Thomas L. Kivisto

Tom Kivisto co-founded SemGroup, L.P. in April 2000 and served as the company’s president and chief executive officer until July 18, 2008. Under his leadership, SemGroup completed more than 40 acquisitions and its total assets grew from $227.4 million in 2000 to more than $3.6 billion at year-end 2005. Kivisto was replaced by Terry Ronan on July 18, 2008, after news surfaced that SemGroup, L.P. was experiencing liquidity issues and considering filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. [cite web | url=http://www.tulsaworld.com/news/article.aspx?articleID=20080718_11_Thep051117 | title=New president, CEO to take over SemGroup amid debt problems | publisher=Tulsa World | date=July 18, 2008 | accessdate=2008-07-18] [cite web | url=http://online.wsj.com/article/SB121694304791582857.html | title=Wrong-Way Oil Bets Slam an Energy Firm | date=July 25, 2008 | accessdate=2008-07-25]

Education

Kivisto earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of Kansas, majoring in pre-med/psychology. He was a member of the University of Kansas basketball team from 1970 to 1974. While there, Kivisto was a member of KU’s 1971 and 1974 NCAA Final Four teams. He was named Academic All American, All Big 8 and Academic All Big 8. He holds the single game assist record for the Kansas team. Kivisto played high school basketball in the Chicago area where he was born. He is a member of the Illinois Basketball Hall of Fame. His post-graduate work was in urban planning.

Community involvement

Kivisto moved his family to Tulsa, Oklahoma in 1993 after having lived in Wichita, Kansas for 15 years working for Koch Industries. He started his own services company, SemGroup, which has become one of the largest privately held companies in the United States.

Kivisto donated over $15 million to his alma mater, the University of Kansas, to help finance the building of new football facilities at the school. [cite web | url=http://www.tulsapeople-digital.com/tulsapeople/200701/ | title=Self talks with Cowboys, but says he'll stay at KU | publisher=Wichita Eagle | date=April 11, 2008 | accessdate=2007-04-11]

Kivisto serves on the board of directors of Saint Francis Health System, Family & Children’s Services, and Project Single Parent, a nonprofit organization of which he is a cofounder. In 2006, Kivisto also was named to the University of Tulsa Board of Trustees.

In 2006, The Pipe Liners Club of Tulsa recognized Kivisto with its President’s Award.

In January 2007, TulsaPeople Magazine named Kivisto "Tulsan of the Year" for 2006. [cite web | url=http://www.tulsapeople-digital.com/tulsapeople/200701/ | title=The ABCs of Tom Kivisto | publisher=TulsaPeople | date=January 2007 | accessdate=2007-01-05]

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