Identity of new interim business dean revealed

By Amanda Alfanos, Editor-in-Chief

Dr. Steve Agee will become interim dean of Meinders School of Business on Monday.

Dr. Steve Agee

Agee, professor of economics/executive director of the Economic Policy and Research Institute, was appointed to the new position Oct. 25 by President Robert Henry.

“I’m very pleased to be in this position,” he said. “I want to help the Meinders School of Business become a great center of business in our state.”

Vince Orza, current dean of the business school, will leave his role Monday to pursue business in the private sector.

“Dr. Agee brings a wealth of business, academic and research experience to the Meinders School of Business and I appreciate his expertise and service during this critical time,” said President Robert Henry. “During his time at Oklahoma City University, he has created a passion for learning among his students and has further cemented the esteem the business community has for the MeindersSchool of Business.”

Agee received his undergraduate degree in business, majoring in economics from the University of Oklahoma. He then attended the University of Kansas where he received his master’s degree and Ph.D. in economics.

“I am honored to serve in this capacity, “ Agee said. “I had a wonderful private-sector career and sharing what I’ve learned through the Meinders School of Business is a perfect culmination of everything I have done thus far. I look forward to it.”

Following graduate school, Dr. Agee taught one year at Washburn University in Topeka,
Kan., and then moved to Oklahoma where he went into the oil and gas business.

Agee joined the faculty at Oklahoma City University initially as an adjunct professor, but later took on a larger role as a visiting professor and director of the Economic Research & Policy Institute. He received the 2009 Meinders School of Business Distinguished Professor Award and the 2010 Undergraduate Student Research Award for Faculty at OCU.

He serves a chairman of the board of the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City, Oklahoma City Branch and is the president of the Economics Club of Oklahoma.

Agee just completed his term as president of the Oklahoma City Philharmonic Society and will complete his tenure as a member of the Philharmonic Board in June 2011.

Agee also served three years as chairman of the Oklahoma Energy Resources Board (OERB) and has served on the Oklahoma Independent Petroleum Association (OIPA) Board and as treasurer.

Read more in the Nov. 3 issue of The Campus newspaper.