David Lee Walters, the twenty-fourth Governor of Oklahoma and the first Governor from Western Oklahoma, was born in Canute on Nov. 20. 1951. Raised on a nearby farm, he attended schools in Canute and graduated from Canute High School as valedictorian in 1969. He earned degrees in engineering and business at the University of Oklahoma and Harvard University. From 1977 through 1982, Walters held management positions at OU and the OU Health Sciences Center, and he later served as president of two real-estate companies in Oklahoma City. He continued his public service as chair of the Oklahoma Human Services Commission and co-chair of Governor George Nigh's Commission on the reform of state government. Following an unsuccessful bid for the office in 1986, he was elected Governor in 1990, carrying 75 of Oklahoma's 77 counties. During his term, he increased public education funding 30 percent, reformed workers compensation laws, won passage of a $350 million bond issue for higher Education, and produced a 10-year record in creating new jobs for Oklahomans, all with no tax increase.