Interview with Eddie Edwards: The Intersection of Business and Academics

The University of Oklahoma’s MBA programs are surrounded by global leaders in energy, healthcare, tech, entrepreneurship and finance. Their state-of-the-art campus makes collaborating across these industries easy.

Interview by Kati Hanna, Partner with the Mettise Group
Photography by Kennon Bryce

Eddie Edwards, the Executive Director of OU’s MBA program, is not your typical academic; his business background and experience has helped to reshape the program and its partnerships with businesses. Upon first meeting Eddie, you can’t help but be struck by how warm and genuine he is. He has a unique combination of boldness, authenticity and experience that makes him a leader you want to know more about.

Your path to becoming the Executive Director of the MBA program for OU was not a typical academic pathway. Tell us about your business background and some of the ways it has influenced your leadership of the program.

I’ve always been pretty business-focused. I spent over 40 years in a variety of business endeavors, primarily in real estate and oil and gas. While I had strong academic training in college and through my graduate degree, I know the real action begins the moment you walk through the door of that first job. With that understanding, we have taken a holistic approach to educating our MBA students. We focus equally on the “inside the classroom material” and on “professional development”- which includes all of those things which are really important in the workplace, such as problem solving, teamwork, conflict resolution, negotiation, revenue and expenses, and competition. Our goal is to provide the type of education that allows our students to contribute to their new employer on their first day. I certainly didn’t invent these ideas, but we do spend a lot of time trying to develop solid habits in our students that help promote success in the workplace.

The full-time MBA program focuses on three key experiential elements: a global business experience, a business consulting practicum, and an applied business project. Can you tell us about each of these, and how it helps shape the students?

It all comes down to being ready when your number is called. So, we’re committed to experiential learning from the very first semester in the program. 

We were fortunate to recruit Dr. Margaret Shaffer to the Price College of Business in 2016. Dr. Shaffer had lived and worked in Southeast Asia for many years, and she courageously agreed to lead student trips there several times each year. The 10 to 12-day trips are undoubtedly the highlight of our students’ experience in our program. The following semester, Senior Associate Dean Laku Chidambaram leads these same students in their next experiential endeavor – a Business Consulting Practicum. Student groups are matched with a local business and have the opportunity to work through “real business issues.” Although Dr. Chidambaram coaches each group along the way, there is meaningful interaction between each group and its respective “client company.” These first-year experiences prepare students to spend the summer between their first and second year completing an internship. 

Finally, several members of the program collaboratively lead a class we refer to as an MBA Consulting Project, which is similar to Dr. Chidambaram’s consulting course, but one student is paired with one company. Again, each student works with leadership from both the class and the client company over the 16-week term. A final presentation to the company representatives represents a significant part of the student’s grade in the course.

Tell us more about the type of industries and projects that are a good fit for your MBA Consulting Project and consulting practicum.

We look for projects which are meaningful to the students as well as helpful to the client companies, and we have been able to be very creative in our assignments. Some of our projects include financial analysis, market research, data analysis, digital marketing, etc. Industries include hospitality, banking, energy, healthcare, sports management, consumer products, aerospace and defense and management consulting. We will be working with over 60 companies this fall. These relationships are extremely important to both our program and our students, and we have to get it right.

What is the best piece of advice you have received in your career?

There have been several, but one of the best is “Don’t burn bridges, because you’ll be surprised how many times you have to cross the same river.”

What is one thing you hope all of your students will take with them from their time in the program? Confidence in their ability to solve complex problems, either working alone or within a team setting.

What was a seemingly small decision that ended up dramatically changing the course of your life?

A random phone conversation I had with Jim Wheeler in 2011. Jim was largely responsible for starting the entrepreneurship program in Price College in the early 2000’s. I had taught a course in this program as an adjunct instructor for six or seven years. I made the mistake of telling Jim I was looking for a new challenge. Within days, I was having lunch with the Dean of the College, and when offered the position, I told the Dean I would commit for three years; he countered with five. That was 10 years ago. As it turns out, I was the real winner in that negotiation.

How do you believe learning has changed for students in the past 10 years?

The delivery of classroom content has changed significantly. “Online” was kind of a 4-letter word among the academics. We were heading in that direction at a measured pace, but the pandemic probably sped up our online delivery by five years. Our faculty has done an outstanding job in record time of redesigning their courses to be delivered face to face, online, or in a hybrid format. The pandemic forced it, but they amazingly met the challenge.

Another big change is that learning with phones, tablets and computers has become ubiquitous; students can learn from anywhere at any time, 24/7. There are more courses available in more places than any time in history. We cannot be satisfied for a moment with our course offerings. To remain relevant, we must keep pushing the education envelope.

What are you reading now?

In addition to an early morning devotional, I’m finishing Three Wise Men, a true story of three brothers who fought in Afghanistan and Iraq for different branches of the US Military. I’m about to start Think Again by Adam Grant.

What is the best part of your job?

A couple of things, really. I especially enjoy working with our extremely talented students, as well as companies located in Oklahoma and around the country. We try to find the right fit between our student talent and a company’s personnel need. When a solid match does occur, it can be truly life changing for a student and result in an extreme sense of accomplishment for everyone involved.

I also enjoy working with my colleagues at Price College – particularly the team at the Gene Rainbolt Graduate School of Business in OKC. We have professionals working hard to recruit, admit, advise, teach, develop and place students. All are extremely committed to both the University and the students. They make my role very enjoyable.

What is one of your favorite life’s “luxuries?”

I have a very blessed life, but an outstanding summer evening for me is grilling steaks outdoors at 8,000 feet in the Colorado Rockies with family and friends – tongs in one hand and a glass of red wine in the other. That’s about as good as it gets for me.