NEWS
NORMAN, OKLA. – During its March meeting, the University of Oklahoma Board of Regents elected Eric Stevenson of Westerville, Ohio, as chair and Anita Holloway of Stuart, Oklahoma, as vice chair for the 2024-2025 term.
Each March, the Board of Regents, by majority vote, elects a chair, vice chair and executive secretary. Each officer serves in their respective role for one year and until the election of their successor. The election of officers is a matter entirely within the discretion of the Board; however, to promote efficiency and experience in leadership, it is typical that the member whose term is set to expire in three years be elected vice chair and the member whose term is set to expire in two years be elected chair.
Stevenson was appointed to the board by Gov. Kevin Stitt in 2019. He previously served as a member of the OU Price College of Business Advisory Council and on the boards of the National Association of Securities Professionals and the Salvation Army.
With almost two decades of financial services industry experience, Stevenson also serves as president of Nationwide Retirement Solutions, managing the team responsible for Nationwide’s retirement solutions business. Previously, he served as senior vice president of Nationwide Retirement Solutions Distribution, where he grew a national team of 500 associates responsible for growing assets and helping more than 2.5 million retirement plan participants prepare for and live in retirement.
Stevenson joined Nationwide in 2006 in life insurance marketing, and soon after, he joined retirement solutions marketing, assuming roles of increasing responsibility. In 2007, he was named vice president of Nationwide Retirement Solutions Marketing for the public and private sectors, where he repositioned the brand from a product focus to a customer service experience.
Stevenson has also previously served in leadership roles with Quaker Oats (now Pepsico) and Warner-Lambert (now Pfizer), where he managed sales and marketing for consumer-packaged goods and over-the-counter products. In 2022, he was included on the list of “Most Influntial Black Executives in Corporate America” by Savoy.
A native of Wagoner, Oklahoma, Stevenson earned his Bachelor of Business Administration in Finance degree from OU and his Master of Business Administration degree from Northwestern University Kellogg Graduate School of Management.
Holloway was appointed to the board by Gov. Kevin Stitt in 2020. She is a tribal member of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation based in Shawnee, Oklahoma.
She is an experienced audit partner with Ernst & Young LLP, a global leader in assurance, tax, transaction and advisory services, operating in more than 150 countries. She is responsible for helping clients meet reporting requirements by providing an objective and independent examination of financial statements provided to investors and other stakeholders.
In addition to her role on the Board of Regents, Holloway serves on the board of advisors for the Michael F. Price College of Business, where she is a frequent speaker and guest lecturer, and the Price College Energy Institute at OU. She also serves on the board and as former treasurer of the Tulsa Regional Chamber of Commerce. She previously served on the board and audit/finance committee for the Tulsa Area United Way.
For more than 15 years, she has contributed annually to accounting and law academic scholarship endowments she established at the OU Foundation.
Holloway was inducted into the OU Arthur B. Adams Society in 2015. She was recognized in 2019 as an Oklahoma Woman of the Year – 50 Making a Difference honoree and is a graduate of Leadership Tulsa Class 48.
About the University of Oklahoma
Founded in 1890, the University of Oklahoma is a public research university located in Norman, Oklahoma. As the state’s flagship university, OU serves the educational, cultural, economic and health care needs of the state, region and nation. OU was named the state’s highest-ranking university in U.S. News & World Report’s most recent Best Colleges list. For more information about the university, visit ou.edu.
With funding from NASA, Steven Cavallo is leading a global study of how small disturbances in the polar tropopause, a region roughly 30,000 feet above Earth’s surface, eventually grow into massive winter storms impacting millions.
A newly funded research project led by David Schvartzman will use trailblazing technology to transform understanding of lightning and electrification, helping to improve storm warnings and better assess the risk of structural damage and power outages from thunderstorms.
This spring, the University of Oklahoma will launch a comprehensive Campus Master Planning effort for the Norman campus to guide the development of its physical environment over the next decade and beyond, ensuring it aligns with the University’s increasing impact across its mission areas of teaching and research and its ongoing commitment to the student experience.
