Marvin Ellis Mitchell

Appointed to the Board of Directors for Chickasaw Nation Industries, Inc. (CNI) in 1998 by Governor Bill Anoatubby, Mr. Mitchell has been serving CNI since it was created through a majority vote of the Chickasaw People in 1996.

Mr. Mitchell was born in Ada, Oklahoma where he attended McLish High School and then graduated from East Central University in 1968 with a Bachelor of Science Degree; he was the first one in his family to graduate from college - with the help of a four year scholarship through the State of Oklahoma’s Indian Education Program with the approval of Governor Overton James of the Chickasaw Nation. He married Donna Kaye Frye in 1968, and had two sons, Mike and Jay, both of whom are executive employees of the Chickasaw Nation.

Mr. Mitchell began working for the U.S. Department of Labor in 1969 in Region VI, Dallas, Texas. He served as a Federal Representative to State Employment Security Agencies, Chief of Claim Services for the Office of Federal Employee Workers Compensation, Administrative Officer for the Employment Standards Administration, and as a Federal Investigator for Wage and Hour Administration. Mr. Mitchell retired in 2003 on his family’s farm near Fittstown, Oklahoma. He also served in the Oklahoma National Guard from 1968 to 2001, retiring as an E-8, Master Sergeant.