The OAPA honors those who have promoted the PA Profession and the Academy’s mission. The OAPA is proud of these individuals who have distinguished themselves in service to patients, the community, the profession and the Academy. Click on the button below to nominate an individual you feel deserves special recognition.
Honorary PA Award
Honorary PA award honors non-physician assistants who have rendered distinguished service to the PA profession. Recipients of this honor receive a free, lifetime membership in the Academy and have all the privileges of membership, except for voting, holding office, or chairing committees.
| Governor Dewey Bartlett | 1977 |
| Governor Henry Bellmon | 1977 |
| David Bickham | 1977 |
| Edgar Young, M.D. | 1977 |
| Richard Hyde, Ph.D. | 1990 |
| Nicki Watson | 1990 |
| Mark Britton, Pharm.D. | 1991 |
| Nancy Letassy, Pharm.D. | 1991 |
| Steven Orwig, M.D. | 1992 |
| G. Edward Schissler, M.D. | 1992 |
| Senator Ben H. Robinson | 1998 |
| Representative Bill Settle | 1998 |
| Robyn Kemp | 1998 |
| Richard Perry | 1999 |
| Susan E. Semtner | 2003 |
| Jon R. Denton | 2006 |
| Lillie M. Neal | 2010 |
| Meredith Davison, Ph.D., M.P.H | 2011 |
| Rhonda Sparks, M.D. | 2013 |
| Pamela Hathorn, Ph.D. | 2015 |
| Jan Loftis | 2016 |
| Senator Kim David | 2016 |
| James L. Brand, M.D. | 2017 |
| Representative Marcus Entire | 2018 |
| Representative Jason Dunnington | 2018 |
| Richard Evans | 2018 |
| Nancy Halliday, Ph.D. | 2018 |
| Frederick Miller, Ph.D. | 2019 |
| Representative John Pfeiffer | 2020 |
| Senator Greg McCortney | 2021 |
| Marilyn Mirtz | 2022 |
| Steven Crawford, MD | 2022 |
| Matt Latham, OAPA Lobbyist | 2023 |
| Tyler Powell, OAPA Lobbyist | 2023 |
The Roger G. Whittaker Award
The Roger G. Whittaker award recognizes individuals who like Mr. Whittaker, exemplify a pioneering spirit and dedication to the PA profession and professional development of PA students. Must be a current member of the OAPA.
| Michael D. Kuns, P.A. | 1981 |
| Paula J. Montgomery, P.A. | 1983 |
| Robert E. Brooks, P.A. | 1984 |
| Diana M. Denton, P.A. | 1985 |
| Donald G. Bevers, P.A | 1986 |
| Matthew W. Thigpen, P.A. | 1987 |
| Donald R. Flinn, P.A. | 1990 |
| Daniel L. McNeill, Ph.D., P.A. | 1998 |
| William D. Stanhope, P.A. | 2008 |
| Gary R. Sharp, P.A., M.P.H. | 2010 |
| Roger A. Elliott, P.A., M.P.H. | 2012 |
| Daniel L. O’Donoghue, PhD, PA-C | 2017 |
| Bruna Varalli-Claypool, PA-C | 2021 |
| Gavin Christie, PA-C | 2022 |
| Erin O’Donnell, PA-C | 2023 |
Rural PA of the Year
Rural PA of the year honors a physician assistant who has provided quality health care in a rural community and demonstrated exemplary service to the PA profession in Oklahoma. The Rural PA of the year has shown leadership and been a mentor to others in their rural community. Must be a current member of the OAPA.
| Jimmy Williams, P.A. | 1991 |
| Charles S. O’Leary, P.A. | 1992 |
| Scott Schwerdtfeger, P.A. | 1993 |
| Eldon Hugaboom, P.A. | 1994 |
| David G. Del Torto, P.A. | 1995 |
| Janet E. Parker, P.A. | 1996 |
| Bridget A. Keast, P.A | 1997 |
| Ernest B. Perkins, P.A | 1998 |
| Mark A. Sheaman, P.A. | 1999 |
| Dale L. Archer, P.A. | 1999 |
| Albert E. McLemore, P.A. | 2000 |
| Parnell Adams, P.A. | 2001 |
| Theresa R. Carroll, P.A | 2002 |
| John E. Mellott, P.A. | 2003 |
| Tonja S. Shandy, P.A. | 2005 |
| Paul Crow., P.A. | 2006 |
| Martin J. Kubier, P.A. | 2007 |
| Robert E. Vandiver, II, P.A. | 2008 |
| Michelene Jackson, P.A. | 2010 |
| Jeffrey D. Phillips, P.A. | 2010 |
| Kenneth A. Adams, P.A. | 2011 |
| Kari L. Cochran, P.A. | 2012 |
| Eddie E. Noel, P.A.-C | 2013 |
| Douglas H. Huber, P.A.-C | 2013 |
| Keith G. Plummer, P.A.-C | 2013 |
| Jackie Parnell, PA-C | 2014 |
| Phil Green | 2015 |
| Robert C. Lynch, PA-C | 2016 |
| Arnulfo A. Garcia, PA-C | 2017 |
| Laura Kadechuk, PA-C | 2018 |
| Mary Ann Ward, PA-C | 2019 |
| Mary Boerner, PA-C | 2020 |
| Maria Maynard, PA-C | 2021 |
| Helga Price, PA-C | 2022 |
| Steven Arnold, PA-C | 2023 |
| Stacy Scroggins, PA-C | 2023 |
President’s Service Award
The President’s Service Award is an award given by the President to an individual they selected for recognition of contributions made to the PA Profession.
