Colleague Alumni Magazine | Graduate School of Education and Psychology | Pepperdine University

Oklahoma Christian Names Mellor as Vice President of Community Engagement

Oklahoma Christian University (OCU) announced that GSEP alumnus Dr. Nathan Mellor (MDR ’05, EdD ’08) has been named vice president for community engagement and chief of staff.

Mellor, who is currently executive director of the Academy for Leadership and Liberty on the OC campus, will continue in that role, but will take on additional responsibilities for building meaningful relationships with community and church leaders throughout the world. Other responsibilities include developing and implementing OC’s communications and image strategies, representing the president’s office in developing effective church relations and assisting in developing and communicating strategic vision and plans.

Mellor joined Oklahoma Christian in 2006 and has served as an assistant professor of leadership in the university’s School of Business Administration. As executive director of the academy, he oversees several major programs, including Oklahoma Leadership Academy, Business Week OC, Peace Through Business Rwanda, the Southwest Youth Leadership Conference, the Hatton W. Sumners Distinguished Speaker Series, and the newly launched, $10 million Heart of America Campaign to revitalize Enterprise Square and expand OC’s 50-year commitment to free enterprise, liberty, and leadership education.

Prior to joining OC, Mellor was assistant director for strategic planning at the Pepperdine School of Law’s highly ranked Straus Institute for Dispute Resolution from 2004 to 2006. Before moving to Pepperdine, he was the pulpit minister of the Hixson Church of Christ in Chattanooga, Tennessee, which almost doubled in attendance during his five years there. From 1995 to 1999, he served as graduate assistant to the president and then as assistant director and co-founder of the Institute for Church and Family at Harding University.  He holds a BA and MSE from Harding University, as well as an MDR from the Pepperdine School of Law. He recently completed the EdD in Organizational Leadership from GSEP.