Kenneth Evans, dean of the Michael F. Price College of Business at the University of Oklahoma, has announced his resignation to accept the Presidency of Lamar University. His resignation is effective June 30.
“Lamar University has selected an outstanding leader as its new President,” OU President David L. Boren said. “Dean Kenneth Evans will long be remembered at OU for his many innovations and initiatives at the College of Business. He has worked hard to internationalize the curriculum and the student experience at Price College and to make the entire program a center of excellence.”
During his more than six years of service as Dean and Fred E. Brown Chair of the Price College of Business, Evans has instituted numerous innovative programs and encouraged the expansion of others. One of the newest is The Executive-in-Residence Program, which is designed to encourage the reconnection of the executive, often an OU graduate, with the university while sharing industry knowledge and experience with OU business students.
He helped form the Kanaly Lecture Series, bringing executives on campus to speak with students and faculty about current business trends in industry. Evans also positioned Price College as an international leader in the business of energy education with the development of an energy emphasis in the MBA Program, the progression of the Energy Accounting focus, the growth of the Robert M. Zinke Energy Management Program, the formation of the Energy Institute and the Energy Executive Management Program as well as the creation of the Executive MBA Program in Energy.
“While the University of Oklahoma community will greatly miss Dean Evans and his wife, Nancy, all of us join in congratulating the two of them on his appointment as President of Lamar University,” Boren said. “We wish Ken and Nancy all the best as they take on their new responsibilities.”
Boren said that he will recommend that the OU Board of Regents approve the appointment of University Vice President for Strategic Planning and Economic Development, Daniel Pullin, to serve as interim dean, effective July 1, and to serve as interim dean-designate prior to July 1. Pullin also is chairman of the OU Center for the Creation of Economic Wealth. Boren said the permanent successor for Kenneth Evans will be named after an appropriate selection process.
Pullin, who earned degrees in accounting, finance and law from OU and an MBA from Harvard Business School and a Juris Doctorate from OU, currently teaches in the Price College of Business, where he received the OU Foundation Excellence in Teaching Award in 2007, 2008 and 2009.
He joined OU in 2006 as Executive Director of OU’s Center for the Creation of Economic Wealth after serving with McKinsey & Co., a global consulting firm, and Hicks Muse Tate & Furst, a private equity fund. As leader of OU's economic development efforts, he worked to promote university-/private-sector activities, coordinate relationships with local, state and national economic/commerce development organizations, commercialize university-generated intellectual property, and create new companies via collaborations between faculty, students and alumni.
Pullin serves on the Board of Directors for the Oklahoma Center for the Advancement of Science and Technology, Southwest Nanotechnologies, the Norman Economic Development Coalition and The Oklahoma Academy. Pullin is also on the Board of Advocates for OU’s K20 Center and the OU JCPenney Leadership Center.
