BOB R. AGEE
Executive Director
Association of Southern Baptist Colleges and Schools
and
President Emeritus
Oklahoma Baptist University
and
______
Union University

Following sixteen years of service as president of Oklahoma Baptist University, Dr. Bob R. Agee was selected in 1998 as the Executive Director of the Association of Southern Baptist Colleges and Schools. The Association exists to promote distinctive Christian education among the colleges, universities, and academies which have their roots in Baptist heritage. From June of 1998 until September of 2002, he also served as Executive Director of the Consortium for Global Education. In his roles with these two organizations he continues to provide leadership in promoting the value and importance of Christian higher education, the value and importance of international study and missions service, and represents Baptist higher education as a member of the Secretariat in Washington D.C., a major public policy monitoring agency representing church-related higher education. He currently serves on the National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities' Committee on Accountability. In October of 1999, Dr. Agee was inducted into the Oklahoma Higher Education Hall of Fame in recognition of his leadership in Oklahoma state higher education affairs.

Over the 16 years which he served as president, OBU experienced significant growth and attracted national recognition for the quality of its faculty, its students and its educational programs. During those years, the University became widely known among church-related colleges and universities for its commitment to and involvement in missionary outreach and international activity. Under his leadership the university sent students and faculty to work in programs in China, Hungary, Poland, Brazil, Venezuela, Chile, India, Zimbabwe, Cambodia and Russia along with numerous other international travel, study, and ministry endeavors involving hundreds of students and faculty in meaningful cross-cultural learning and service experiences. Enrollment grew more than 70 percent and during the last seven years of his administration, OBU was listed by U.S. News and World Report as one of the top ten regional liberal arts universities in the western part of the United States. The university received commendation in several other major national rankings of academic programs including Barron's Best Buys in American Education, the Templeton Foundation's Honor Roll of Character Building Colleges, and Templeton's Honor Roll of Free Enterprise Teaching Institutions.

Led by a steady increase in the number of donors and in the general level of support (growing from 2000 donors in 1982 to 6500 donors in 1998), the university constructed eleven new buildings and renovated twelve buildings during Dr. Agee's tenure. The University's endowment, which stood at approximately $11 million in 1982, grew to more than $60 million. During this period, thirteen endowed academic positions were established.

Dr. Agee has been active in numerous national and statewide educational and denominational activities and is often called upon to serve in leadership roles for various national organizations. He served two three year terms as a member of the Board of Directors of the Council of Christian Colleges and Universities. He has served two four-year terms as a member of the Board of Directors for the National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities and served on the Commission on Policy Analysis for that organization. He served two terms as Chairman of the Education Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention and served two three year terms as a member of the Nashville based commission. Dr. Agee also has served as a member of the Education and Evangelism Committee of the Baptist World Alliance.

Active in the national arena of institutional and program accreditation, Dr. Agee served as a Consultant Evaluator and completed a four year term as a member of the Accreditation Review Council for the North Central Association of Colleges and Secondary Schools, the nation's largest regional accrediting agency. In recent years he has served on three national task forces addressing major issues regarding institutional and program accreditation and was a major influence in developing the re-accreditation procedures for the National Council for the Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE). During 1994 he served on a major national task force for the National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities dealing with government regulations, accreditation, and institutional accountability. He has been listed in Who's Who in American Education since 1990.

Dr. Agee is called upon frequently to serve as a consultant for educational institutions, churches, other non-profit organizations and businesses in the areas of leadership development, strategic planning and fund raising. He is the author of numerous articles and is a frequent presenter at national and regional conferences on planning and fund-raising. He is a contributor and co-editor of the book Faithful Learning and the Christian Scholarly Vocation published by Eerdmans Publishing Co.

Following completion of the bachelor of arts degree with honors from Union University in Jackson, Tennessee, he went on to earn a Master of Divinity Degree and the Doctor of Ministries Degree from Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky. In addition to the Doctor of Ministry degree from Southern Seminary he also holds a Ph.D. in Higher Education Administration from Vanderbilt University's George Peabody College for Teachers in Nashville, Tennessee. He also holds the honorary D.D. degree from California Baptist University in Riverside, California. Prior to his service at OBU he served as Vice President for Religious Affairs, professor of practical studies in the religion department, and as Special Assistant to the President for Institutional Planning at Union University in Jackson, Tennessee.