A native Oklahoman raised in Wewoka, Richard Ellwanger has been the executive director of the Seminole Nation Museum since 2000. He was first appointed to the Capitol Preservation Commission by Chief Justice Rudolph Hargrave in December of 2002 and was appointed the Chair of the Commission’s Arts Standards Committee in April 2007. Ellwanger is only the third chairman elected to lead the commission in its twenty-seven year history. 

Ellwanger is also a member of the Oklahoma Museums Association and a graduate of Class I of the Oklahoma Arts Council’s Leadership Arts. He served in an advisory capacity in selecting the “Beyond the Centennial” mural for the Hall of Governors. He is a member of the Wewoka Rotary Club, director of the Wewoka Chamber of Commerce, member of the Wewoka Planning Commission, director of the Citizens Improvement League of Wewoka and a graduate of Leadership Wewoka. He is a 1990 graduate of Oklahoma State University in Stillwater.