(Editor’s note: The Milt Phillips award, named after the longtime publisher of the Seminole Producer, is the highest honor an Oklahoma newspaper can receive from the Oklahoma Press Association).

Kelly Dyer Fry, former editor and publisher of The Oklahoman, is the Oklahoma Press Association’s Milt Phillips Award winner for 2022.

The award was presented June 11, 2022, at the OPA Convention in Oklahoma City.

Fry is a third-generation journalist and graduate of Oklahoma State University. She began her career at her family’s newspaper, the El Reno Tribune.

She then owned and edited the Okarche Chieftain for eight years.

“I grew up in the Oklahoma Press Association, as part of the Dyer clan from El Reno, so it was an honor to win this award,” she said in a video acceptance speech. “I loved the people the most. There has never been a better time to be in journalism, with all of the stories that need to be told, the connections with readers and the data that is available.”

Fry joined The Oklahoman in 1994 and worked there 26 years. She began as a features editor, moved to the digital side in 1996 and led the team that launched NewsOK, and was named editor in 2012. She was the first woman to be named editor and publisher of The Oklahoman. She retired from the paper at the end of 2020.

Fry has served on numerous boards including the United Way of Central Oklahoma, The Greater Oklahoma City Chamber and City Care. She was inducted into the Oklahoma Journalism Hall of Fame in 2014.

She served on OSU’s Student Media Board and on the boards of the Health Alliance for the Uninsured and F.A.T.E., Fighting Addiction Through Education. She also served on the Teen Recovery Solutions board for six years helping grow Oklahoma’s only sober high school.

Nationally, Fry served on the board of the Associated Press Media Editors and the New Media Federation of the Newspaper Association of America.

United Way of Central Oklahoma named Fry as the recipient of the John and Berta Faye Rex Community Builder Award, which recognizes individuals who share the Rexs’ vision in finding long-term solutions to community needs. Fry has utilized her influence in the community and media to advocate for issues such as mental health, addiction, homelessness and justice reform.

Fry is married to Chris Fry and together they have four adult children.