Dean McGee was born in 1904 in Humboldt, Kansas. His mother was determined that the youngest of her four children would attend college, so she sold their house in Humboldt and moved the family to Lawrence. Fulfilling his mother's dream, McGee graduated with a degree in mining engineering from the University of Kansas.
In 1937, he formed the Kerr-McGee Corporation with Robert S. Kerr of the Kerlyn Oil Company. Over the next 40-plus years, Mr. McGee pioneered many phases of the oil industry, building the company into one of the premiere energy and chemical companies in the world. He also met his later wife Dorothea, who up until their marriage in 1938 worked as a geologist at Phillips Petroleum.
Mr. McGee and his wife Dorothea were involved in a wide range of business and civic endeavors. In 1963, they founded the McGee Foundation to support their charitable interests. Mr. McGee also served as of the original nine Trustees of the Oklahoma City Community Foundation from 1969-1978.
The family founded the McGee Foundation Scholarship at the Oklahoma City Community Foundation to support scholarship opportunities for first-generation students and foster children.