Tuesday, December 22, 2015
OKLAHOMA CITY – Governor Mary Fallin today announced she is appointing Andy Lester to the Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education.
Lester will replace Marlin “Ike” Glass Jr., whom Fallin thanked for his 18 years of dedicated service to the state as a regent. Glass's second nine-year term expires in May.
Lester, of Edmond, has served on the Board of Regents for Oklahoma Agricultural and Mechanical (A&M) Colleges since 2007. His appointment requires Senate confirmation
Lester will continue to serve on the A&M board until the Senate approves his appointment.
“Andy has proven himself to be a champion for education,” Fallin said. “That is what our state needs as we try to close the skills gap that has left nearly 80,000 jobs unfilled in Oklahoma because of a lack of qualified candidates.”
Lester is a partner in the Edmond law firm Lester, Loving and Davies. His areas of emphasis include constitutional, employment, local government, civil rights and general business litigation. He also has taught at the Oklahoma City University College of Law as an adjunct professor since 1988.
Lester earned his law degree and a master’s degree in foreign service from Georgetown University in 1981. He graduated from Duke University in 1977 with a bachelor’s degree in history.
Lester is a deacon at First Baptist Church of Oklahoma City and has served on the board of advisors for the Salvation Army’s Oklahoma City command since 2002. He also is part of the Oklahoma Advisory Committee for the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights.
About the Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education
The state regents coordinate Oklahoma’s system of 25 colleges and universities, 11 constituent agencies and two university centers. Regents prescribe academic standards of higher education, determine functions and courses of study at state colleges and universities, grant degrees and approve each public college's and university's allocations, as well as tuition and fees within the limits set by the Oklahoma Legislature. Regents also manage scholarships and special programs.