Kenneth Wagner

Executive Director

Hamm Institute for American Energy - Oklahoma State University

Kenneth Wagner was recently appointed as the inaugural Executive Director of the Hamm Institute for American Energy at Oklahoma State University with headquarters in Oklahoma City.   The Institute was formed by transformative gifts totaling over $150 Million and the vision of Chairman Harold Hamm to create an institute to help solve humanities’ ever-growing demand for energy with affordable, clean, reliable, and responsibly sourced energy to sustain our country, and the world.    The Hamm Institute focuses on innovation, while educating and inspiring the next generations of energy leaders.

Wagner recently stepped down after serving four years as Oklahoma’s Secretary of Energy and Environment where he was appointed in 2019 by Oklahoma Governor J. Kevin Stitt. In this role, he was responsible for over 36 state agencies, boards, compacts, and commissions as well as advancing policies that encourage economic growth, sensible regulation that fosters responsible energy production, protects natural resources, and ensures clean air, land and water for all Oklahomans.

Previously, Mr. Wagner served as the Senior Advisor to the Administrator for Regional and State Affairs within USEPA’s Office of the Administrator in Washington DC.  He also served as Director of the Office of Regional Operations. In his duties at EPA, he served as the Administrator’s designee to all 10 regions before regional administrators were appointed, and he continued to coordinate all 10 U.S. EPA Regional Administrators and served as an advocate for the regions at headquarters with all the assistant administrators for each national program and the Administrator’s office.

Other duties included serving as the main point of contact in the Administrator’s Office with all 50 states’ top environmental regulators and tribal governments. He led the efforts to reform and redefine the federal-state relationship and its efforts around cooperative federalism. Mr. Wagner was helped lead numerous policy initiatives for the Administrator.

He was appointed and previously served at the Administrator’s Designee on the Gulf Coast Ecosystem Restoration Council, also known as the RESTORE Council. EPA and Acting Administrator Wheeler was appointed by President Trump as Chairman of the RESTORE Council which was responsible for implementing the RESTORE Act and administering nearly $8 Billion settlement funds that were paid by BP as a result of the Deep Water Horizon oil spill.

Mr. Wagner was also closely involved in the EPA’s Office of Research & Development’s initiative to better partner with states to solve every day environmental challenges and make their vast inventory of research more readily accessible for states, tribes and the public.

Before joining the US EPA, he was a founding member and managing partner of a successful mid-sized law firm in Tulsa, Oklahoma where he practiced and managed a diverse practice that included commercial, energy and environmental matters. In addition to running a successful law firm, he was involved in numerous successful business and commercial ventures, including being a minority partner in Oklahoma’s Triple-A baseball team based in Oklahoma City from 2003 to 2010.

He received his degrees from the University of Oklahoma and the University of Tulsa College of Law.