| Jan Edwards | 2001 |
| Paula J. Montgomery, P.A. | 2001 |
| Donald G. Bevers, P.A. | 2002 |
| Kim G. Campbell, P.A. | 2002 |
| Stacy L. Scroggins, P.A. | 2006 |
| Marcus D. Sizemore, P.A. | 2006 |
| Daniel L. McNeill, Ph.D., P.A. | 2008 |
| Gary R. Sharp, P.A.-C., M.P.H. | 2008 |
| Donald R. Flinn, P.A.-C | 2012 |
| Daniel L. O’Donoghue, Ph.D., P.A.-C | 2013 |
| Jon Denton & Diana Denton, PA | 2014 |
| Susan E. Thomas | 2016 |
| Theresa L. Gavula, PA-C | 2017 |
| Susan E. Thomas | 2018 |
| Phil Burke, PA-C | 2019 |
| Charles O’Leary, PA-C | 2021 |
| Lewis Devore, PA | 2022 |
| Allison Garrison, PA-C | 2023 |
Lifetime Membership
Lifetime membership in the Academy honors physician assistants who have rendered distinguished service to the Academy and PA Profession in Oklahoma and Nationally. Recipients of this honor receive a free, lifetime membership in the Academy and have all the privileges of a chapter membership. Must be a current member of the OAPA.
| William D. Stanhope, P.A. | 1983 |
| Gerald D. Wootan, P.A., D.O. | 1993 |
| Dan P. Fox, P.A., M.P.H. | 1993 |
| Robert E. Brooks, P.A. | 1997 |
| Joseph W. Scrannage, P.A. | 1997 |
| Matthew W. Thigpen, P.A. | 1999 |
| Donald R. Flinn, P.A. | 2001 |
| Daniel L. McNeill, Ph.D., P.A. | 2003 |
| Sharon Lancaster, P.A. | 2006 |
| Thomas R. Godkins, P.A. | 2008 |
| Roger A. Elliott, P.A., M.P.H. | 2008 |
| Diana Denton, P.A. | 2010 |
| Gary R. Sharp, P.A., M.P.H | 2011 |
| John W. Click, P.A.-C | 2013 |
| Fred L. Olenberger, P.A.-C | 2013 |
| Daniel L. O’Donoghue, Ph.D., PA-C | 2014 |
| Kenneth DeMasters, PA-C | 2014 |
| Pam Foster, PA-C | 2015 |
| Janet E. Paker, PA | 2016 |
| Bridget A. Keast, PA-C | 2017 |
| Paula Montgomery, PA-C | 2021 |
| Earl Dunkleberger, PA | 2022 |
| Sheila Walker, PA-C | 2023 |
Special Service Award
| Roger G. Whittaker | 1980 |
PA of the Year Award
PA of the year honors a physician assistant who has provided quality health care in a metropolitan area and provided exemplary service and leadership to the PA profession in Oklahoma and has furthered the image of physician assistants. Must be a current member of the OAPA.
