Six outstanding Oklahomans have been selected for induction into the 83^rd class of the Oklahoma Hall of Fame. These accomplished Oklahomans will join the cast of 635 individuals who have been inducted into the Oklahoma Hall of Fame since 1928. The honorees were officially announced at a luncheon on May 13 hosted by the Oklahoma Heritage Association at the Gaylord-Pickens Oklahoma Heritage Museum. New inductees were presented to a roomful of past Oklahoma Hall of Fame honorees.

2010 Oklahoma Hall of Fame inductees are: Kristin Chenoweth, Broken Arrow; Robert A. Hefner, III, Oklahoma City; Edward Keller, Tulsa; Judy Love, Oklahoma City; Michael C. Turpen, Oklahoma City; and Lew O. Ward, III, Enid. The honorees will be formally inducted to the Hall on Nov. 4 at the Cox Convention Center in Oklahoma City. Also in November, their portraits will be added to the Oklahoma Hall of Fame Gallery at the Gaylord-Pickens Oklahoma Heritage Museum. Their biographies, photos and fun facts will be accessed through touch screen computers in the same gallery.

Kristin Chenoweth
Originally from Broken Arrow, Okla., Kristin Chenoweth transitions between stage, television and film.

Chenoweth is well-known for her show-stealing, Tony-winning performance in You’re A Good Man, Charlie Brown and her role of Glinda the Good Witch in Wicked, which earned her a leading actress Tony Award nomination. Her performance in the musical Steel Pier earned a Theatre World award.

Television fans know Chenoweth from The West Wing, the television adaptation of Annie and Sesame Street. She also starred in her own series Kristin for NBC. She was last seen starring in the ABC series Pushing Daisies, for which she was nominated for an Emmy Award for Best Supporting Actress in a comedy series, and has had recent appearances in Ugly Betty and Glee. Chenoweth is currently shooting the pilot for the legal drama Legally Mad and has joined the cast of the animated comedy Sit Down, Shut Up.

Moviegoers have seen her in Four Christmases, Deck the Halls, RV, Bewitched, Running with Scissors and The Pink Panther. Her voice can be heard in the animated films Space Chimps and Tinkerbell.

Chenoweth took the stage in a solo sold-out concert at Carnegie Hall in 2004 and continues to tour the country. To date, she has released three albums: A Lovely Way to Spend Christmas, Let Yourself Go and As I Am.

Robert A. Hefner, III

Robert A. Hefner, III, is founder and owner of The GHK Company, a private Oklahoma City oil and natural gas firm. After graduating from the University of Oklahoma in geology in 1957, he founded GHK in 1959. Hefner and GHK are well known for pioneering deep natural gas exploration in the Anadarko Basin of western Oklahoma, and Hefner remains active in oil and gas in several areas throughout Oklahoma and Texas.

Hefner was a founding contributor to the University of Oklahoma Energy Center, is chairman emeritus of Ballet Oklahoma and has brought three art exhibitions to Oklahoma. In 1981 he was awarded the Forbes Business in the Arts Award, and in 2009 he received the Energy Advocate of the Year Lifetime Achievement Award. Also in 2009, John Wiley & Sons published Hefner’s book The Grand Energy Transition, which discusses the transition to sustainable energy.

Hefner is a member of the International Council at Harvard’s Center for Science and International Affairs, a director of the American Clean Skies Foundation and a member of Singapore’s International Advisory Panel on Energy.

Hefner and his wife, MeiLi, have a passion for contemporary Chinese art, represented by their world-renowned Hefner Collection, and are committed to sharing their knowledge of art and culture with others. In 2005, the Hefners established the Hefner Initiative, which funds trips to China for outstanding students from Oklahoma School of Science and Mathematics and Cheyenne, Okla. high schools.

Edward F. Keller

Edward “Ed” Keller serves as non-executive chairman of Summit Bank of Tulsa and is a member of the board of directors of Mutual of Omaha Bank Holding Corp. Prior to his time at Summit Bank, Keller was CEO of J.P. Morgan Chase Oklahoma, chairman and CEO of Bank One Oklahoma, CEO of Bank IV Oklahoma and held several positions at banks throughout Oklahoma.

Keller currently serves on the board of Saint Francis Health System, Oklahoma State University-Tulsa, Oklahoma State University Foundation, University Center Trust Authority and Southern Hills Country Club. Keller has served as chairman of Metropolitan Tulsa Chamber of Commerce, Oklahoma Bankers Association, City of Tulsa-Rogers County Port Authority, Oklahoma State University Regents and the Tulsa Boys Home board of directors. In addition, Keller has chaired fundraisers benefitting the Boy Scouts of America, American Diabetes Association, Tulsa Community College and the National Jewish Hospital.

