University of Missouri

Bruce McKinney, BS BA ’74. Photo by Rob Hill.

Oct. 3, 2017
Story by Erik Potter

New Mizzou Alumni Association President Bruce McKinney, BS BA ’74, made several life-changing discoveries as a Mizzou student.

First, he discovered that his intended major wasn’t quite for him. “I was halfway decent in math and science,” McKinney says. “But I was always concerned that aptitude tests would say one of my weaknesses was spatial relations — and I was in civil engineering.”

Thankfully, McKinney discovered a love of business early on. Through his fraternity, both as recruitment chair and president, he practiced business skills such as sales, management and leadership. Before long, he changed his major to business administration.

On a personal level, McKinney, who is from a family of Tigers, met his future wife, Teresa Keith McKinney, BS Ed ’75.

Mizzou also proved to be a launch pad. It gave McKinney the skills to undertake a master’s of business administration at Northwestern University. At MU, he formed a management philosophy that served him throughout a 40-year career in corporate and nonprofit finance: It’s not just what you do but how you do it.

McKinney’s career took him first to Marathon Oil, in Houston; then to Kansas City at Marion Merrell Dow (now Sanofi-Aventis), Hallmark Cards Inc. and the Community Blood Center of Greater Kansas City, where he recently retired as vice president and chief financial officer.

As an alumnus, McKinney has served on the MAA Governing Board and the Intercollegiate Athletics Committee. And now, as MAA president, the Overland Park, Kansas, resident wants to help MAA chapters engage with a broader set of alumni through career networking and chapter-based community volunteerism. He’ll also listen to alumni concerns and advocate for them in a way that builds credibility with other alumni and MU’s administration.

“There’s a whole new university leadership team coming in; it’s a phenomenal opportunity for MAA,” McKinney says. “It’s our chance to shine.”

To read more MIZZOU magazine stories online, visit mizzou.com.