| Earl E. Dunkleberger, P.A. | 1989 |
| Bridget A. Keast, P.A | 1990 |
| William J. Zurline, P.A | 1991 |
| William M. Ohl, P.A. | 1992 |
| Eileen M. Mackey, P.A. | 1993 |
| Marcus D. Sizemore, P.A. | 1994 |
| Tad A. Hall, P.A. | 1995 |
| Gary R. Sharp, P.A., M.P.H. | 1996 |
| Donald R. Flinn, P.A. | 1997 |
| Diana Denton, P.A., M.Ed. | 1998 |
| Kim G. Campbell, P.A. | 1999 |
| Deborah D. Holder, P.A. | 2000 |
| Daniel L. McNeill, Ph.D., P.A | 2001 |
| Thomas W. Johnson, P.A | 2002 |
| Pamela G. Foster, P.A. | 2003 |
| J. Ryan Thomas, P.A. | 2005 |
| Thomas J. Gresham, P.A. | 2006 |
| McKinley Boatner, P.A. | 2007 |
| Donna Anderson, P.A. | 2008 |
| Bruna M. Varalli-Claypool, P.A. | 2010 |
| Jerry E. Joern, P.A.-C | 2011 |
| Ann E. Robbins, P.A.-C | 2012 |
| Claude H. Denize, P.A.-C | 2013 |
| Allison Garrison, PA-C | 2014 |
| James Click, PA-C | 2015 |
| Sara Parr, PA-C | 2016 |
| Cheri L. Ennis, PA-C | 2017 |
| Brett Purvis, PA-C | 2018 |
| Theresa Gavula, PA-C | 2019 |
| Tara Watson, PA-C | 2020 |
| Hussein Torbati, PA-C | 2021 |
| Kristin Peck, PA-C | 2021 |
| Keith Holliman, PA-C | 2022 |
| Iftikhar Sandhu, PA-C | 2023 |
Physician of the Year
Physician of the year award honors physician(s) who have rendered distinguished service to the PA profession and furthered or facilitated the practice of PAs in Oklahoma.
| Keith Underhill, P.A., M.D. | 1990 |
| Henry Pearce, M.D. | 1992 |
| Jack Howard, M.D. | 1993 |
| Arthur Schipul, M.D. | 1994 |
| Virgil Smith, D.O. | 1995 |
| Bruce Mackey, M.D. | 1996 |
| Steve Drabek, M.D. | 1997 |
| James Brand, M.D. | 1998 |
| The Physicians of Emergency Care, Inc., Tulsa, OK | 1999 |
| Alecia Hanes, M.D. | 2000 |
| Steven A. Crawford, M.D. | 2001 |
| Jeffrey R. Shuart, M.D. | 2002 |
| Craig W. Carson, M.D. | 2003 |
| Emergency Physicians of Midwest City | 2004 |
| Oklahoma Heart Institute | 2005 |
| State Representative Doug Cox, M.D. | 2008 |
| J.T. O’Connor, Jr., D.O. | 2009 |
| Rhonda A. Sparks, M.D. | 2010 |
| Janelle Whitt, D.O | 2011 |
| Jerry Amundsen, M.D. | 2012 |
| Bryan Dye, M.D. | 2013 |
| Harold Haralson, M.D. | 2013 |
| Mike Garrison, M.D. | 2014 |
| Fred Loper, M.D. | 2015 |
| Ryan D. Brown, M.D | 2016 |
| Charles E. Womack, M.D. | 2017 |
| Chad Douglas, M.D., Pharm.D. | 2018 |
| Kristen Jordan, M.D. | 2018 |
| Darren Thomas, M.D. | 2019 |
| Mark Kowalski, M.D. | 2020 |
| Deacon Vice, D.O. | 2021 |
| Glenn Koester, MD | 2022 |
| Douglas Brant, DO | 2023 |
Daniel L. McNeill Humanitarian Award
The Daniel L. McNeill Humanitarian Award recognizes individuals like Dr. McNeill, whose broad vision and leadership are helping to address humanity’s greatest challenges. Recipients may designate a nonprofit organization of his or her choice to receive $500 to further their cause.
| Daniel L. McNeill | 2013 |
| Jennifer Stephens | 2014 |
| Marcus Sizemore | 2015 |
OAPA Memorial Scholarship Awards
The OAPA Memorial Scholarship Awards are to honor PA’s who left a legacy of dedicated service to the PA Profession.
| Diana Denton Scholarship | April Busch | 2015 |
| Manuel Flores Scholarship | Hoai Nguyen | 2015 |
| William “Bill” Martin Scholarship | Jennifer Dunning | 2015 |
| Ron Peterson Scholarship | Sean Olsen | 2015 |
| Avery Pittman Scholarship | Jordan Schuart | 2016 |
| Eldon A. Hugaboom Scholarship | Hillary A. Bennett | 2017 |
| Robert E. Brooks Scholarship | Diana Wiley | 2018 |
| Heather Wadley Scholarship | Megan Doughtery | 2019 |
| Robert Havener, Jr, PA-C Scholarship | Karisa Eustace | 2020 |
| Bruce Carlton, PA-C Scholarship | Kelsey Harmon | 2021 |
| Jacob Helt, PA-C Scholarship | Logan E. Krivanek | 2022 |
| Teri Jordan Richardson, PA-C Scholarship | Rachel Slater | 2023 |