During Bob Agee’s four years at Union between 1956 and 1960 he earned eight athletic letters in cross country, track, and tennis. Of those years, Union’s cross country teams won four conference championships and in 1958 and 1959 went undefeated, won the southern regional championship and competed in the national championship meets in Omaha in 1958 and in Chicago in 1959. The 1956 cross country team, Union’s first, set the standard of excellence for future teams to strive and accomplish. That first team defeated Memphis State University (now the University of Memphis) and Vanderbilt University in dual meets competition, a feat which was repeated often enough that the large schools stopped scheduling Union.
Though competing in both fall and spring athletics, Bob took his academics seriously. During his four years he served as Editor of The Cardinal and Cream, Assistant Editor of Lest We Forget, the University yearbook, President of the Rutledge History Club, member of the Nestor Club (Union’s scholastic society of top twelve male students), won the Strickland Oratorical Medal, and was listed in Who’s Who in American Colleges and Universities. During this time, he also served as pastor for rural churches in Gibson County. Bob and Nelle married between his sophomore and junior year.
Following his Union graduation, Bob earned the Master of Divinity and Doctor of Ministry degrees from Southern Baptist Theological Seminary followed by the Ph.D. from Vanderbilt’s George Peabody College for Teachers. Dr. Agee served on the Union Board of Trustees. In 1975, he joined the faculty and staff as Dean of Religious Affairs.
In 1982, Dr. Agee became President of Oklahoma Baptist University in Shawnee. Over his sixteen years of service as President, the University grew in enrollment, built eleven new facilities and achieved national recognition for the high quality of education offered. In 1999, Dr. Agee was inducted into the Oklahoma Higher Education Hall of Fame.
After sixteen years as President of OBU, he retired in 1998 and became Executive Director of the Association of Southern Baptist Colleges and Schools. He was co-founder and served as Executive Director for the Consortium for Global Education (CGE).
Dr. Agee has been married to the former Nelle Hulme for 52 years who is a Union University alumna. They have two daughters, Denise Allen, ’81, and Robyn Hari, ’86. The Agee’s have four granddaughters, one of whom is currently a fourth generation family member to attend Union.
