Distinguished Alumni Award

Justice Dana Kuehn serves as Vice Chief Justice of the Oklahoma Supreme Court, where she was appointed by Governor Kevin Stitt on July 26, 2021. She is the first woman in Oklahoma history to serve on both of the state’s courts of last resort and the first to hold leadership roles in each. In 2023, she was appointed to the Oklahoma Court on the Judiciary, Appellate Division, making her the first woman in state history to serve as a District Judge, Court of Criminal Appeals Judge, Supreme Court Justice, and Judicial Appellate Judge.

 

A Tulsa native, Justice Kuehn earned her Bachelor of Arts in Political from Oklahoma State University, where she was a top ten graduate in the College of Arts and Sciences. She was a four-year member of the OSU Pom Squad and served as President of Kappa Alpha Theta. Her other student leadership roles and honors included membership in Blue Key Honor Society, Arts & Sciences Student Council, Order of Omega, Orange & Black Quill, OSU Delegate to the Oklahoma Intercollegiate Legislature, Student Alumni Board, Omicron Delta Kappa, Pi Sigma Alpha, National Dean’s Honor Roll, and selection as a Top 10 Senior in the College of Arts and Sciences. She was also recognized as an NCA All-American Pom, served as Spring Sing Director, and participated in Greek Discovery Day as an ambassador.

 

She earned her Juris Doctor from the University of Tulsa College of Law in 1996 and was inducted into the TU College of Law Hall of Fame in 2017, receiving the Tom Coffman Community Service Award.

 

Her legal career began at the Tulsa County District Attorney’s Office, where she spent a decade as a felony prosecutor. She led the Crimes Against Children Unit and served as Chief of the Juvenile Division. She also practiced civil law at Steidley & Neal and was elected Associate District Judge for Tulsa County in 2006, later serving as Chief of the Civil Division.

 

Justice Kuehn has served as an adjunct professor at the University of Tulsa College of Law for over 20 years and has also taught in the University’s undergraduate College of Business. She is a Trustee for the University of Tulsa.

 

Her honors include the Mona Salyer Lambird Spotlight Award, the American Board of Trial Advocates Oklahoma Trial Judge of the Year Award, and selection to national judicial symposiums hosted by NYU, George Mason, and Northwestern Law Schools. She was inducted into the 2025 OSU College of Arts and Sciences Hall of Fame.

 

Justice Kuehn serves on the Oklahoma State University Parent Council, is a Lifetime Alumni Member, and a member of Women for OSU.  She served as the President of the Sigma Nu Parent Club for 3 years.

 

She and her husband, Patrick, have four sons. Their son Christopher is a graduate of Oklahoma State University, and their youngest son, Nicholas, is currently a junior at OSU.