Kimray CEO Thomas Hill to Deliver Spring Commencement Address May 21

May 5, 2022

Thomas Hill, chief executive officer of Kimray, will deliver the commencement address during OBU’s Spring Commencement May 21. The ceremony will take place at 2 p.m. inside Raley Chapel’s Potter Auditorium.

Hill serves as CEO of Kimray, a leading manufacturer of valves and controls for oil and gas production. Kimray began in 1948 and employs several hundred people at its production facility in Oklahoma City and service centers throughout the United States.

As the grandson of Kimray’s founder, Hill grew up in a high-performing family, which shaped his belief that people are worth what they can accomplish. This sent him on a long and unfulfilling journey of pursuing success by constantly doing bigger and better things at Kimray and in the community. His life eventually spun out of control and he hit rock bottom. Through significant pain and loss, he began the long and difficult road of recovery that transformed his life and leadership.

Today, Hill enjoys mentoring emerging leaders and sharing his story with others who can benefit from the lessons he has learned. In 2018, he published a book titled “Recovering Leadership: Musings of an Addict Leader.” In 2020, he launched The Kimmell Foundation for Recovering Leadership to inspire transformational change in leaders and in the organizations they serve. In addition to his work at Kimray and the foundation, he currently serves on the board of Salt and Light Leadership Training and is vice chair for Hope Is Alive ministry. He and his wife, Rebecca, both earned their degrees from Oklahoma State University. They have been married 35 years and have six children.