Spring 2018 Commencement Keynote Speaker: Ross McKnight

Ross McKnight is a banker, rancher, oilman, and philanthropist who lives in Throckmorton, Texas, where he was born and raised. McKnight received his Bachelor of Science degree from Oklahoma State University in 1971. In 1996 McKnight received the OSU Alumni Association Distinguished Alumni Award, and in 1998 was selected the Graduate of Distinction by the OSU Department of Animal Science and subsequently the College of Agriculture. He was inducted into the OSU Alumni Hall of Fame in 2006. McKnight served as Chairman of the Oklahoma State University Foundation from 2001 thru 2003 and has been selected as the OSU Foundation’s first Honorary Trustee. McKnight has chaired or co-chaired two of the three major philanthropic campaigns at OSU, the Stadium Campaign where $360 million was raised to rebuild what is now known as Boone Pickens Stadium, and in 2010 he co-chaired with his wife, Billie, the $1 billion “Branding Success” campaign for Oklahoma State University which raised in excess of $1.2 billion. He and Billie established and endowed the $10 million McKnight Scholarship program for rural youth attending OSU. In 2015 the McKnights gave $25 million to endow performances at the new McKnight Center for the Performing Arts at OSU. In 2016, Ross and Billie received the Henry G. Bennett Distinguished Service Award from Oklahoma State University, the highest award given by OSU and the first given in 14 years. McKnight has grown his ranching and agriculture enterprise from an inherited 500-hundred acres to its current 57,000 acres plus ownership of two cattle feed yards in the Texas Panhandle. McKnight is CEO of RoMac Gas Company, a natural gas gathering system, and RoMac Oil Company, an oil and gas exploration and production company. McKnight is Chairman of the Board and majority shareholder of a closely held bank holding company, Olney BancShares of Texas, which owns InterBank, a $3.5 billion bank serving forty-three communities in Texas and Oklahoma. McKnight was instrumental in the writing and passage of federal legislation that permits banks to be Sub Chapter S corporations, allowing community banks the same favorable tax treatment other small businesses have long held. McKnight served on the Scott & White Health Care Board of Trustees from 2002-2013 when it was merged with Baylor Health Care. He served as Chairman of the Scott & White Investment Committee and Vice Chairman of the Scott & White Finance Committee. He served for ten years as Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Scott & White Foundation. He was selected to serve on that combined organization’s (Baylor Scott & White Healthcare) Board of Trustees. He currently serves as Chairman-Elect of the Baylor Scott & White Health Care Holdings Board of Trustees. He is Chairman of the Financial Committee of Baylor Scott & White Health Care. He also serves as Chairman of its Investments Committee. He serves as a director on the board of the New York Philharmonic as, and is Chairman of the Board of Trustees of The McKnight Center for The Performing Arts at Oklahoma State University and on its Investment Committee. Ross has been married for 43 years to the former Billie Gaskins of Davis, Oklahoma. He and Billie have two children: Trent, a 2003 graduate of OSU and a 2004 graduate of the London School of Economics; and Meggan, a 2005 graduate of OSU and a 2011 graduate of DePaul University.