USM College of Business and Economic Development Hosts Inspired Leaders Series

The College of Business and Economic Development at The University of Southern Mississippi will kick off its Spring 2019 Inspired Leaders Series on Wednesday, Feb. 27 with a presentation by alumnus Duane Lock, founder and president of River Oaks Energy Dallas, Texas.

The lecture will be held from 9:45 to 10:45 a.m. in the McDonnell Auditorium of Scianna Hall on the Hattiesburg campus.

The Inspired Leaders Series provides industry leaders the opportunity to present their insights in large and small group settings with students.

“The goal of this series so to invite executives to answer the question, ‘what inspires you?'. We are proud to welcome Duane Lock, an influential, successful alumnus of Southern Miss, to speak to our students this spring about what has inspired him throughout his life and career,” said Dr. Stacey A. Hall, acting dean of the College of Business and Economic Development. 

Lock earned his undergraduate degree from USM (1983) and his MBA from Rockhurst University in Kansas City, Mo. Following graduation, and prior to becoming an entrepreneur, he worked in corporate America for nearly 20 years starting with the Xerox Corporation from 1984-94, where he held a variety of management positions and was sales instructor in many locations across the country.

After Xerox, Lock held senior management positions for publicly traded energy companies concentrated in merger/acquisitions, energy policy-making, marketing and commodities-trading. He then used this extensive experience to become an entrepreneur and launch his own electricity brokering and consulting company in 2003.