Lt. Col. Ben Allen, USAF (Retired)
A 1973 Northwest Classen graduate, Allen attended the U.S. Air Force Academy and followed that with a 20-year commitment to the Air Force as a satellite technology engineer before becoming an invaluable government aerospace contractor. For nearly 25 years, Allen provided high-level engineering and technical services for the Air Force and the national intelligence community, deploying state-of-the-art satellites to aid U.S. and allied military forces, collect real-time tracking data of severe weather conditions, as well as monitor the actions of foreign governments and their global activities.
Barbara Fox DeMaio
A 1971 graduate, Barbara Fox DeMaio enjoyed an international opera singing career as a Puccini and Verdi soprano, performing in opera houses and theatres throughout Europe. Singing title roles in dozens of the world’s best-known operas throughout her career, DeMaio forged an international reputation on a par with some of the biggest and brightest operatic stars of the past 40 years. A highly respected educator and vocal teacher, DeMaio is now an Associate Professor of Music at the University of Central Oklahoma.
Jabee Williams
As a well-known rap artist and community activist, this 2001 graduate has emerged as a highly respected recording artist embraced by the rap and hip-hop industry as a creative trendsetter within the genre. Since 2008, Jabee has released several critically acclaimed music albums and performed before audiences in a variety of musical venues. He was also featured as the vocal and focal point for Nike’s Kevin Durant commercial, “The Baddest” in 2014 and also starred in a television commercial for the Science Museum of Oklahoma which won an Emmy Award for Best Commercial Spot of the year. A true visionary and creative talent, Williams has been involved in documentaries, videos, and commercial film projects as an actor, vocalist and performer. Heavily invested in his community, he has launched two non-profits in Oklahoma City: WithLove Okc, a community art initiative, and LiveFree Okc, a violence intervention program.
Dr. Linda Cordell Leckman
Linda Cordell Leckman, MD is a 1965 graduate who devoted her entire career to the medical profession, both as a talented surgeon and later as a pioneering administrator of the largest medical group in the state of Utah. A 1977 graduate from the University of New Mexico Medical School, Linda completed her surgery residency at the University of Utah in 1982, being the first woman to complete the program. After a long career as a successful surgeon in Salt Lake City, in 1996 she became CEO of the Intermountain Medical Group, part of a Utah-based integrated health care system. Under her dynamic leadership, the group grew from about 100 physicians to more than 1200 with a multitude of mid-levels when she retired in 2017.
George McDowell
Since his graduation in 1961, George McDowell has made his mark in life by all that he has given to a wide variety of civic, charitable and community organizations. George has been particularly active with Northwest Classen High School by helping to establish the Friends of NWC Foundation, remodeling and transforming the auditorium into the Hudson Performance Hall, and co-chairing fund drives that have raised more than $2.5 million for Northwest Classen. He is involved in substance abuse recovery operations, prison ministries, not to mention nearly 30 years as a Bible Study Fellowship discussion leader. George continues to unselfishly invest his time, effort, money – and himself – into dozens of vital community leadership positions that are improving the lives of thousands of Oklahomans on a daily basis.