Current source roster
Port Authority Board Chair
Board chair
Announced January2025; current roster
Exact election date not independently established.
People / Government & civic life
Deanne Dutton Hughes
Chair, City of Tulsa–Rogers County Port Authority
An engineer and manufacturing executive at the intersection of industrial development, infrastructure and university governance.
Deanne Dutton Hughes chairs the City of Tulsa–Rogers County Port Authority and directs IT systems at McElroy Manufacturing. She is also a University of Tulsa trustee. Her public responsibilities connect industrial land, transportation and development decisions with local government; her professional background is in environmental engineering and manufacturing. The Port Authority announced her as its first woman chair in January 2025.
Career & public service
- By February 2010
Cardinal Engineering
The Journal Record identified Hughes as a senior engineer.
- By 2021
Port Authority appointment
City roster gives October20,2021 as the appointment date.
- 2024
McElroy compliance work
Vendor letter identifies Hughes as Director of IT Systems.
- January 2025
Port Authority chair
Announced as the authority’s first woman chair.
- 2025
University and nonprofit governance
Engineering conference biography identifies TU trustee/advisory roles; OFE fiscal2025 return records trustee service.
- September 2026
Industrial-development litigation
Chaired the meeting authorizing the petition challenge; related court proceedings remained without a verified final outcome at review.
People, institutions and the relationships between them
Following the connections
Each step below represents a documented relationship. Dates and roles belong to the individual links; a path can span different periods.
personDeanne Dutton Hughes
officePort Authority Board Chair
public authorityCity of Tulsa–Rogers County Port Authority
An individual chair works through a public authority whose board holds the statutory powers.
personDeanne Dutton Hughes
companyMcElroy Manufacturing
universityUniversity of Tulsa
Employment and a documented company research partnership connect the institutions; this path does not attribute the partnership decision to Hughes.
Documented relationships
14 documented relationships · Historical and current roles remain distinct.
Current source roster
Port Authority Board Chair
Chair of the authority board · City of Tulsa–Rogers County Port Authority
Current office
Collective board powers; not unilateral authority.
Current source roster
City of Tulsa–Rogers County Port Authority
City-appointed director
Appointed October20,2021; stated term to October4,2029
Term expiry is not an observed departure.
Historical record
City of Tulsa
City appointment recorded
October20,2021
Appointment event distinct from continuing service.
Current source roster
McElroy Manufacturing
Director of IT Systems
Documented2024; current institutional roster
Historical record
Cardinal Engineering
Senior engineer / historical principal
Documented2010 and historical AIChE biography
Exact tenure endpoints not established.
Historical record
Third Branch Engineering
Consulting company
2025 conference biography
Biography calls it her company; equity percentage and present legal status not established.
Current source roster
University of Tulsa
University trustee
Current university roster
Exact appointment date unverified; separate from engineering advisory role.
Historical record
University of Tulsa
Mechanical-engineering advisory board
2025 conference biography
Current continuation not independently dated.
Historical record
University of Tulsa
BS mechanical engineering
Degree year unverified
Historical record
Stanford University
MS civil/environmental engineering
Degree year unverified
Current source roster
McElroy Manufacturing
Pipe-joint testing collaboration · University of Tulsa
Company describes current research
No evidence Hughes arranged it or received personal benefit; company-attributed description.
Historical record
Infrastructure Development Advisory Board
Consulting Engineer2 seat
Roster appointmentApril14,2021; stated term endedSeptember30,2026
Historical seat observation. End of stated term does not establish actual departure; renewal/holdover unresolved.
Historical record
Oklahoma Foundation for Excellence
Trustee
FYJuly2024–June2025 return
Current continuation not independently established.
$0 · Calendar2024 PartVII row30 D/E/F eachUSD0; filedMarch23,2026; not personal total income.
Dated public records
Compensation & campaign finance
Oklahoma Foundation for Excellence trustee compensation
US$0 in each reported compensation column
Calendar 2024; FY ended June 30, 2025; filed March 23, 2026
Original Form990 PDFp9, printedp10, PartVII row30, columnsD/E/F. Prepared March6. Not total personal income or Port Authority pay.
Reported policy dispute
The Inola smelter dispute
Hughes chaired the September 17, 2026 Port Authority meeting at which, according to KOSU, directors unanimously authorized legal action challenging an initiative petition that would ban aluminum smelting in Inola. Hughes framed the decision as protecting the port’s industrial property and development role. KOSU reported that the board did not authorize a separate lawsuit over Inola’s moratorium that day. The official agenda treats the petition and moratorium as separate matters. This was an institutional development-policy dispute; the recorded authorization should not be mistaken for a court ruling on the proposed smelter.
