Ron Area, President and CEO of the Oklahoma State University Foundation, announced this week that Kirk Jewell, a certified public accountant with more than two decades of financial and management experience in private business, has been named Chief Operating Officer and Chief Financial Officer of the Oklahoma State University Foundation. Jewell will direct the business, financial and investment activities of the Foundation.
Previously, Jewell spent 22 years with The Oklahoma Publishing Company in Oklahoma City. He served as controller of The Oklahoman beginning in 1986, and was named general manager in 2001.
"We are excited to have Kirk and his extensive financial and managerial experience as a part of the Foundation management team," said Ron Area. "Kirk and his wife, Jan, love OSU, and when you add his experience to his passion, he becomes a wonderful fit for the Foundation."
Ross McKnight, Chairman of the Foundation, also praised the addition of Jewell to the management team. "Kirk will help us make this foundation even more successful as we continue to focus on raising and generating as much funding as possible to meet the needs of Oklahoma State University," McKnight said.
A former national president of the Oklahoma State University Alumni Association, Jewell attended both OSU and the University of Tulsa, receiving a degree in accounting in 1974. He and his wife Jan, are life members of the Alumni Association, have two grown sons, Ryan, who lives in Dallas, Texas, and Shane, of Tulsa. Both sons are OSU graduates.
Jewell currently serves as a director of Saxon Publishers, Inc., a textbook publisher headquartered in Norman. He is also on the boards of the Oklahoma City National Memorial Foundation, Greater Oklahoma City Chamber of Commerce, City Rescue Mission and the Advisory Board of Leadership Oklahoma City.
He has assisted a variety of other civic and philanthropic groups including the Arthritis Foundation, Festival of the Arts, SeptemberFest, Opening Night, Boy Scouts, Red Cross, Special Care and The Junior League. He is a past board member of the United Way of Oklahoma City and the Arts Council of Oklahoma City.
Jewell's appointment was effective September 1.
