Price Newsletter - February 2023

Dear Friends,

Winter break is well behind us — hopefully the “thundersleet” we got here in Norman, is too — and a new semester is in full swing.

At the time of my last message, we were days away from recognizing a new class of Price College alums. We will do that again soon on May 13 at 12:30 p.m. in the Lloyd Noble Center.

While graduation is still a few months off, there is a lot happening right now at Oklahoma’s leading business school.

First, we welcomed seven new faculty members this semester, for a total of 22 this academic year. This brings our total complement of full-time faculty to 138. This growth is a result of our Bigger, Broader, Better strategic plan and will further elevate Price College as a top-tier producer of impactful research, thought leadership and academic talent.

U.S. News & World Report recently validated progress on our strategic plan with the release of its top online business master’s programs rankings. Our online M.S. programs in accounting and finance rose another spot in the national rankings, to 66th.

I am also pleased to announce that Price College has been joined by Gary Jones as our new director of diversity, equity and inclusion and Monique Browder as our new alumni relations manager. You can learn more about both a bit further down in the newsletter.

Finally, I would like to remind you Giving Day is just around the corner on April 13. Last year’s Giving Day was a tremendous success, and we’re looking to top it this year.

We appreciate your support in helping Price College develop the future leaders our state and nation need. Now, please enjoy the latest news from Price College and all the latest achievements of our students, faculty, staff and alumni.

Christopher Firch (’24) carries plenty of titles — native Texan, Price College accounting and management major, JCPenney Leadership Program associate and OU residential advisor, to name a few. Firch added another line to his college resume by successfully running for Student Government Association president. In this month's student spotlight, Get to know President Firch and find out why Price College was the best place for his academic and professional growth.

Nyakio Grieco (’96) had a full-circle moment when she returned home to see the launch of her beauty brand, thirteen lune, inside JCPenney stores in Oklahoma. Her journey from Price College to co-founder of a national beauty brand hasn’t been easy. But, in conjunction with her brand’s mission, she hopes to help speed up that path to success for others who were in her shoes as a young entrepreneur. 

Princeton Review selected Price College’s MBA program to its Best Business Schools list for both best on-campus MBA and off-campus MBA. Additionally, Price College now ranks No. 66 nationally for Best Online Business (Non-MBA) Master’s Programs in U.S. News & World Report’s latest Online Program Rankings. This was one of four rankings the college received and among the 12 received by the university as a whole. 

Tom Love Innovation Hub and Price College senior staff member Rachel Lane are key members of the team launching Canopy HealthTech, a multi-year initiative designed to accelerate the commercialization of virtual health innovations from Oklahoma universities. The program aims to catalyze startup growth and improve health care outcomes.

For the first time, Price College entered the AXS National Collegiate Sports Analytics Championship, and four students placed in the top 20 in the first round. In all, seven students competed in round one and two entered round two. In the competition, students analyzed a basketball (player analytics) or ticketing (business analytics) data set to create five minutes of insights to present to judges to demonstrate their analytic, visualization and communication skills.

The JCPenney Leadership Program inducted 75 Price College students into the organization on Jan. 21. Boeing sponsored the induction ceremony, and AJ Griffin, Paycom’s director of government and community affairs, served as the keynote speaker. More than 1,600 associates have been part of the program since its inception 30 years ago.  

The Executive MBA in Aerospace and Defense program welcomed its fourth cohort of students to The Bolt in December for the final week of the 12-month program. This cohort was the first all-military group, with four veterans and four active-duty service members. Their week included taking courses to learn about data management and security as well as government contracts in the industry. They visited Delaware Resource Group, a global aerospace defense contractor, to learn about the latter. They closed out the week with a reception at the MidFirst Bank Stadium Club to celebrate their completion of the program.

The Energy Institute welcomed two cohorts of graduate students to Norman for on-campus modules in January. Executive MBA in Energy students spent their first week of the 15-month program on campus in early January, before a class of EMBA in Renewable Energy students arrived later that month for the final week of their program. Both groups took courses taught by their respective industry experts and toured regional and campus highlights, such as the Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art. The renewables students also participated in company visits and marked the completion of the program with a celebratory dinner at the Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History. 

