Dan Dillingham was born in Enid, Oklahoma, where he graduated from Enid Public Schools before enrolling and earning a Bachelor of Science degree in Finance and Economics from the University of Colorado. After serving two years in the United States Army’s 3rd Armored Division Finance Office in Frankfurt, Germany, he returned home to Enid and has since been in private business in the insurance, ranching, oil, and gas industries.

Joining his father and brother in the family insurance business, founded by his father in 1927, Dillingham was instrumental in growing Dillingham Insurance into what it is today—ranked among the top 5% of all independent insurance agencies in the United States. Dillingham served as chairman and CEO, and Dillingham Insurance serves clients in 38 states. He was actively involved in the management of the family’s ranching business, with more than 100,000 acres in Oklahoma and Colorado, and co-founded Suits Drilling Company which operated in Oklahoma, Texas, and South America for more than 20 years. Dillingham was also founder and managing partner of Grumps Limited Partnership, managing investments in non-operated oil and gas production and commercial real estate, among other interests.

Dillingham maintained an active interest in both public and private education and nonprofit organizations. He served on the board of Phillips University and Enid Higher Education Council. He played an active role in the establishment of branch campuses for Northern Oklahoma College and Northwestern Oklahoma State University. Today the campus serves more than 1,500 students in Enid. His nonprofit board service includes director of Oklahoma Cattlemen’s Association, chair of St. Mary’s Regional Hospital, director of the Oklahoma State Chamber, and member of the Kerr Foundation Agricultural Board. In 2002, Dillingham was elected to the Board of the Federal Reserve Bank-Kansas City where he served as Building Committee Chair during construction of a new bank building. Dillingham’s honors and awards include being named Citizen of the Year and Business Person of the Year by the Enid Chamber of Commerce, named a 2012 inductee into the Enid Public School Foundation’s Hall of Fame and the Enid Walk of Fame by the City of Enid, Citizen of the Year by the Salvation Army, the Distinguished Service Award by the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City, and an Endowed Chair in Business by Northwestern Oklahoma State University.