SWOSU Press Release

Weatherford, OK – Southwestern Oklahoma State University (SWOSU) has announced its 2025 Distinguished Alumni Hall of Fame honorees.

Known as “SWOSU’s highest honor,” the Distinguished Alumni Hall of Fame was established in 1976 by SWOSU to recognize outstanding former students and to celebrate their achievements. There are currently 125 SWOSU graduates who have been inducted into the Hall of Fame.

The 2025 inductees include:

Ms. Melissa “Missy” Gard, ’89;

Mr. Brent Gibson, ’80; and,

The late Mr. Ricky Bill “Rick” Skinner, ’74

Melissa “Missy” Gard is a native of Ardmore, Oklahoma who graduated from high school in Enid, Oklahoma. She currently serves as Chief of Staff for the International Space Station (ISS) Program at the National Aeronautics & Space Administration (NASA), and as the Cooperative Agreement Technical Officer for the ISS National Laboratory at the NASA Johnson Space Center.

Gard began her career at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center, where she performed design, computational analysis, and testing on ISS environmental control, life support, thermal and fire protection systems, and ISS research facilities. In 1998, she was assigned to NASA Headquarters in Washington, D.C., where she worked on Congressional products and technical reporting for the Shuttle-Mir and ISS Programs. Gard then transferred to NASA’s Johnson Space Center, where she served as Technical Assistant to the Deputy Program Manager for the Shuttle-Mir Program and ISS Operations Manager. Following that assignment, she was the Mission Manager for the third and sixth expeditions to the ISS. Gard was moved to the ISS Mission Evaluation Room, eventually serving as Senior Manager of the team that monitors ISS technical operations and performs anomaly resolution.

In 2006, she was appointed as the Executive Director/Designated Federal Official for the Congressionally mandated ISS Independent Safety Task Force. She has been the Manager of the Increment Integration and Operations branch in the ISS Mission Integration and Operations Office, the Manager of the Research Planning Office in the ISS Research Integration Office, the Deputy Manager of the ISS Mission Integration and Operations Office, and the ISS Program Contracting Officer’s Technical Representative for the SpaceX Commercial Resupply Services and Russian Language and Logistics Services contracts. She has received numerous awards for her contributions to the field, including the Silver Snoopy award for ensuring crew and mission safety and the NASA Exceptional Achievement Medal, Exceptional Service Medal, and Outstanding Leadership Medal.

Brent Gibson came to SWOSU in 1975 and majored in commercial art, where he began his career as a well know watercolor artis , depicting rural scenes around western Oklahoma, painting wildlife, cattle scenes and many still life and landscape scenes.

In 1978, Gibson was asked to come work for Sawatzky Construction as a draftsman for their building firm where he quickly learned the skill of design and construction. After graduation from SWOSU in 1980, Gibson married Peggie Winter of Watonga (a fellow SWOSU graduate). He worked for Sawatsky Construction until 1987, then moved to Colorado Springs for a short while where he designed and built custom homes.

Gibson felt like Oklahoma was where he needed to be, so he made the move back to the Sooner State in 1990 where he located in Edmond and started his residential design firm, Brent Gibson Classic Home Design.

Gibson’s home designs were well-received. His designs are based upon classic architecture and timeless designs. He has designed numerous show homes throughout his career and custom homes throughout the state and beyond. Many of his homes can be scene in Oak Tree Golf course where he has designed well over 100 homes including homes of well know pro golfers Bob Tway and Scott Verplank, among others. Gibson has designed homes for OSU football coach Mike Gundy and the late country western artist Toby Keith as well. Gibson has also designed many properties in the Weatherford area.

Gibson has been a generous donor to the SWOSU Athletic Association.

Gibson is deeply proud of his SWOSU story, and is proud to call Weatherford home. He has many close friends and ties with the community, and continues to design homes with his firm. Brent has 2 daughters, Nicole and Natalie, and 5 grandchildren.

The late Ricky Bill “Rick” Skinner worked his way through college at SWOSU, earning every credit hour in the classroom with several spent “roughnecking” on the Oklahoma oilfields. The Carnegie native was the first man in his family to graduate from college. Following the completion of his undergraduate studies at SWOSU, Skinner went into business with his brother, Randy, in the firm Weatherford Cabinets for over a decade.

In 1987, Skinner returned to the SWOSU Hilltop as deputy to longtime SWOSU Physical Plant Director Jim Loomis, eventually succeeding Loomis in the role and serving in that capacity until retirement in 2018. During his time as SWOSU’s Physical Plant Director, Skinner spearheaded a complete transformation and enhancement of the SWOSU campus in Weatherford. Existing buildings were refurbished and improved, grounds were cultivated and gardens enriched, and notable achievements reached including the construction of the largest facilities in SWOSU’s history. During his time as an executive Skinner collaborated closely with Presidents Leonard Campbell, Joe Anna Hibler, John Hays, and Randy Beutler, and he mentored many undergraduates who were employed at SWOSU.

Additionally, Skinner was a generous Founder-level investor in the SWOSU Bulldog Angels fund for students in crisis.

The 2025 SWOSU Distinguished Alumni honorees will be recognized during the SWOSU Convocation activities planned for May 9-10 on the Weatherford campus.

For more information, please visit www.swosu.edu or call the SWOSU Office of Institutional Advancement at 580-774-3267.