Of Seminole, Sac and Fox, and Creek descent, Mary F. McCormick was born in Shawnee and graduated from Pleasant Grove High School before marrying and starting a family. She enrolled at Seminole Junior College, where she was awarded the college’s first Outstanding Junior College Student Scholarship to the University of Oklahoma where she earned her bachelors degree. McCormick also earned a master’s degree from East Central Oklahoma State University.

From a strong lineage of chiefs and as an advocate for Native American programs, McCormick worked closely with her father in obtaining a new constitution for the Seminole Tribe before her appointment as Community Representative for Oklahomans for Indian Opportunity (OIO). Two years later she was elected Secretary-Treasurer for the Sac and Fox Nation, beginning a distinguished career that culminated with her serving as Principal Chief. With an extensive background in state and national Indian affairs, McCormick focused on the economic development of the Tribe. Under her leadership dormant tribal land was reclaimed, including 80 acres of the Tribe’s original reservation, and she identified damages to the tribal reservation by oil companies. The result was a settlement of $3.5 million, 120 acres to provide adequate drinking water, and land erosion repaired.

McCormick remains an active member of her political party, the City of Seminole, and the American Indian Cultural Society, in addition to serving on the board of directors of the Seminole Historical Society. Making her home in Seminole, she is a proud mother and grandmother.