What the court record establishes
The authority had already moved to intervene on August 26 in Rogers County case CV-2026-160, concerning the Inola petition. Its motion advanced objections to the petition; those arguments are litigants’ claims. Judge Sue Nigh’s September 10 order, filed September 11, denied a request to pause the September 2 order until an October 2 intervention hearing. The judge explained that substantive legal and constitutional challenges remained available. The docket also records a later September 14 motion seeking a settled journal entry and a stay pending appeal. When checked October 5, the latest October 2 entries were court-reporter fees, without a posted ruling from that scheduled hearing. No final outcome is asserted here. The authority is the proposed institutional intervenor; these records do not name Hughes as a personal party.
Appointment and infrastructure responsibilities
The City roster dates Hughes’s Port Authority appointment to October 20, 2021 and lists a term ending October 4, 2029. A December 2025 Council committee agenda documents the reappointment proposal; the later roster provides the current term. The January 2025 chair announcement credits her involvement with the Verdigris Southern Railroad project and wastewater-system planning at Tulsa Port of Inola. Those are the authority’s descriptions of her contribution, rather than independent measures of individual impact. The September 2026 agenda illustrates the board’s practical workload: industrial leases, a proposed land sale, an interlocal agreement and road work. An agenda establishes what was scheduled, not how each item was decided.
Engineering education and early professional work
Hughes’s AIChE biography identifies a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Tulsa and a master’s in civil and environmental engineering from Stanford University. It describes her historical role as a principal at Cardinal Engineering and vice chair of the Air & Waste Management Association’s Climate Change Technical Council. The Journal Record independently identified her as a Cardinal senior engineer in February 2010. These records establish an engineering and consulting background; precise degree years and the beginning and end of each employment period remain unverified.
Manufacturing and environmental consulting
Her 2025 engineering-conference biography says she spent more than two decades at Cardinal and identifies Third Branch Engineering as her consulting company. It describes support for manufacturers navigating environmental permits and compliance. Tulsa Ports describes her McElroy work as process improvement, internal innovation and liaison work with standards groups. A 2024 McElroy vendor letter signed by Hughes as Director of IT Systems sought supplier declarations concerning California Proposition 65 and European REACH requirements. That document provides a concrete example of compliance-related work alongside her IT title. The available records do not establish her ownership share in McElroy or her personal compensation.
University governance and a research connection
The University of Tulsa’s current trustee roster lists Hughes and identifies her McElroy position. Her 2025 conference biography also identifies service on the university’s mechanical-engineering advisory board. McElroy separately describes working with the university on testing fused pipe joints for optimized cooling procedures. This documents an institutional connection between her employer and the university. The materials reviewed do not establish that Hughes negotiated that partnership, approved its funding or personally benefited from it. Trustee service, technical advising and company research are distinct responsibilities.
Infrastructure advice and nonprofit service
The City lists Hughes in an engineer seat on the Infrastructure Development Advisory Board, with a stated term ending September 30, 2026. A 2023 Council agenda supports that term history. Because that date has passed and no renewal was verified, this profile does not present the seat as confirmed current. The Oklahoma Foundation for Excellence’s return for the year ended June 30, 2025 lists her as a trustee. That privately funded education nonprofit is separate from her public port role. Her 2025 conference biography also describes support for The Nature Conservancy’s Oklahoma chapter and the Girl Scouts of Western Oklahoma’s Juliette Low Leadership Society; it does not supply precise board tenures for those organizations.
What the nonprofit filing reports
The Oklahoma Foundation for Excellence reported US$0 for Hughes in each of its three Part VII compensation columns: pay from the organization, pay from related organizations and estimated other compensation. The figures cover calendar 2024 within the fiscal year ending June 30, 2025. The return was prepared March 6, 2026 and is indexed as filed March 23. Her row is on PDF page 9, printed page 10, entry 30. The original table was visually checked. These are nonprofit compensation disclosures; they do not measure her McElroy earnings, consulting income or total personal income. No newer return was listed in the sources checked.
Check the record
Sources & corrections
Research checked 2026-10-05. Roles and financial figures retain their source dates. Sections appear only when supported material is available; an omitted section is not a finding that no such relationship exists.
- City of Tulsa — authorities, boards and commissions ↗
primary · Checked 2026-10-05
Named Miller entries for audit, Gilcrease, parks, TMUA and TUB; appointment dates retained as roster dates, distinct from employment. Hughes entries: Port City Seat 1, appointed October 20, 2021, term October 4, 2029; IDAB Consulting Engineer 2, appointed April 14, 2021, stated term ended September 30, 2026. Renewal or holdover not verified.
- Tulsa Ports — chair announcement ↗
primary · Source date 2025-01-17 · Checked 2026-10-05
January17,2025 announcement: first woman chair, joined2021, McElroy title and rail/wastewater project context. Institutional account.
