Raymond E. Jones ’86 – Clemson Alumni Association

ExxonMobil Vice President to Receive Clemson Alumni Association’s Distinguished Service Award

ExxonMobil executive Raymond E. Jones of The Woodlands, Texas, will receive the Clemson Alumni Association’s highest honor, the Distinguished Service Award.

Jones, vice president of surface engineering for ExxonMobil’s Upstream business grew up in Spartanburg. He graduated from Clemson University in 1986 with a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering and earned a Master of Business Administration degree from the University of Houston in 1994.

He has held numerous leadership roles within ExxonMobil around the world, including as Asia Pacific regional vice president for the ExxonMobil Production Company and as executive director of projects for ExxonMobil affiliates in Nigeria. In his current post he is responsible for the development and deployment of engineers to support ExxonMobil’s global business.

Jones focuses much of his time and effort on improving opportunities for underrepresented employees in the oil and gas industry. He serves on several inclusion and equity councils within ExxonMobil and is a member of the Executive Leadership Council, a network that opens channels of opportunity for the development of black executives to positively impact business and communities.

In 2020, he received the Society of Women Engineers’ Rodney D. Chipp Memorial Award, which recognizes an individual or company instrumental in the advancement of women in engineering fields.

For Clemson, Jones serves on the Clemson University Foundation’s board of directors and chairs its finance committee. He also is the ExxonMobil Executive Clemson Contact and chairs the Clemson Alumni Group for his Texas campus.

As a member of the Dean’s Advisory Board for Clemson’s College of Engineering, Computing and Applied Sciences (CECAS), he works to enhance programs to educate, recruit and retain women and other underrepresented populations in STEM fields through mentoring, academic coaching, counseling and academic enrichment. In 2011, he and his wife, Carla, established the Raymond Jones Family Scholarship Endowment to provide financial assistance to underrepresented students in CECAS.

In Houston, the Joneses are engaged in multiple community service activities, ranging from the United Way and National Charity League to the Texas Children’s Hospital. They have three children: daughters, Kara, a junior at Texas Christian University, and Chloe, a high school senior, and a son, Zach, a freshman at Sam Houston State University.

The Clemson Alumni Distinguished Service Award is based on three main criteria: personal and professional accomplishments; dedication and service to Clemson University; and devotion to community and public service. Members of the Clemson family nominate potential honorees, who are then selected by the Clemson Alumni Association as outstanding alumni, public servants and examples to others. The 2021 award presentation will occur during the fall.

The Clemson Alumni Association is an open-membership, nonprofit organization that exists to connect alumni with their alma mater. Through a variety of programs and services, the Alumni Association works with alumni around the world to ensure they have a Clemson Experience every day.