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S. R. No. 51 *SS26/R1389* ~ OFFICIAL ~ N1/2
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To: Rules
MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE REGULAR SESSION 2026
By: Senator(s) Michel, Hickman, Hopson,
Thomas
SENATE RESOLUTION NO. 51
A RESOLUTION RECOGNIZING THE LASTING IMPACT OF DEAN KEN CYREE 1
UPON THE OCCASION OF HIS RETIREMENT AS THE SECOND-LONGEST-SERVING 2
BUSINESS DEAN IN UNIVERSITY OF MISSISSIPPI HISTORY AND THE 3
LONGEST-SERVING DEAN OF A BUSINESS SCHOOL IN THE SOUTHEASTERN 4
CONFERENCE. 5
WHEREAS, after 21 years as a faculty member at the University 6
of Mississippi School of Business Administration, and 17 of those 7
years serving at the helm as Dean, Ken Cyree retired in December 8
2025; and 9
WHEREAS, Dr. Ken B. Cyree, Ph.D., is Dean of the School of 10
Business Administration, is the Frank R. Day/Mississippi Bankers 11
Association Chair of Banking, Professor of Finance, and Director 12
of the Mississippi School of Banking. He came to Ole Miss from 13
Texas Tech in 2004 as an Associate Professor of Finance and now is 14
the school's 11th dean and the second-longest-serving dean in the 15
school's history, after James Warsaw Bell, the school's founding 16
dean in 1917. He is also the longest-serving current dean of a 17
business school in the Southeastern Conference; and 18
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WHEREAS, "I have enjoyed a relatively long career at Ole 19
Miss, and especially as dean," said Cyree when asked about his 20
decision to retire. "I am proud of what we have been able to 21
accomplish together"; and 22
WHEREAS, under Cyree's leadership, the business school now 23
boasts 74 full-time faculty, 31 adjunct instructors, and 44 24
members of the school's staff. Since 2008, the year he became 25
dean, the school has developed a dedicated career center, a 26
student-startup business incubator, improved the quality of the 27
faculty, and raised the focus of experiential learning; and 28
WHEREAS, in addition to his leadership, Dr. Cyree has 29
remained a teacher of the highest order and publisher of scholarly 30
articles. He has taught courses in the areas of financial 31
institutions and markets, bank management, business/corporate 32
finance, investments and financial statement analysis. He was 33
awarded the Outstanding Teacher of the Year in 2007 and 34
Outstanding Senior Researcher in 2014 for the University of 35
Mississippi School of Business. Any student of Dean Cyree knows 36
that his courses are rigorous, but offer some of the most valuable 37
lessons to be learned at Ole Miss; and 38
WHEREAS, notable achievements during Ken Cyree's tenure as 39
dean include: 40
• $54.7 Million raised to support the school; 41
• $17 Million for faculty support; 42
• $23.8 Million for the school's endowment; 43
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• Enrollment growth of 73% from 2020 to 5,793 students in 44
the Fall of 2024; 45
• Record freshmen enrollment of 1,786 in Fall of 2024; 46
• Merging of the Marketing and MIS departments to form MAPS; 47
• Introduced the entrepreneurship major and minor; 48
• Established Career Preparation Center and the Center for 49
Innovation and Entrepreneurship; 50
• Grew attendance in the annual Banking & Finance Symposium 51
to over 200 attendees; and 52
• Launched the Rebel Venture Student Fund; and 53
WHEREAS, Dr. Cyree was a former faculty member at the 54
Graduate School of Banking at LSU for over 20 years. He received 55
his MBA and Ph.D. from the University of Tennessee and his BBA 56
from West Georgia College; and 57
WHEREAS, during his time at the Ole Miss Business School, Dr. 58
Cyree has published 24 articles in peer-reviewed journals such as 59
the Journal of Banking and Finance, Journal of Financial Markets 60
and Financial Management on topics ranging from banking, lending, 61
consumer delinquencies and compliance issues to the Dodd-Frank Act 62
and the Federal Reserve; and 63
WHEREAS, it is with great pride that we note an incredible 64
milestone of a professor whose dedication, expertise, and 65
commitment to excellence have made a lasting impact on his 66
university, community and to the State of Mississippi: 67
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ST: Recognize tenure of Ole Miss Business Dean
Ken Cyree on the occasion of his retirement.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE SENATE OF THE STATE OF 68
MISSISSIPPI, That we do hereby recognize the lasting impact of 69
Dean Ken Cyree upon the occasion of his retirement as the 70
second-longest-serving Business Dean in University of Mississippi 71
history and the longest-serving dean of a business school in the 72
Southeastern Conference, and extend our best wishes to Dean Cyree 73
and his family on their future endeavors. 74
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That this resolution be presented to 75
Dean Ken Cyree, forwarded to the Chancellor of the University of 76
Mississippi and the Board of Trustees of State Institutions of 77
Higher Learning, and be made available to the Capitol Press Corps. 78