Price student Parker Huckabay was among a group of students from the Pride of Oklahoma Marching Band, who brightened an alum’s day recently at a private trumpet performance. The brass band traveled to Tulsa to play for Ellen Vanderslice after learning she played trumpet for the Pride in the 1940s and was the first woman allowed to march on OU’s football field. Vanderslice passed away earlier this month at the age of 103. 

Price College alum Michael Horton recently was recognized by OU for his pledge of $1 million in support of OU Football’s SOUL Mission program, an off-field player development program. Horton’s gift is part of the university’s $2 billion “Lead On” campaign, which runs through 2027, and will support students, faculty and programs university-wide. Horton also recently pledged $1.25 million to the Michael D. Horton Real Estate Finance Student Development Fund, which aims to provide student enrichment experiences for finance majors pursuing careers in real estate. 

Gary Jones has joined Price College as its director of diversity, equity and inclusion.  Jones has over 12 years of higher-education experience, as well as nearly a decade of administrative experience in university student affairs. He also played and coached college basketball at Oklahoma Christian University. He will oversee the Office of DEI and work closely with internal and external stakeholders to grow the college’s Multicultural Business Program. 

Monique Browder joins the Price College marketing and communications team as alumni relations manager. In this new position, she will oversee the design and execution of the college’s alumni engagement program and serve as Price’s liaison with other college departments, divisions and the OU Foundation to identify areas of alumni collaboration. A native Oklahoman, Browder has experience growing mission-driven organizations in the nonprofit, health care and education industries through marketing, communications and stakeholder partnerships. 

Erv Black’s (professor emeritus) co-authored paper “Improving Ethics: Extending the Theory of Planned Behavior to Include Moral Disengagement” was published in the Journal of Business Ethics. 

Mark Bolino and Corey Phelps’ case study titled “Should Some Employees Be Allowed To Work Remotely Even If Others Can’t?” was published in the January/February issue of Harvard Business Review. 

Russ Browder’s co-authored paper "Hybrid Innovation Logics: Exploratory Product Development with Users in a Corporate Makerspace" was accepted in the  Journal of Product Innovation Management. The paper will be included in a special issue on “The Impact of Digital Manufacturing on Innovation Management.” Co-authors are Cole Crider (FGCU) and Bobby Garrett (Louisville). 

Alexandra Durcikova was interviewed for a  Norman Transcript  article about ransomware attacks in light of one that recently impacted Norman Public Schools.

Karen Hennes is a part of the OU project team that is joining a national consortium for inclusive learning. OU will receive a six-year, $493,065 grant from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute for participating in the HHMI Inclusive Excellence 3 Learning Community alongside other universities across the country. Hennes is a 16% co-investigator on the OU portion of the project, which focuses on inclusive teaching and learning practices on campus. 

Ph.D. candidates Sarah Henry and Michael Matthews had their  Journal of Organizational Behavior  paper on humble leadership featured in the London School of Economics Business Review. 

Ph.D. candidate Michael Matthews’ co-authored article “3 Simple Ways to Motivate Your Team Members” was published in Harvard Business Review. Another co-authored article “This New Year, Resolve Against Workaholism” appeared in MIT Sloan Management Review. Price College Ph.D. graduate Thomas Kelemen co-authored both.

Heshan Sun’s co-authored paper “Satisfaction to Stay, Regret to Switch: Understanding Post-adoption Regret in Choosing Competing Technologies When Herding” was accepted for publication in Information Systems Research, an A-level journal. 

Trevor Watkins’ blog post “You Are What You Eat (At Work): How and when workplace eating impacts coworker interactions” appeared in Psychology Today. 

Matt Wood’s co-authored paper “A theory of missed external enablement” received final acceptance into the A-level Strategic Entrepreneurship Journal. The paper will appear as part of a special issue about Environmental Change, Strategic Entrepreneurial Action, and Success. The theory generated in the paper exposes new facets of external enablement.