Jeannie McDaniel

TCC 50 Notable Alumni

Growing up in a military family that moved frequently, Jeannie attended 12 schools in 12 years. She landed in Tulsa in 1978 and never left. Civic minded, she became involved in politics. She worked for the nonprofit Citizens Crime Commission, which coordinated the Crime Stoppers and Alert Neighbors programs. She moved to the City of Tulsa to run the Mayor’s Office for Neighborhoods for then Mayor Rodger Randle and later for Mayor Susan Savage.

After her four children graduated from college, Jeannie decided to pursue her own degree and enrolled in night classes at Tulsa Community College while working full time. “TCC allowed a 50-year-old to finish a degree begun many years earlier with grace and dignity,” she said. “The classroom was a welcome opportunity to continue life-long learning in a welcome setting of academia that had changed quite a lot from 1967. I valued each class experience. From Algebra and Statistics to Biology, I loved the challenges. Another part of my ‘learning’ was the chance to sit in classes with young people. I got to hear their concerns, dreams, challenges and what they wanted in a community.”

After graduating from TCC, Jeannie went on to earn a bachelor’s degree. She retired from the City of Tulsa in 2004 after being elected to the Oklahoma House of Representatives, representing District 78 for 12 years. She also served an Assistant Minority Floor Leader of the House Chamber. Jeannie was recognized as a Best of TCC Distinguished Alumni in 2006. In 2014, she was named one of the 100 Women of Moxie by the Tulsa YWCA.

“It was a privilege to have been able to work and represent Tulsa residents,” she said. “Each job from the Crime Commission to Mayor’s Office for Neighborhoods to becoming an elected official allowed me to work with and for the people of Tulsa.”