ARKADELPHIA, Ark.—Bryan McKinney, who began serving June 1 as dean of Ouachita Baptist University’s Frank D. Hickingbotham School of Business, is clear about his motivation in his new role.
“My focus will be the students,” he declared. “As an undergraduate-only institution, we have the luxury of focusing exclusively on our students. I am convinced that our best students can compete with anybody—so it will be my pleasure to invest in them.”
McKinney, who has served at his alma mater since 1997, is an associate professor of business law and former chair of the department of business administration. A 1993 graduate of Ouachita, he also holds a juris doctorate degree from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock.
Ouachita President Rex Horne noted that during the search process for a new dean, McKinney “revealed to everybody that he is ready for the role.”
Affirming McKinney’s leadership skills, Horne added, “One of the things he brings to the position is a real desire to make a difference in this role.”
McKinney succeeds Dr. Phil Rice who served 15 years as dean of OBU’s business school.
Noting that Rice has agreed to teach a full load of courses in the coming year, McKinney said he is “very excited to have the opportunity to have accessibility to his wisdom and insight in the issues I will face as dean.”
Rice “has been a very good mentor to me over the years,” McKinney reflected. “I have benefited a lot from his experience with academic administration within the school of business.”
Echoing McKinney’s perspective, Horne emphasized that Rice “was the right man at the right time” as he led the business school to gain accreditation by the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business and guided the school’s “signature event of building Hickingbotham Hall,” a state-of-the-art business school facility completed in 2006.
Looking to the future, McKinney said, “I think I am very much a university-focused guy. I want to see the university increase.
“The school of business has so much support,” he added. “It is such a great opportunity with a brand-new facility. … We have a wonderful faculty and tremendous students. We’ve got friends and alumni out there who are eager to help us.
“I love the intersection of Ouachita as a liberal arts university with the combination of liberal arts, faith and business,” McKinney emphasized. He said his goals include “trying to develop students into grads who are servant-minded, problem solvers and big picture individuals.
“That is also a picture of what a growing Christian ought to be doing,” he added. “I could see no better place to earn a business degree than a place that focuses on that intersection.”
Describing Ouachita’s Hickingbotham School as “among the smallest accredited schools of business in the world,” the new dean said that fact is actually a major plus for the program.
“It’s the best of both worlds—to be very personal but competent enough to achieve that reputation,” he explained. “We’re throwing our best at you, the undergraduate student. … There are not many schools trying to do what we can do. We could be the single best place for a student to get an undergraduate degree in business.”
McKinney's research has been published broadly, including the UALR Law Review and the Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science. A member of the American Bar Association and the National Association of College and University Attorneys, he also has made professional presentations to such groups as the Association of Southern Baptist College and Schools and the Arkansas Academic and Research Network.
McKinney is married to the former Leigh Anne Spivey, also a Ouachita graduate. They are the parents of Colson, age 5, and Mason, 3. The McKinneys are members of Park Hill Baptist Church in Arkadelphia where he teaches a young adult Bible study class.