- Tulsa Ports — Deanne Hughes ↗
primary · Checked 2026-10-05
Current chair label, environmental permitting and McElroy duties; official labeled portrait. Self-description attributed.
- Tulsa Ports — directors ↗
primary · Checked 2026-10-05
Current board roster; City of Tulsa and Rogers County appoint directors. Facilities Authority is distinct.
- City Council Public Works agenda — December17,2025 ↗
primary · Source date 2025-12-17 · Checked 2026-10-05
Item2 Port reappointment to October4,2029; agenda is proposed action, not confirmation minutes.
- City Council Public Works agenda — September13,2023 ↗
primary · Source date 2023-09-13 · Checked 2026-10-05
Reappointment item, IDAB engineer seat, proposed term September30,2026. Corroborated by later City roster.
- Oklahoma Legislature — Title82 ↗
primary · Checked 2026-10-05
PDFpp282–285, §§1103–1106: appointment, board/quorum action, employees, jurisdiction, property and financing powers. Director compensation may be set by board; actual Hughes payment not established.
- AIChE — Deanne Hughes biography ↗
institutional-biography · Checked 2026-10-05
Historical institutional biography: Cardinal principal; TU mechanical-engineering BS, Stanford civil/environmental-engineering MS; Air & Waste Management Association climate council. Exact dates not established.
- Oklahoma Society of Professional Engineers — 2025 conference speakers ↗
institutional-biography · Source date 2025-06-12 · Checked 2026-10-05
June12–13,2025 conference; PDFpp8–9 Hughes bio: more than20years at Cardinal, Third Branch consulting, McElroy, TU advisory and trustees, conservation/Girl Scouts support. Self-description.
- The Journal Record — Cardinal CEO profile ↗
independent-reporting · Source date 2010-02-19 · Checked 2026-10-05
February19,2010 identifies Hughes as Cardinal senior engineer. Does not establish exact employment start/end.
- University of Tulsa — trustees ↗
primary · Checked 2026-10-05
Current roster lists Deanne Dutton Hughes, Director of IT Systems at McElroy Manufacturing. Exact appointment date not established.
- McElroy — 2024 vendor compliance letter ↗
primary · Checked 2026-10-05
Vendor declaration request signed by Deanne Hughes, Director of IT Systems; April1,2024 response deadline. Regulatory compliance assignment, not personal liability finding.
- McElroy — optimized cooling research ↗
primary · Checked 2026-10-05
Company describes University of Tulsa testing partnership. Does not establish that Hughes arranged it, approved funding or benefited personally.
- Oklahoma Foundation for Excellence — FY2025 Form990 ↗
tax-filing · Source date 2026-03-23 · Checked 2026-10-05
EIN73-1260595; July1,2024–June30,2025; preparedMarch6,2026, filedMarch23 per index. PDFp9, printedp10, PartVII continuation row30, D/E/F eachUSD0, calendar2024 compensation basis. Visually checked; amended box unchecked.
- ProPublica — OFE filing index ↗
primary · Checked 2026-10-05
Latest listed FYJune2025 return, filedMarch23,2026. No later return listed; index cautions amendments may not appear.
- Oklahoma Foundation for Excellence — financials ↗
primary · Checked 2026-10-05
Latest linked return FY25; foundation says it is supported by private donations. Not a government office.
- Port Authority — September17,2026 agenda ↗
primary · Source date 2026-09-17 · Checked 2026-10-05
PDFp2 items4–7 distinguish initiative-petition challenge and moratorium; other items cover leases, land sale, interlocal agreement and roads. Agenda not vote record.
- KOSU — Port board authorizes petition challenge ↗
independent-reporting · Source date 2026-09-18 · Checked 2026-10-05
Thomas Pablo, September18: unanimous September17 authorization to pursue petition challenge; Hughes statement; no authorization that day to sue over moratorium.
- OSCN — Rogers County CV-2026-160 ↗
primary · Checked 2026-10-05
Current docket retrievedOctober5: August26 intervention motion, September2 hearing minute enteredSeptember3, September11 order, September14 later stay/journal-entry motion, October2 reporter fee. No posted October2 hearing disposition at retrieval.
- Rogers County — Port intervention motion ↗
court-record · Source date 2026-08-26 · Checked 2026-10-05
FiledAugust26,2026, PDFpp1–3: City of Tulsa–Rogers County Port Authority a proposed intervenor; arguments about petition are litigants’ assertions. Hughes not personally named.
- Rogers County — order denying stay ↗
court-record · Source date 2026-09-11 · Checked 2026-10-05
Three-page original visually inspected: signedSeptember10, filedSeptember11,2026. Denies proposed intervenors’ request to stay September2 order until October2 hearing; leaves substantive challenges available. Not final project approval or ban.