Bob Agee

Bob R. Agee was born on 30 September 1938 and raised in West Tennessee. At Union University in Jackson he combined serious academics with eight athletic letters in cross country, track, and tennis, helping early cross country teams win conference titles and reach national meets. He edited student publications, won the Strickland Oratorical Medal, and pastored rural Gibson County churches while still a student. He married Nelle Hulme during college. After graduating with honors in history and religion in 1960, he earned M.Div. and D.Min. degrees at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary and a Ph.D. in higher education administration at Vanderbilt's George Peabody College.

Agee returned to Union as dean of religious affairs in 1975 and later served as vice president for religious affairs and special assistant to the president for institutional planning. David Dockery wrote that in the 1970s Agee became the face of Union for large parts of its constituency and mentored future pastors and scholars, including figures such as Steve Gaines and George Guthrie. He remained a trustee and lifelong friend of the university, which later inducted him into its Sports Hall of Fame.

Named OBU's thirteenth president in 1982, Agee served through 1998. His administration ran three major capital campaigns, expanded the Shawnee campus with science, telecommunications, alumni, nursing, business, and residence facilities, and grew endowment support for scholarships and academic posts. International programs in China, Russia, and Brazil and expanded missions opportunities marked his global outlook. U.S. News began ranking OBU among western regional liberal arts colleges in 1985. Successors credited him with binding academic excellence to Christian discipleship in institutional practice.

Agee married Nelle Hulme Agee, a Union alumna who later taught education at OBU. They had two daughters, Denise Allen (Union 1981) and Robyn Hari (Union 1986), and four granddaughters. Nelle died in 2020. OBU named the Bob R. and Nelle H. Agee Residence Center for them and created scholarships in their names. Friends remembered the couple as mentors to younger Baptist leaders.

Agee was a Southern Baptist preacher and churchman who argued that Christian higher education should hold rigorous scholarship together with discipleship. He worked across conservative and moderate constituencies in Baptist life, according to David Dockery, and continued pulpit ministry long after leaving campus administration. His books and talks addressed faithful learning, leadership, and the seasons of Christian life.

After OBU he led the Association of Southern Baptist Colleges and Schools (later IABCU) for nine years and directed the Consortium for Global Education, extending his influence across Baptist campuses. He served on boards tied to Christian and independent colleges and was inducted into the Oklahoma Higher Education Hall of Fame. OBU's physical campus, rankings profile, and international outlook still reflect priorities set in his presidency. Oklahoma Baptists and OBU leaders framed his death as the loss of a humble, accessible kingdom leader.

Honors included induction into the Oklahoma Higher Education Hall of Fame (1999), the Union University Sports Hall of Fame (2010), an honorary Doctor of Divinity from California Baptist University, and an honorary Doctor of Humanities from OBU (2010). Campus buildings and scholarships carry the Agee name.

Agee co-edited Faithful Learning and the Christian Scholarly Vocation and authored The Reason for the Season and the memoir An Unlikely Story: Memories and Reflections on Life's Journey. He remained a frequent chapel and church speaker, including OBU Founder's Day in 2020 and guest pulpits such as Mercer Baptist Church and Medina First Baptist Church in Tennessee.

Oklahoma Baptist University announced that Bob Agee died on 26 September 2026 at age 87, days before what would have been his eighty-eighth birthday. Cause of death was not made public in the university and Baptist Press notices. Memorial service details were pending at announcement; gifts were invited to the Dr. Bob Agee Memorial Fund.