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James Gallogly's Biography

Biography of OU President James L. “Jim” Gallogly

Jim Gallogly was named the 14th president of the University of Oklahoma on March 26, 2018 and will take office on July 1, 2018. A 1977 alumnus of the OU College of Law, Gallogly is the first ever CEO from a Fortune 500 company to lead the University.

He has a distinguished track record in running large, complex organizations, and is known as someone who invests in mentoring, inspiring and teaching teams to achieve exceptional results. His mantra is, “We will pursue excellence in everything we do,” and this is the same approach he brings to the University of Oklahoma.

Jim was former Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of LyondellBasell, a company he joined while it was in Chapter 11 bankruptcy. He and his team guided the company out of bankruptcy in record time and successfully repositioned it as one of the world's largest petrochemical, polymers and refining companies. He also served for 29 years in executive roles with ConocoPhillips, Chevron Phillips Chemical Company and Phillips Petroleum Company, beginning his career in the energy business in Northeast Oklahoma with Phillips in 1980. Prior to that, Gallogly practiced law with a private firm in Denver, Colo.

He was a director on the board of DuPont, which merged with Dow Chemical in 2017, and served as a director of Continental Resources, Oklahoma City, Okla.

He received a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs, Colo., in 1974 and a J.D. degree from the OU College of Law in 1977. Gallogly also completed the Advanced Executive Program at the J.L. Kellogg Graduate School of Management at Northwestern University, Evanston, Ill., in 1998.

Additionally, he received honorary degrees from OU and the University of Colorado (CU) in 2012. In 2016, he was honored with the Order of the Owl Award recognizing OU Law graduates who demonstrate leadership and service through outstanding accomplishments in their legal careers. Gallogly is also a member of the Oklahoma, Texas and Colorado bar associations.

Jim is extremely passionate about OU, STEM education, as well as achieving excellence in the liberal arts. The Gallogly Family Foundation has been a major benefactor for which the OU Gallogly College of Engineering and Gallogly Hall are named. The Foundation chose the OU College of Law as the pilot school for its selective Public Interest Fellowship Program, which supports graduates pursuing public interest work.

Gallogly is also a member of the OU Gallogly College of Engineering Board of Visitors and the University Cancer Foundation Board of Visitors at the University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas.

Gallogly was born in St. John's, Newfoundland, Canada, on September 1, 1952. He is one of 10 children of Tom and Margery Gallogly. He and his wife, Janet, have been married 43 years and have three daughters – Kelly Gray, Kasey DeLuke and Kim Gallogly; as well as four grandchildren – Ella and Vivian Gray and Tony and Benny DeLuke.