DURANT, Okla. – Retired business executive Frank M. Semple will be guest speaker at the 15th John Massey Family Lectureship, scheduled for April 4 at Southeastern Oklahoma State University.
The lecture is free and open to the public and will begin at 11:00 a.m. in the Hallie McKinney Ballroom on the Southeastern campus.
Semple is retired Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer of MarkWest Energy Partners, L.P. He is a member of the boards of directors of Marathon Petroleum Corporation and MPLX GP LLC.
Semple joined MPLX in 2015, at the time of the MPLX and MarkWest combination and retired in 2016. He began with MarkWest in 2003 as president and chief executive officer and was elected chairman of the board in 2008. Prior to joining MarkWest, Semple completed a 22-year career with The Williams Companies and WilTel Communications.
He served as the chief operating officer of WilTel Communications, senior vice president/general manager of Williams Natural Gas Company, vice president, operations and engineering for Northwest Pipeline Company, and division manager for Williams Pipeline Company.
Prior to his time at The Williams Companies, Semple served in the U.S. Navy aboard the USS Gurnard (SSN662), a fast attack nuclear submarine.
He earned a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from the United States Naval Academy (appointed by Carl Albert) and completed the Program for ManagementDevelopment at Harvard Business School.
A native of Stillwater, Oklahoma, Semple and his parents (longtime veterinarian Dr. Bill Semple and wife Jane) moved to Durant when he was an infant. Semple was a standout athlete at Durant High School, participating in football, basketball, baseball, and tennis.
The 1970 DHS graduate was also a member of the National Honor Society and an Eagle Scout. He has a brother, Billy, and three sisters, Jane Umsted, Susan Owens, and Sarah Brown.
Frank, a member of The Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma, and his wife, Dr. Robin Semple, have two daughters, Erin and Katie.
The Lectureship was established in 1994 by a gift from the John Massey family and was matched by the Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education Endowment Fund Program.
Previous speakers at the lecture include H.E. “Gene’’ Rainbolt, George Kaiser, Edward Keller, Ambassador James R. Jones, Rep. Tom Cole, Archie Dunham, Keith Bailey, Michael Cawley, Regent Joseph Cappy, Sen. Ted Fisher, J. Clifford Hudson, Mark Stansberry, Ed Martin, and Dr. Keith Ballard.
A tireless advocate for higher education, John Massey serves as Chairman of the Oklahoma State Regents forHigher Education. He is in his third nine-year term as a regent, a positionappointed by the governor.
Massey is chairman of the board of First United Bank, headquartered in Durant, Oklahoma.
He earned a Bachelor of Science degree from Southeastern Oklahoma State University in 1960.
In 1984, Massey received the Distinguished Alumnus Award from Southeastern; in 2005, the School of Business was renamed as the John Massey School of Business.
He received the first-ever Lifetime Achievement Award from the Southeastern Alumni Association in 2015.
At his alma mater, Massey has established nine endowed chairs and four professorships.
Massey was inducted into the Oklahoma Hall of Fame in 2002 and the Oklahoma Higher Education Hall of Fame in 2004. In 2009, he was inducted into the Oklahoma City Community College Hall of Fame, and he received the prestigious Leadership Oklahoma Lifetime Achievement Award in 2010.
Massey was presented the Outstanding Alumni Award by Sigma Tau Gamma Fraternity in 2001 and was also the recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award by the Durant Kiwanis Club in 2010.