Boards: Ergon Inc., U. S. Naval Academy Foundation.

Thomas C. (Tom) Knudson is an experienced corporate director and executive who currently serves as a director of Ergon Inc. He formerly served as chair of Bristow Group Inc., chair of Midstates Petroleum Inc., lead director of Natco Group Inc., and a director of Williams Partners Inc. and MDU Resources Inc. He retired from Conoco Phillips on Jan. 1, 2004. His diverse career included engineering, operations, business development, and commercial assignments across a broad spectrum of Conoco’s businesses. Among his more significant assignments were managing director and CEO of DuPont Scandinavia in Stockholm, Sweden, and vice president and general manager for Conoco’s midstream natural gas business. In June 1997, he became chair of Conoco Exploration Production Europe Ltd., based in London, and accountable for Conoco’s upstream businesses in Europe and the former Soviet Union. He returned to Houston in July 2000 to become senior vice president, human resources, information technology, public and governmental affairs, and communications. Prior to his retirement, he served as a member of the management and executive committees of both Conoco and ConocoPhillips.

Knudson received a bachelor’s degree in aerospace engineering from the US Naval Academy in 1967 and a master’s degree in aerospace engineering from the US Naval Postgraduate School in 1968. While at Annapolis, he captained the rowing team and was a member of the 1965 national champion varsity eight. Following graduation, he served as a naval aviator flying 170 missions in Southeast Asia and was selected two years early for lieutenant commander, his rank at the time of his discharge in 1974.

Knudson serves on the board of directors of the US Naval Academy Foundation and as a trustee of its Athletics and Scholarship Programs division. He cochairs the National Council of the Methodist Hospital Neurological Institute. He has held the designation of Board Leadership Fellow from the National Association of Corporate Directors (NACD) since 2012. He was the founding chair of the Business Council for Sustainable Development (BCSD) in the United States as well as the BCSD in the United Kingdom. He has served on the boards of a number of petroleum industry associations, Covenant House Texas, the Episcopal Seminary of the Southwest, the NACD Texas Tri-Cities Chapter, and the Houston Museum of Natural Science. He has served as an adjunct professor of management at the Jones School at Rice University.