K-State engineering alumnus to be recognized with honorary doctorate
Monday, May 6, 2024
MANHATTAN — Kansas State University will award an honorary doctorate to Tim Taylor, K-State engineering alumnus and leader in the petroleum industry.
The Kansas Board of Regents approved K-State's request to honor Taylor with an honorary doctorate in March. He was nominated by the Carl R. Ice College of Engineering to honor his support for campus organizations and initiatives and for his contributions to K-State.
"Mr. Taylor's ongoing contributions and involvement with K-State has been a benefit to the College of Engineering, as well as to various departments and campus organizations," said Matt O'Keefe, dean of the Carl R. Ice College of Engineering.
Thanks to philanthropic support from Taylor and his wife, Sharon, K-State's chemical engineering department was renamed the Tim Taylor Department of Chemical Engineering.
He will be awarded this honorary doctorate during the spring 2024 Graduate School commencement ceremony at 1 p.m. Friday, May 10, at Bramlage Coliseum.
"We are looking forward to recognizing Mr. Taylor's high achievements and to awarding him the well-deserved honorary doctorate at the Graduate School commencement," said Claudia Petrescu, K-State's vice provost for graduate education and dean of the Graduate School."
Taylor grew up in El Dorado and graduated from Circle High School in 1971. While in high school and college, he worked in the local oil fields, pipelines and the refinery in southern Kansas where he grew up.
He graduated from K-State in 1975 with a degree in chemical engineering. From there, he moved to Longview, Texas, where he worked as a process engineer for Texas Eastman Company, a division of Eastman Kodak, which manufactures petrochemicals and plastics for natural gas. During his employment, Taylor's interest in economics and business grew, which led him to study business and accounting at Southern Methodist University and the University of Texas.
In 1980, Taylor passed the CPA exam with state and national honors. That same year, he joined Phillips Petroleum Company's plastic division in Houston, where he worked in strategic planning. He later joined the plastic marketing group and discovered how much he enjoyed marketing and working with customers.
Taylor's career moved forward through increasingly responsible positions at Phillips Petroleum until the chemical business Chevron combined with Phillips in 2000 to form Chevron Phillips. At Chevron Phillips, Taylor started as a senior vice president and then became chief operating officer. During his time there, the company nearly doubled in size and expanded operations around the world. In 2012, he joined Phillips 66, which became a publicly traded company as it separated from ConocoPhillips later that year. Taylor began as executive vice president and then became president of the company. He retired in 2017.
Throughout his career, Taylor has continuously supported and remained engaged with K-State. He served as the executive contact for K-State at Phillips Petroleum, Chevron Phillips and Phillips 66. The K-State campus has benefited greatly thanks to Taylor's efforts and advocacy on behalf of K-State with each of these companies, including funding for programs like first-generation mentoring, Scholars Assisting Scholars, the Multicultural Engineering Program, Women in Engineering and other engineering leadership programs.
Taylor has also given additional support to organizations such as the National Society of Black Engineers and departmental activities for the American Institute for Chemical Engineers.
Taylor has served on the College of Engineering's advisory council, including as president, and the KSU Foundation's board of trustees and board of directors. Today, Taylor serves on the KSU Foundation boards and is an advisor to Triten Energy Partners, a renewable energy company.
Taylor married his wife, Sharon, in 1976, and they live in Medina, Texas. Their son, Ryan, lives with his wife and four children in The Woodlands, Texas.
