Oklahoma State School Boards Association
Visit their website at www.ossba.org
Dr. Dan Snell
President
Dr. Dan Snell has served on the Norman Public Schools Board of Education since 1997 and on the OSSBA Board of Directors since 1999. Dr. Snell assumed the office of the President of the Oklahoma State School Boards Association at the OSSBA Delegate Assembly in August 2011.
Dr. Snell earned his Bachelor’s at Stanford University in 1971 and his Ph.D. at Yale University in 1975. He is currently a Professor of History at the University of Oklahoma. Dr. Snell teaches and writes about Middle Eastern history and reads Hebrew, Arabic, and some of the dead languages of the Ancient Near East. He and his wife, Dr. Katie Barwick-Snell, have two opinionated college-age children. Dr. Snell believes that American education is the source of our national character and our tremendous successes.
Dr. Jeff Mills
Executive Director
Dr. Jeff Mills became the OSSBA executive director October 1, 2008. His extensive leadership roles and activities in Oklahoma public education prepared him well for his new role. Mills, who began his K-12 career as a teacher for Snyder Public Schools in Oklahoma, has also worked as a coach, elementary and high school principal and superintendent in both small and large school districts.
Mills is an experienced school administrator who understands the inner workings of public schools, the political landscape and the vital relationship between school boards, superintendents and communities. As a former superintendent for Woodward, El Reno and Leedey Public Schools in Oklahoma, Mills also understands how the needs of a school district and board may differ based on size, resources and community values.
In recent years Mills was elected by his peers to serve as President-Elect of the Oklahoma Association of School Administrators, President of the United Suburban Schools Association and Vice-President of the Oklahoma Association of School Administrators. He has also served in a variety of leadership roles in civic and community service organizations. He was named District 14 Administrator of the Year by the Oklahoma Association of School Administrators in 2003-04.
Mills became the OSSBA’s Deputy Director in July 2008. He has a Doctor of Philosophy degree from Oklahoma State University, a Masters degree in Education from Southwestern Oklahoma State University and a Bachelor of Science degree from Northwestern Oklahoma State University.
Mills’ wife, Angela, is a principal at Sequoyah Middle School in Edmond, OK. They have two children: Jayla is freshman in college, pursuing a communications degree; and son Jace is a sophomore in high school.