Mike McConnell is the current director of the Robert M. Zinke Energy Management Program at the Price College of Business at the University of Oklahoma. He is the seventh director of the program, which was founded in 1958 and is the nation’s oldest.
McConnell served as president and a director of Jones Energy Inc., an independent exploration and production company traded on the New York Stock Exchange, from 2004 to April 2018. The company, headquartered in Austin, Texas, focused its horizontal drilling primarily in the Texas panhandle and central Oklahoma, drilling more than 700 horizontal wells and achieving net production of more than 22,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day in 2019.
Before joining Jones Energy, McConnell was chairman and CEO of the Generation and Production Group at Enron Corp. during its bankruptcy proceedings, serving until his departure in April 2003. He previously served as chairman and CEO of Enron Global Markets LLC, overseeing eight global trading and origination businesses that generated revenues exceeding $15 billion in the first three quarters of 2001. McConnell was a member of Enron Corp.’s management committee and held several roles, including chairman and CEO of Enron’s Generation and Production Group, vice chairman and COO of Enron Net Works, and CEO of Enron Global Technology. Earlier in his career, he served as president of Houston Pipe Line and Louisiana Resources Co. and held various gas supply and marketing positions. He began his career as a landman for Champlin Petroleum Co. before joining Enron’s Florida Gas Transmission division in 1987.
McConnell earned a BBA in petroleum land management with an emphasis on law from the University of Oklahoma in 1982. He is a senior advisor and past chairman of the Price College Board of Advisors at the University of Oklahoma. He also serves on the board of the Independent Petroleum Association of America and has been involved with numerous charities and businesses.
McConnell is the author and publisher of the nonfiction book Just Because You Can Doesn’t Mean You Should, which focuses on lessons learned in business and keys to success.
The University of Oklahoma Michael F. Price College of Business has experienced significant growth over the past five years, becoming OU’s second-largest college with over 5,800 students. The college offers highly ranked undergraduate, master’s, executive and doctoral programs across six academic divisions. More information is available at price.ou.edu