An Oklahoma State University graduate, Keller has received numerous honors, including the OSU Alumni Association Distinguished Alumnus Award and induction into the OSU Hall of Fame. He recently received the Tulsa Education Foundation’s Leadership in Education award.

Keller and his wife, Marilyn, reside in Tulsa where they have four children and seven grandchildren.

Judy Love

Judy Love helped husband, Tom, start Love’s Travel Stops and Country Stores in 1964. She worked full time in the company until 1975 when she returned to college. She currently serves as chairman of Love’s Family Foundation and secretary of the corporation, as well as performing other special assignments at Love’s.

Love is a board member of St. Anthony’s Foundation, the Oklahoma City Museum of Art, the Civic Center Foundation, Allied Arts, the Oklahoma City University board of trustees, Oklahoma City Community Foundation, University of Central Oklahoma Foundation and SSM Health Care of Oklahoma.

Love’s leadership roles in fundraising include chairing or co-chairing major events for St. Anthony Hospital, Symphony Show House, the Oklahoma City Museum of Art, Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure, Christ the King Church Building Fund, McGuinness High School Building Fund, Heart Ball, St. Anthony Foundation’s Building Fund and Oklahoma City University Societies. Currently, with her husband, Love is honorary chair of the 2010 Allied Arts Campaign and co-chair of an upcoming event for the University of Central Oklahoma.

Love has received many honors, including Oklahoma City University Distinguished Woman, Woman of Distinction—Girl Scouts, McGuinness High School Graduate of the Year, Lifetime Achievement Award—Oklahoma City University, Oklahoma Health Center Foundation’s Treasures for Tomorrow, Notre Dame Club Woman of the Year for Oklahoma, Bishop’s Outstanding Lay Catholic Leader and Outstanding Philanthropist Award from the Oklahoma City Chapter of the National Fundraising Professional.

Michael C. Turpen

Michael C. Turpen was born in Tulsa, Okla., educated in Tulsa Public Schools and graduated from the University of Tulsa, earning degrees in history and law. In 1982, Turpen was elected Attorney General after serving as Muskogee County DA from 1977 to 1982.

In 1975, Turpen was selected by the Oklahoma Bar Association as Oklahoma’s Outstanding Young Lawyer, and 10 years later he argued before the U.S. Supreme Court. In 2004, the courtroom at the University of Tulsa College of Law was named the Price & Turpen Courtroom.

Turpen has received the Oklahoma Arts Council Governor’s Award for Community Service, Oklahoma Health Center Foundation’s Treasures for Tomorrow Award, University of Tulsa’s Outstanding Alumnus, National Foundation for the Improvement of Justice Award and Lyric Theatre’s John Kirkpatrick Award for chairing its successful $10 million capital campaign. He was appointed by President Bill Clinton to serve on the Kennedy Center Board in Washington, D.C.

Turpen currently serves as president of Lyric Theatre and is on the boards of the Oklahoma City National Memorial & Museum, the Oklahoma State Fair and Allied Arts. He was appointed by Gov. Henry to serve on the Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education in 2009. He previously served as president of the CARE Center and founded his Young Men’s Poetry Club.

Lew O. Ward

L. O. Ward, best known as an oil and gas producer, is chairman of Ward Petroleum Corporation. He received his bachelor of science degree in petroleum engineering from the University of Oklahoma in 1953. He is a registered professional engineer and a graduate of the Owner/President Management Program at Harvard University.

Ward is currently a member of the National Petroleum Council and was president of the Oklahoma Independent Petroleum Association from 1979 to 1980. He served as chairman of the Independent Petroleum Association of America from 1995 to 1997.

Ward was named Distinguished Alumni of the Oklahoma Military Academy in 1993 and inducted in the University of Oklahoma College of Engineering Distinguished Graduates Society in 1999. He received Lone Star Steel’s “Chief Roughneck” Award in 1999 for lifetime achievement in the oil and gas industry, and in 2009 he received the Trailblazer Award from the University of Oklahoma.

Ward has served as president of the Enid Chamber of Commerce, Enid Rotary Club and American Business Club. The Enid Chamber of Commerce named him Businessman of the Year in 1988 and Citizen of the Year in 2006. Also in 2006 he was presented the Governor’s Arts Award and inducted into the Enid Public School Foundation Hall of Fame.