Rear Admiral (RADM) Kevin Meeks has been instrumental in the management and improvement of Indian Health Service (IHS) in Oklahoma and across the country during his 32-year career in the United States Public Health Service. RADM Meeks, born in 1958 and raised in Byng, Oklahoma, earned a bachelor’s degree from East Central University and a master’s degree in public health from the University of Oklahoma.

His career began in 1987 in South Dakota where he served as an Environmental Health Specialist. In 1989, he transferred to Claremore, Oklahoma, followed by an assignment to the Alaska Area IHS. In 1995, he transferred to the Oklahoma City Area Office. From 1995 to 2009, he fulfilled various management positions in the Oklahoma City Area Office, including Assistant Associate Director of the Office of Environmental Health and Engineering (OEHE), Environmental Health Services Branch Chief and Associate Director of OEHE. In 2007, serving as the Southeast Regional Commissioned Corps Liaison, he provided personnel services to more than 300 officers assigned to the Oklahoma City, Nashville and Albuquerque areas.

RADM Meeks served as the Area Director of the Oklahoma City Area Indian Health Service from 2009 to 2017. As the Area Director, he served the senior federal official responsible for the provision of comprehensive health care services to one of the largest and most diverse service populations in IHS. RADM Meeks was ultimately promoted to the IHS Deputy Director of Field Operations in 2017, where he directed 12 IHS Area Offices and became a crucial leader in providing quality health care to 2.2 million American Indians/Alaska Natives. RADM Meeks has been awarded the Surgeon General’s Medallion by United States Surgeon General Jerome Adams in 2018 and in 2019, he received the Surgeon General’s Exemplary Service Medal and the Distinguished Service Medal.