Ross O. Swimmer

Ross O. Swimmer
Board Member 2012 – Present

Ross Swimmer is a graduate of the University of Oklahoma with a BA and Juris Doctor degrees. He practiced law for five years before joining the Cherokee Nation as an attorney. In 1975, he was elected Principal Chief of the Cherokee Nation where he served 10 years until called to Washington to be the Assistant Secretary-Indian Affairs, Department of the Interior. He returned to Tulsa to practice law in 1990 and was then again called to Washington to serve as Special Trustee for American Indians in 2001 during the Bush presidency.

During his career, he served as president of two banks and is presently on the board of First National Bank owned by the Potawatomi Tribe in Oklahoma. He is a trustee emeritus for the University of Tulsa, a board member of the Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation, and is a registered investment advisor with Pinnacle investments, Tulsa. His home is in Tulsa and a second home in D.C.