Ken Cyree, Ole Miss Business Dean, Announces His Retirement

Cyree, who came to Ole Miss from Texas Tech in 2004 as an associate professor of finance, is the school’s 11^th dean and the second-longest serving dean in the school’s history, except for James Warsaw Bell, the school’s founding dean in 1917. He is also the longest serving current dean of a business school in the Southeastern Conference.

“I have enjoyed a relatively long career at Ole Miss, and especially as dean,” Cyree said when asked about his decision to retire. “I am proud of what we have been able to accomplish together.

“My intent from the beginning was always to go out on top and leave the school poised to continue and expand on the successes we have enjoyed. I believe we have been able to achieve the goal of making the Ole Miss School of Business even better during the last 17 plus years, and I am excited for the future of the school.” 

Under Cyree’s leadership, the business school now boasts 74 full-time faculty, 31 adjunct instructors and 44 members of the school’s staff. Since 2008, the year he became dean, the school has developed a dedicated career center, a student-start up business incubator, improved the quality of the faculty and raised the focus of experiential learning.

“Ken has been a passionate and dedicated leader for 17 years. His vision of attracting and retaining great professors and students continues to yield tremendous dividends for Ole Miss,” said Bruce Moore (B.B.A in Finance ’82), who created the Bruce Moore Scholar in Finance chair in 2011. “Under Ken’s leadership, it has been exciting to see the Business School grow in size, national ranking and recognition,” echoed his wife Karen Moore (B.S. Applied Sciences ’82) who served as the chair of the Ole Miss Women’s Council from 2014 to 2016 and president of the Ole Miss Alumni Association from 2023-24. 

In addition to his leadership, Cyree has remained a teacher of the highest order and publisher of scholarly articles. He has taught courses in the areas of financial institutions and markets, bank management, business/corporate finance, investments and financial statement analysis. He was awarded the Outstanding Teacher of the Year in 2007 and Outstanding Senior Researcher in 2014 for the UM School of Business.

“Any student of Dean Cyree’s knows that his courses are rigorous, but offer some of the most valuable lessons you will take away from your time at Ole Miss,” said Lily Martin, a senior from Providence, Kentucky, majoring in banking and finance and risk management and insurance, who also won the Taylor Medal and the Swayze Award. “He consistently holds my classmates and me to higher standards, challenging us to think deeply about topics at hand and equipping us with real-world knowledge. I am so thankful for the opportunity to learn under Dean Cyree’s direction.”

HIGHLIGHTS OF KEN CYREE’S LEADERSHIP

• $17,022,179 raised since 2008 for faculty support
• $54,665.051 raised since 2008 for all areas of support for the school
• $23,777,645 raised since 2008 for the school’s endowment
• Enrollment growth of 77 percent from 2020 to 5,793 students in the fall of 2024
• Record freshman enrollment of 1,786 in fall 2024
• Merging of the Marketing and MIS departments to form MAPS
• Introduced the Entrepreneurship major and minor
• Established Career Preparation Center and the Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship
• Grew attendance in the annual Banking & Finance Symposium to over 200 attendees
• Launched the Rebel Venture Student Fund

While dean, Cyree also served as the Frank R. Day/Mississippi Bankers Association Chair of Banking. He is the director of the Mississippi School of Banking and was a former faculty member at the Graduate School of Banking at LSU for over 20 years. He received his MBA and Ph.D. from the University of Tennessee and his B.B.A. from West Georgia College.

“Dean Cyree does as he says and says as he does. His kindness, respect, consistency, and level of integrity and standards are just a few of his personality traits that make him an exceptional leader. I’ve been very blessed to work for/with him for his entire tenure as dean,” said Kathy Mikell, who has served as executive assistant to the dean since 2008. “He will be missed for sure.”

During his time at the Ole Miss Business School, he has published over 24 articles in peer-review journals such as the Journal of Banking and Finance, Journal of Financial Markets and Financial Management on topics ranging from banking, lending, consumer delinquencies and compliance issues to the Dodd-Frank Act and the Federal Reserve.

