Mike McConnell

Mike McConnell, is the current Director of the Robert M. Zinke Energy Management Program at the Price College of Business at the University of Oklahoma.  He is the seventh Director of the program which started in 1958 and is the nation’s oldest. 

He was President and a Director of Jones Energy, Inc., an independent exploration and production company traded on the NYSE, from 2004 until April 2018.  He remained a Director until August 2018. The company was headquartered in Austin, Texas with its Merge activity office in Oklahoma City.  Jones Energy focused its horizontal drilling activity primarily in the Texas Panhandle and central Oklahoma. The company drilled over 700 horizontal wells and had net production of over 22,000 boe/day in 2019.  

Prior to joining Jones Energy, Mr. McConnell served as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the Generation and Production Group while Enron Corp. was in bankruptcy, until his departure in April 2003.  He previously served as Chairman and CEO of Enron Global Markets, LLC, which included the 8-global trading and origination businesses, with revenues for EGM in the first three quarters of 2001 exceeding $15 billion.  He was also on the management committee of Enron Corp. during his various roles as Chairman and CEO of Enron’s Generation and Production Group, Vice Chairman and COO for Enron Net Works, and Enron’s CEO of Global Technology. Prior to that, he served as President of Houston Pipe Line, President of Louisiana Resources Company, and has held other various gas supply and marketing positions.  He began his career in the exploration and production sector as a Landman for Champlin Petroleum Company, before joining Enron (Florida Gas Transmission) in 1987. 

Mr. McConnell earned a BBA in Petroleum Land Management with an emphasis on Law from the University of Oklahoma in 1982. He is a senior advisor and the past Chairman of the Price Business School Board of Advisors for the University of Oklahoma.  He is also on the Board of IPAA and has served on the Board of numerous charities and businesses in the past.   

Mr. McConnell is the author and publisher a non-fiction book, Just Because You Can Doesn’t Mean You Should, which focuses on lessons learned in business and keys to success.