Spears School of Business

Morrill Hall

Georgina M. Holt. Holt came to the college in 1898 to teach stenography and typewriting. Holt resigned from the college in 1903 to marry Dr. Lowery Layman Lewis, who was instrumental in getting the School of Commerce and Marketing established in 1914 as the first department of marketing established in the nation. During its first year, there were 37 students enrolled in the school which increased to 164 in just two years.

In 1915, Professor H.W. Moorhouse was appointed as the first dean. In 1916, Willard Rude joined the faculty, serving as department head from 1920-1945. He won the trophy in a yearly contest for shorthand penmanship sponsored by Gregg Publishing Company so many times that the company was forced to retire the trophy to Rude. It was during 1916 when the first bachelor's and master's degree are granted.

By 1921 enrollment grew to 365. The school also expanded the courses it offered based on the four sides of business: production, marketing, finance and accounting.

In 1922, the School of Commerce and Marketing recorded the largest enrollment of any of the six schools on the campus, and it got its first official building, called the Old Engineering Building.

The School of Commerce and Marketing becomes known as the School of Commerce in 1924. In 1925, the School of Commerce upgraded to Morrill Hall. Built in 1906, the stately building that still stands on campus today.

In 1929, Raymond Doty Thomas was chosen as dean for the School of Commerce. Thomas revolutionized the college, and the school’s most coveted award for undergraduates was eventually named after him. He retired in 1957 after 28 years, the longest tenure of any dean at Spears Business.

The School of Commerce becomes the Division of Commerce in 1939. Then, with the end of World War II in 1945, enrollment in the School of Commerce increased dramatically as soldiers return home. Enrollment reached 2,000 by 1947.

The Business Extension is created in 1953 with Harry Canup named as director. Today, this is known as the Center for Executive and Professional Development, the outreach portion of Spears Business.

In 1955, the Division of Commerce became the Division of Business and in 1957 Eugene Swearingen replaces Raymond D. Thomas as dean. A year later, the Division of Business becomes the College of Business.

The Ph.D. program in economics is the first doctoral program in the College of Business Administration in 1960. The first three students in the program were Richard W. Poole, Duck-Woo Nam and Robert L. Sandmeyer.

On Dec. 9, 1960, the school broke ground on a new building as it celebrated the 50th anniversary of business education. The building opened in fall of 1966.

Richard W. Poole becomes dean in 1965 and in 1969 the College of Business becomes known as the College of Business Administration. Poole resigned in 1972 to become vice president of University Relations and Development. Robert A Sandmeyer becomes dean.

In 1982, enrollment peaks with more than 5,000 full0time undergraduate students. Full-time faculty reaches its highest numbers ever with 133 members.

Fulfilling its mission as a land grant university to teach, research and extend to the community and the world, the College of Business Administration and the Business Extension office begins its popular Tulsa Business Forums series in 1987. Two years later, the program expands to Oklahoma City with the Executive Management Briefings.

New building for Spears School of Business

In 1995, Gary Trennepohl becomes dean of the College of Business Administration, serving until 1999 when he was asked to become president of the newly created OSU-Tulsa campus.

Finally, in 2004, The College of Business Administration is renamed the Williams S. Spears School of Business. Today, the college is known as the Spears School of Business.

A record 1,031 diplomas are granted at commencement exercises in 2012. Four students were in the first graduating class of the School of Commerce and Marketing in 1916, and the school has graduated students every year since.

On May 5, 2014, Ken Eastman is named Dean of the Spears School of Business following a national search. Eastman has taught at the business school since 1989, serving as an assistant professor (1989-1995), associate professor (1995-2014), director of the MBA program (1999-2003), acting department head (2002-2003), and as the head of the Department of Management (2003-2014).

On September 5, in addition to celebrating 100 years of business education at OSU, the Spears School holds a groundbreaking ceremony for a new business building to be constructed just north of the current building.

The new building for the Spears School of Business opened for its first classes at the beginning of the Spring 2018 semester. The building features 13 state-of-the-art classrooms, a 150-seat lecture call, nine student team room, eight faculty-student breakout rooms along with other amenities that will facilitate the foundation for stronger programs and more effective recruitment of top students. On April 13, 2018, the new home for the Spears School of Business is dedicated with a celebration highlighted by speeches from OSU President Burns Hargis, Spears Business Dean Ken Eastman, Oklahoma City Architect and OSU alum Rand Elliott. The $72 million, 147,500-square-foot facility is 49 percent larger than the old building and projects as a 100-year building.

Oklahoma State University’s Spears School of Business is one of the Best Undergraduate Business School in 2017, which places among the top 10% to 15% of accredited institutions, according to Poets & Quants for Undergrads.

View all Spears Business rankings here.

Since 1958, all academic programs in the Spears School of Business have been accredited by the AACSB International.

• Accounting
• Economics and Legal Studies
• Entrepreneurship
• Finance
• General Business
• International Business
• Management
• Science and Information Systems
• Marketing
• Hospitality and Tourism Management

• Business Administration (MBA)
• Accounting
• Economics
• Entrepreneurship
• Management Information Systems (MSMIS)
• Quantitative Financial Economics (MSQFE)
• Telecommunications Management (MSTM)
• MBA/MSTM Dual Degree

• SAS and OSU Data Mining
• Business Data Mining
• Information Assurance
• SAS and Marketing Analytics

• Ph.D. in Business Administration
• Ph.D. in Accounting
• Ph.D. in Entrepreneurship
• Ph.D. in Finance
• Ph.D. in Management
• Ph.D. in Management Information Systems
• Ph.D. in Marketing
• Ph.D. in Economics
• Ph.D. in Business for Executives

• Center for Applied Economic Research (CAER)
• Center for Executive and Professional Development (CEPD)
• Center for Social and Services Marketing (CSSM)
• Center for Telecommunications and Network Security (CTANS)
• Institute for Research in Information Services (IRIS)
• Riata Center for Entrepreneurship

• Minnie Lou Bradley, Class of 1953, first woman to graduate from OSU with a degree in animal husbandry, matriarch of Bradley 3 Ranch in Childress County, Texas
• Gordon Eubanks, CEO and President, Symantec Corporation, makers of Norton AntiVirus 8
• Clark Hallren, Managing Director of Clear Scope Partners, financial and strategic advisor for those operating in the media and entertainment industry. Hallren is former Managing Director of the Entertainment Industries Group of JPMorgan Securities, Inc.
• Paul Miller, former President of the Associated Press and former Chairman and CEO of Gannett Company (publisher of many newspapers including USA Today, Arizona Republic and the Indianapolis Star)
• Neal Patterson, CEO of Cerner Corporation
• Tim DuBois, Nashville songwriter and recording industry executive, OSU's Accounting Alumnus of the Year (1992) and OSU Hall of Fame (1996)
• T. Boone Pickens, Corporate tycoon; has donated over $235 million to OSU, including the renovation of the football stadium
• M. B. "Bud" Seretean, former CEO of Coronet Industries, former general manager of the Atlanta Hawks
• William A. Scroggs, insurance agent and Founder of Kappa Kappa Psi
• Charles Watson, Chairman, Founder and CEO of energy giant Dynegy Corp., owner of the Houston Aeros professional hockey team
• Jerry Winchester, President and CEO of Boots & Coots International Well Control Inc. and CEO of Chesapeake Oilfield Services

• Spears School of Business
• Oklahoma State University