Mellor to Deliver Minter Lecture Feb. 20

OBU's 2015 Minter Lectureship in Business, Leadership and Christian Ministry will be presented by Dr. Nathan Mellor, CEO of the Oklahoma City based Strata Leadership, LLC. The lecture will take place Friday, Feb. 20, in the Tulsa Royalties Auditorium of the Bailey Business Center on the OBU campus in Shawnee.

Mellor holds a Bachelor of Arts and a Master of Science in Education from Harding University. He earned the Master of Dispute Resolution from Pepperdine University School of Law and a Doctor of Education in Organizational Leadership from Pepperdine as well.

During his career, he has consulted, trained, and lectured throughout the United States and abroad. In addition to providing services for federal agencies such as the U.S. Department of Energy and the FDA, he has also served at the city and state level for agencies in Alaska, California, Colorado, Mississippi, Oklahoma, Texas and Virginia. Recently, some of his clients have included Airtron, Agility Medical Group, American Airlines, ArcBest, Bob Moore Auto Group, CoorsTek, Devon Energy, EDG, Edward Jones, Jasco, Kansas Aviation, Kimray, Locke Supply, SandRidge Energy and Variety Care.

In pursuit of academic, humanitarian, and religious interests, he has spent nearly a year abroad leading programs in Australia, Belize, China, Guyana, Jordan, Mexico, Russia and Rwanda. He has nearly 15 years of experience teaching undergraduate and graduate courses at Baker College, Pepperdine University and Oklahoma Christian University. He has co-developed leadership programs including Peace Through Business Rwanda and Four Star Debate with General Tommy Franks, which have been highlighted by CNN and FOX. He is the founder of the Presidential Leadership Institute in collaboration with Ms. Mary Eisenhower, York College and People to People International. He writes monthly columns in the Character Core Magazine and the Core Insights blog. Nathan and his wife Christie have been married since 1997. They have two daughters.

The Minter Lectureship in Business, Leadership and Christian Ministry is intended to add a sound understanding of the business world to the educational experience of church ministry majors to broaden their ability to minister effectively. The Minter Lectureship was underwritten by 1940 OBU graduate Lloyd G. Minter of Bartlesville, Oklahoma. The annual series began in 1991.

Minter built a successful 35-year career with Phillips Petroleum Co., rising to the position of senior vice president and general counsel before retiring in 1978. His desire to help OBU religious vocation students broaden their understanding of the business community led to establishing the innovative lecture series.

OBU annually has the largest number of religion majors among Southern Baptist four-year colleges and universities. The Minter Lectureship is designed to provide orientation and training for those students in the history and nature of the American economic system and to help the students understand and appreciate the business and professional community. In addition to equipping the students with business knowledge for the institutions they will lead, the Minter Lectureship promotes proper management of personal finances.

Minter, who earned a law degree at the University of Oklahoma, served as counsel for Boone, Smith, Davis and Hurst of Tulsa. He served five terms as an OBU trustee and two terms as a trustee of Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. Minter died Jan. 4, 2013, at age 94.