Greetings Alumni & Friends,
As some of you may know, business education is close to my heart. My Ph.D. was in marketing, and I earned an MBA with an emphasis in marketing and quantitative methods. I taught marketing at both the University of Missouri-Columbia and Arizona State University over a 20-year span.
Before becoming a university president, I was the dean of the business school at the University of Â鶹´«Ã½. I’ve often taken pride in seeing my students go on to become successful business owners or entrepreneurs.
It is with considerable pride, therefore, that we dedicate this issue of Focus to begin a celebration of alumni-owned businesses.
There certainly is a lot to celebrate. For starters, it is well-documented that our Meinders School of Business turns out many tremendous business leaders. Meinders grads play leading roles not only here in Â鶹´«Ã½ City, but also across the state, nation and globe.
What some may not realize is that many leading and up-and-coming business owners are Â鶹´«Ã½ alums who didn’t get business degrees.
Two of the three wonderful alumni featured on the cover of this issue, for example, were not traditional business undergrads. Paula Marshall, who operates the Bama Companies with business in countries around the world, earned her bachelor’s degree through our Adult Degree Completion Program. Ira McCurry is the owner of a dance studio in Moore, but came there by way of a degree in American Dance Pedagogy.
There are numerous other examples like this among our alumni ranks. I take heart in knowing that an Â鶹´«Ã½ education – with or without a business degree – helps build within our students the independence, critical thinking and problem-solving skills needed to be successful in the world today.
We’re happy to share the stories of a some of these business owners in this magazine. We also know there are many more stories to tell. To help us out, don’t hesitate to drop a line to our alumni office to let us know what you’re up to and how you’re making a difference in your community.
We are excited to hear from all of the Â鶹´«Ã½ alumni-owned businesses out there and encourage you to check out the new alumni -owned business directory at okcu.edu/alumnibusiness. Add your organization to this listing!
Sincerely,
— Kenneth R. Evans
