Oklahoma: A Story Through Her People
A full-color photography book showcasing Oklahoma paired with the histories of companies, institutions, and organizations that have made the state great.
A full-color photography book showcasing Oklahoma paired with the histories of companies, institutions, and organizations that have made the state great.
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CHARLES D.<br />
(CHUCK) MILLS<br />
Left: Left to right, David and Chuck Mills.<br />
Right: Left to right, Chuck and David Mills.<br />
Chuck Mills of Shawnee, <strong>Oklahoma</strong> leads<br />
by example. He is a successful business owner<br />
and executive; a valued civic and community<br />
leader; and perhaps most of all, a “practical<br />
visionary” for the State of <strong>Oklahoma</strong>.<br />
As owner and president of Mills Machine<br />
Company, Inc., a major custom manufacturer<br />
of earth drilling tools founded by his family in<br />
1908, Chuck began his lessons in leadership<br />
at a young age, working in the machine shop,<br />
alongside his father, David. Chuck began to<br />
learn the business, but of equal importance,<br />
he gained early insight into the value of<br />
practical experience or, “understanding by<br />
doing,” something that still resonates<br />
throughout his private and public career.<br />
Alongside this early work at Mills Machine<br />
Company, Chuck’s foundation in leadership<br />
began with boyhood experiences in scouting,<br />
first as a Cub Scout and later as a Boy Scout,<br />
where he eventually earned the Eagle Scout<br />
Award and where he learned the value of<br />
cooperative effort and team achievement.<br />
<strong>Through</strong> his father’s encouragement,<br />
Chuck also entered DeMolay, an international<br />
organization dedicated to preparing young<br />
men for successful, productive lives. It was in<br />
DeMolay that Chuck gained more leadership<br />
experience and had his first opportunity to<br />
make public presentations.<br />
In preparing for these early public performances,<br />
Chuck learned not only the<br />
importance of careful preparation and<br />
scripting, but he began to realize the power<br />
of communication. As visual thinker, he<br />
recognized the need to translate his thoughts<br />
into clear, direct language. As his experience<br />
developed, Chuck began to see that the real<br />
objective was not simply to share thoughts,<br />
but to communicate vision.<br />
Chuck attended the University of Central<br />
<strong>Oklahoma</strong> and earned a BBA in management<br />
in 1979. While there he achieved leadership<br />
positions in multiple campus organizations<br />
including Sigma Tau Gamma (STG) Fraternity<br />
and he began a lifelong commitment to this<br />
organization and its service-oriented goals.<br />
Over the years, he held a variety of volunteer<br />
positions, including national president and<br />
trustee for the STG Foundation.<br />
O K L A H O M A : A S t o r y T h r o u g h H e r P e o p l e<br />
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