American Songwriter

Okay, picture this: It’s the late 1990s, and everything is right with the world. You’re not stressed by Y2K, and 9/11 is years in the future. All you have to wonder about is whether the Chicago Bulls are going to win another NBA championship or if grunge will ever come back.

“MMMBop” by Hanson from ‘Middle Of Nowhere’ (1997)

When the Oklahoma-born brother trio known as Hanson hit the scene in the late 90s, people didn’t really know what to do. Was this the new Jackson 5? Were they about the take over the Earth with catchy music like their 1997 hit, “MMMBop”? It was all very unclear. But what was clear was that their sticky single hit No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 and made a huge impact, even if they are considered one-hit wonders today.

OK Gazette

On Nov. 13, the Oklahoma Hall of Fame honored its newest class of inductees. From award-winning singers to a world expert on desert rodents to NBA champions, the OHF class of 2025 could definitely be voted “most likely to knock your socks off.”

Many know Ronnie Dunn as half of the famed country music duo Brooks & Dunn. Veterans of the country genre might know their hits, including “Neon Moon” and “My Maria.”

Oklahomans, however, know that Dunn began his music career just down the road in Tulsa. Brooks & Dunn rose to fame in the 90s, amassing 30 awards from the Academy of Country Music (ACM), 20 Country Music Awards (CMA), and 2 Grammys. More recently, though, they took home the award for Best Vocal Duo at the 2024 CMAs. Dunn has also had a successful solo career over the past decade, garnering hundreds of thousands of listeners on various streaming platforms.

Eddy Gibbs, proud resident of Owasso, founded Ameristar, which is the largest ornamental fence manufacturer in the world. He ran the company for 31 years before selling it on the condition that its operations would remain in Oklahoma. Gibbs also bought and revived what remained of the historic Shangri-La Resort on Grand Lake, creating new employment opportunities for Northeast Oklahomans. He also gave the single largest gift to a private K-12 in American history, according to the Oklahoma Hall of Fame, in addition to being a great benefactor to the Owasso community. Plus, this isn’t Gibbs’ first appearance in a hall of fame: he also appears in the Fence Industry Hall of Fame!

The year is 1997. You’re learning how to keep your Tamagotchi pet alive. Or, perhaps, you’re preparing to see the “Titanic” movie. One thing’s for certain: you can’t get “MMMBop” by HANSON out of your head. The oldest brother of the Tulsa-born band, Taylor Hanson, has gone on to do so much more since his internationally acclaimed debut in the late ‘90s. Passionate about independence in the music industry, Hanson co-founded 3CG Records, which has allowed HANSON to control the production of their own music. A dedicated Oklahoman, Hanson has committed much of his time to his food sustainability nonprofit, Food On The Move (FOTM). FOTM provides groceries to communities in food deserts right here in our state.

In November of 2022, Dr. Mautra Staley Jones was formally installed as the 11th president of Oklahoma City Community College (OCCC), making her the first woman and first Black person to lead the college, as well as the first Black woman to lead a non-HBCU in Oklahoma. The OHF induction is not the first recognition of Jones’s impressive achievements and general brilliance. Among other accolades, she was named Oklahoma’s Remarkable Woman by KFOR, Oklahoman of the Year by Oklahoma Magazine, a Top Black Higher Education CEO by Forbes, Oklahoma’s Most Admired CEO of public companies by the Journal Record, and she was one of the 100 Women to KNOW in America.

Bert Mackie spent over 60 years working at Security National Bank of Enid, where he became a staple in the Enid community. However, his community engagement extends beyond his hometown. He is a founding member and former president of the Oklahoma Foundation for Excellence, a non-profit organization focused on improving public schools statewide through private contributions. Like some of his fellow inductees, this is not Mackie’s first Hall of Fame appearance; he is also part of the Oklahoma Higher Education Historical Society’s Hall of Fame. Uniquely, Mackie also has a planetarium named after him. The “Bert and Janice Mackie Planetarium” can be found at Northern Oklahoma College.

Have you ever experienced a mind-blowing revelation while standing at the foot of a dinosaur skeleton at the Sam Noble Museum? Well, you can thank Dr. Michael A. Mares. The director emeritus of the Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History represents Norman on this year’s inductee list. It was under Mares’ direction that the museum opened its new 198,000 ft facility in the year 2000, highlighting the natural history of Oklahoma. A retired zoology professor at the University of Oklahoma, Mares has also been inducted into the Oklahoma Higher Education Hall of Fame. Mares even has a rodent, bat, and parasite named after him. This evident force in the worlds of science and zoology has rightfully earned his place in Oklahoma’s Hall of Fame.

Sam Presti, as Oklahoma’s basketball fans likely know, is the executive vice president and general manager of the Oklahoma City Thunder. It feels pertinent to point out that Presti was announced as a member of the 2025 OHF inductee class almost a month before the Thunder took home the NBA championship. Because, after all, his worth to the Oklahoma City community is far greater than an 800-gemstone ring. While Presti hails from Massachusetts, he has spent the past 17 years ingrained in Oklahoma culture—and advocating for it, as well. Every new player added to the Thunder roster is required to visit the Oklahoma City National Memorial and Museum, ensuring that they understand the values that comprise the city and the basketball team that represents it.

It is these values that have had a clear impact on Presti during his time in Oklahoma. As he said in his speech at the OHF induction ceremony, “The real value of the endeavor has very little to do with the symbolism of success: a trophy, a banner, a ring,” Presti said. “The most valuable thing is the creation of the community itself: the lifelong bond between all of those people who chose to come together in service of something bigger than could be achieved alone. Of all the things I admire and appreciate about Oklahoma, this is one of the strongest. This place doesn’t just talk about the power of community—it has lived it, again and again.”