Warrior Magazine December 2019

Retired ExxonMobile executive honored as Alumnus of the Year

Newton County native and East Cen tral Community College alumnus Randy Cleveland of Fort Worth, Texas, retired Vice President Americas of ExxonMobil Corpora tion, was honored as the college’s Alumnus of the Year during Homecoming activities held Oct. 17, on campus. Cleveland recently retired from Exxon Mobil after a 35-year career in the oil and gas industry. When notified of his honor, Cleveland said, “I’m extremely honored as I know there are many deserving alumni of this recognition. To come in the year that I retired from a 35-year professional career is very satisfying. It makes me reflect on all the things that positioned me for a suc

Scottish friends for life. To follow that by living in London was special. For a “country boy” who grew up in Mississippi to be able to see Buckingham Palace and Big Ben on the way to work every day is some thing I’ll never forget.” Also, among the high lights of his career was leading the acquisition of XTO Energy into ExxonMobil.

cessful career and this recognition is icing on the cake.” Cleveland is a 1981 graduate of East Central Junior College and continued his education at Mississippi State University. “I’ve always been a big believer in local community col leges,” Cleveland said. “For me personally, I grew up in New ton County and went to Decatur High School. I had scholar ships to go to larger universities, but East Central was an excellent opportunity to move across the street, stay close to home and get a quality education. I knew I wanted to be an engineer and ECCC had an excellent reputation for a pre engineering math and science curriculum that positioned me very well for when I transferred to Mississippi State. The smaller classes allowed me to get to know my profes sors and build quality personal relationships with students and faculty. I think ECCC laid the groundwork for building some key leadership and relationship skills that served me well over the course of my career.” After completing his degree in Petroleum Engineering at Mississippi State, Cleveland joined Exxon Company, U.S.A. Over the years, he held numerous managerial positions with ExxonMobil and served the company at various locations throughout the United States and internationally. He was operations manager in Aberdeen, Scotland, and joint interest manager in London, England, before returning to Houston, Texas, to manage ExxonMobil’s U.S. business. After a merger with XTO Energy into ExxonMobil in 2010, Cleveland, who directed the merger, became president of XTO. In 2016, he was named Vice President Americas for ExxonMobil Production Company, where he served until his retirement. Cleveland said he enjoyed every position he held during his long career with ExxonMobil and was especially grateful for the opportunities his international travels afforded him. He said, “Our first move outside the U.S. was to live in Scotland, a place my wife and I had dreamed of but never visited. It was indeed a dream, a beautiful country with a rich and long history, and an opportunity to make great

“To integrate a highly successful U.S. oil and gas inde pendent company into a large international corporation was a once in a career opportunity,” Cleveland said. “Being President of XTO post-merger was clearly a highlight. I was very blessed to get that opportunity.” Cleveland considers himself a “people-person” and cred its his upbringing and education in Mississippi with prepar ing him for leadership and management roles. “My reputation over the course of my career has always been one of passionate leadership and caring deeply about people. I’ve always been considered a people-person and in any large corporation that’s not always the culture. I think my upbringing at home and my education at Decatur, ECCC and Mississippi State helped define my style and approach. “I have a strong passion for treating everyone with re spect, listening to them in good times and bad times, but most importantly, motivating and inspiring them to achieve their best and reach their potential. Work hard but always look for opportunities to have fun and give people the room to grow their wings and develop their own skills. “Often times over my career I observed leaders micro managing others, something I tried to avoid. I tried to pro vide guidance and help others any way I could but afford them the opportunity to manage their own business. I held

– CLEVELAND continued on page 17

12