Stephen Willis Herod

Class of 1977

Steve Herod was born in Tulsa and moved to Perry in 5th grade when his father joined Ditch Witch. He attended Perry Public Schools and graduated in 1977. While in high school, he earned 10 letters playing football, basketball and baseball. Many of his fondest memories are from playing sports, particularly being on the field with his younger brother Jim. He was an honor student and active in the Fellowship of Christian Athletes.

Steve graduated in 1981 from Oklahoma State University with a B.S. in Finance and Management. He then moved to Houston where he launched his career in the oil and gas business, and met his wife, Lorie. Together they have raised two daughters who both attend SMU; Meredith is a junior and Morgan is a freshman. Both girls played sports growing up and Steve loved coaching their teams.

He has enjoyed a successful career, with over 40 years of experience in executive roles with various independent oil and gas companies. He was a co-founder and a member of senior management of Petrohawk Energy, which grew from a start-up in 2003 to one of the 10 largest independents in the U.S. at the time of its sale in 2011.

Steve believes strongly in giving back and is still involved with Oklahoma State by serving on the OSU Foundation Board of Governors and on the Dean’s Council for the Spears Business School. He served for many years on the St. Francis Episcopal School board and currently serves on the board of Episcopal High School. In addition, he is active in various oil and gas industry organizations.

He enjoys playing tennis, walking his dogs, traveling and being with his family. He also likes going back to Stillwater for an Oklahoma State football game. Most of all, he enjoys supporting and being there for those he loves.

Steve attributes his success to the core values he developed growing up in Perry – family, faith and the Midwestern work ethic. He is very proud of where he is from and will always consider Perry to be his hometown.