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ALumni neWs

2017 Commencement Speaker 2017 Distinguished
Tyrik “Ty” McKeiver ‘01 Alumnus

James Christmas ‘66

2017 Distinguished Alumnus, James
Christmas ’66, started his career with
Arthur Andersen & Co. in NY where
he worked as a CPA until March
1978, rising to senior manager before he left in 1978 to join NUI
Corporation, a diversifi ed utility, where he held various senior
management positions including Vice President and Controller, and
Vice President of Planning & Development. In addition, he also
served as Senior Vice President of several subsidiary companies.

In June 1988, he founded and became President and Chief Executive
Offi cer of KCS Energy and in April 2003, was named to the
“Aquinas teaches us to embrace diversity – diversity of thoughts, additional role of Chairman of the Board. Under his stewardship,
diversity of religion and faiths, diversity of cultures, diversity KCS grew from a small $10 million startup to a nearly $2 billion
of languages,” said Commencement Speaker Tyrik “Ty” NYSE company. In the fall of 2006, KCS merged with Petrohawk
McKeiver ’01 as he addressed the graduating Class of 2017. Energy, where Jim served as Vice-Chairman until its sale to BHP
“So I approached life with curiosity, not assumptions and was Billiton in 2011 for $15 billion.
determined to fi nd through my studies and exchanges with my
fellow classmates what role I wanted to play in my community Jim is retired and currently serves as Lead Outside Director of
both at the local level and on the global stage.” Halcon Resources and serves on the Board of Directors of Rice
Energy, and Yuma Energy, serving as Chairman of the Audit
And fi nd it he did. Ty has dedicated over 10 years of his career Committee for each of these three companies. He also serves on the
to public policy development, oversight, and implementation in Board of Governors of St. John’s University and the Advisory Board
foreign policy and national security and has previously worked of Th e Liberty Hall Museum.
in Congress on Capitol Hill for U.S. Senator Bill Nelson, at the
U.S. Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Department of Jim credits Aquinas for building a strong faith-based foundation
Commerce, and in the private sector as a strategic management that helped him form a belief system of helping others and generally
consultant. giving back. Th roughout his adult life, Jim has been active in
his local parishes coaching youth basketball and serving on two
Ty was appointed by President Barack Obama to serve as Senior Catholic school boards and his parish fi nancial committees.
Advisor to the Deputy Secretary of State for Management Together with his wife of 49 years, Eileen, Jim endowed Th e
and Resources at the U.S. Department of State. Th ere, Ty was James and Eileen Christmas Family Foundation Business Plan
responsible for overseeing a wide range of strategic management Competition to foster entrepreneurship at his alma mater, St.
and budgetary priorities on foreign assistance and diplomatic John’s University, from which he received an honorary Doctor of
missions around the world. He also served as Special Assistant Commercial Sciences degree in 2010 and recently received the Peter
and Senior Advisor for Outreach and Intergovernmental Aff airs J. Tobin College of Business Distinguished Alumnus Award.
to the Assistant Secretary of the Bureau of International Narcotics
and Law Enforcement Aff airs. Jim and Eileen are also very active in the Aquinas Institute Alumni
Association. Th ey recently created the James `66 and Eileen
Ty is currently the Chief of Staff for International Aff airs in Christmas Endowed Fund for Th eology Education at AQ, to
the New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio’s Offi ce. Simply put, Ty support faculty programs and salaries. Th e two recognize that the
advised the 2017 graduates embarking on the next chapter of opportunity to hear and refl ect on the Gospel message is important
their lives to stay apprised of what’s going on in the world, in shaping the lives of young people, and the critical role the
stay humble and stay connected. Th eology Department plays in that.

Jim and Eileen have three children and fi ve grandchildren. Th ey
currently live on Long Island.
20 AQUINAS LANDMARK | SPRING 2018