territorial Press Association, the OHS maintains museums, historic sites and affiliates across the state. Through its research archives, exhibits, educational programs and publications, the OHS chronicles the rich history of Oklahoma. For more information about the OHS, please visit okhistory. org.
