EDMOND — Oklahoma City University has selected Dr. Steven C. Agee, formerly of Edmond, as the new dean for the Meinders School of Business. The appointment becomes effective in January after Agee ends his tenure as chairman of the Oklahoma City Branch of the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City.

“This is the relatively rare but satisfying case where a nationwide search ended up with an amazing person who was already here,” said Robert Henry, OCU president.

The Wichita, Kan., native has served as interim dean of the Meinders School of Business since 2010. Agee first came to the Meinders School of Business in 2008 as a visiting professor of economics. He founded the Economic Research and Policy Institute within the school.

“It will be an intellectually stimulating position and I am gratified to work with extremely talented administration, faculty, staff and students at OCU,” Agee said.

Meinders School of Business is unique in quality due to the faculty, students and high-tech facilities, Agee said. OCU has more than 3,600 students with 600 of those enrolled in the business school. Interactive with small classroom sizes, Meinders’ hands-on teaching style is a wonderful way to teach students, he said.

Agee, 58, said he wants to increase the enrollment of the business school. He has already introduced two new Master of Science programs to the curriculum at the Meinders School of Business. Classes for the Master of Science in Energy Legal Studies and Master of Science in Energy Management will begin in January.

“It’s unique in all the country,” Agee said. “It’s like a legal studies program that’s designed for people in the energy industry. So those two things have created a lot of excitement.”

Agee spent 24 years as president of an oil and gas company. Henry noted that Agee is successful businessman and entrepreneur, a Ph.D. economist and a respected research professor.

“My leadership style is to listen — listen to my faculty and staff — get all the facts and information before I make a decision,” Agee said. “I want people to tell me their opinion whether it’s a dissenting opinion or one that favors my side. If they don’t agree with me, I want to know and I want to know why.”

Agee can be persuaded to change his mind when someone has a persuasive argument, he said. So he listens and discerns from his stakeholders, which also includes students along with administration, he said.

His activities include serving on the board of directors for the Oklahoma Independent Petroleum Association, as a member of the board and immediate past-president of the Economic Club of Oklahoma, chairman of the Oklahoma Energy Resources Board, member of the Oklahoma City Economic Roundtable, and a board member and past-president of the Oklahoma City Philharmonic Society. Agee currently serves on the Allied Arts board of directors and the board of the Oklahoma City Philharmonic Foundation.

Agee earned his Bachelor of Business Administration degree from the University of Oklahoma in 1975 before completing his M.A. in economics in 1979 and Ph.D. in economics at the University of Kansas in 1982. Agee has also served as an instructor and assistant professor of economics at both the University of Kansas and Washburn University in Topeka, Kan.

Agee relocated to Oklahoma City in 1982, where he was president of the XAE Corporation, an oil and natural gas exploration and production company, until 2005. He continues as the managing member of Agee Energy, LLC, based in Oklahoma City.



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