“I have truly enjoyed working with Dean Cyree and will greatly miss his exceptional leadership and support,” said Bonnie Van Ness, who has served as chair of the finance department since 2009. “He cultivates a positive and productive work environment that inspires those around him. Since becoming Dean, his vision for the school has centered on delivering high-quality teaching, research, and service. 

“He motivates the faculty to strive for continuous improvement, and he leads by example, consistently demonstrating the values he encourages.”

Shortly after he became dean, Cyree began to strongly consider, at the urging of parents and students, the need to offer academic opportunities in the area of entrepreneurship. He saw the value of giving students with an entrepreneurial mindset the opportunity to develop problem-solving skills through critical thinking. In 2010, a minor in entrepreneurship was established. He tapped professors Walter Davis, Clay Dibrell and Bob Robinson to take the lead in teaching this new minor. 

By 2017, Cyree recognized the success of the minor and expanded it to be available as one of the school’s 10 majors. With this move, he hired Rich Gentry as a new line of support for the entrepreneurship program. Gentry, currently chair of the management department since 2023, was initially hired to teach venture finance and the capstone strategy course for the school, MGMT 493: Management of Strategic Planning.

“Ken has been instrumental in so many of the activities that have built the school in the last decade plus,” said Gentry. “To me, his impact started with a commitment to research on his first day. That focus allowed us to hire faculty who were committed to their jobs, who are well known nationally and have the networks to bring best practices from other universities to Ole Miss.

“Launching focused and modern entrepreneurship courses and co-curricular programs is certainly the biggest change in the management department over those years, but launching online education for undergraduates has allowed us to expand our course offerings to make those programs more attractive. Healthcare management, entrepreneurship, international business - both inside the classroom and out - there is no part of the management department that Ken hasn't helped build.”

In 2014, the Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship (CIE) was born, establishing the Ole Miss Business School as a foremost educational institution for young people who know they want to be their own boss. Initially, the center was a place to house the annual Gillespie Business Plan Competition with Dibrell and Gentry serving as co-directors.

Since its inception, the CIE has advised 838 students and assisted 72 student-led startup businesses with 18 still thriving. Over $357,300 cash prizes and $89,000 in scholarships have been awarded to students interested in leading a startup small business. 535 student teams have participated in CIE's business competitions and about 25 percent of participants have received some type of funding.

In August 2022, Cyree partnered with Barry Babin, who came to the UM Business School from Louisiana Tech in 2019 to serve as chair of the marketing department. The two agreed to merge the marketing department with the smaller, technology-oriented department of management information systems.

Cyree and Babin agreed on the benefit to students if the synergy between the areas were combined. This merger resulted in the opportunity for students to receive a degree in one of three areas of marketing: B.B.A. in Professional Sales, Marketing (with emphases in digital marketing, supply chain management, business analytics or sales) or Business Analytics and Information Systems.

“I mean this as a compliment, but ‘working for’ Ken is not like working for a Dean,” said Babin, who also has served as the executive director of the Academy of Marketing Science since 2020. “He is partner in everything we do, and beyond all the accolades that will come his way for service to the school, he is a fine person and someone I am happy to call a friend.”

In positioning the merger, that now includes over 600 students in the program, Babin and Cyree agreed that marketing and business analytics have become common terms. Marketing relies heavily on data, and all the skills needed to harvest and store data, and then turn it into valuable information critical to marketing success.

Typically dressed in khaki pants and a golf shirt, Cyree is often seen or heard directing new students around Holman Hall. Routinely making his rounds to visit with the staff, his concern for the people running the school is foremost. He makes the staff his priority and always has a moment for someone having a difficult day or situation, always asking about their lives, whether it be a sick relative or a new-born baby. He has always remained everyone’s leader.

“I will miss many of the interactions and relationships with the faculty, staff, students, alumni and friends, but I am hopeful that new leadership will allow the school to take a path that will benefit all into the 21^st century,” Cyree said. “I will likely see some Ole Miss friends on the golf course or other venues in the future, and I look forward to seeing the wonderful things that will unfold as the school moves forward.”