Jerome Loughridge was named Senior Vice President of Operations for Oklahoma State University in September of 2021.A native of Duncan, Oklahoma, Loughridge earned a Bachelor of Arts summa cum laude from Baylor University. A recipient of the Harry S. Truman Scholarship for graduate study, he earned his Master of Public Policy from Harvard University as the school’s first Fellow in Business and Government. Following a tenure as an energy derivatives trader with Williams Energy, Loughridge returned to Baylor University as Chief of Staff.Loughridge was appointed to serve in the 2003-2004 class of White House Fellows and was assigned as special assistant to Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, working on Iraqi reconstruction and splitting time between the West Wing, the Pentagon, and in Baghdad.Loughridge has spent most of his professional career in leadership positions in the Oklahoma energy sector in both private equity-backed and publicly-traded companies. He previously served as Oklahoma Secretary of Health and Mental Health, a position to which he was nominated by Governor Kevin Stitt and unanimously confirmed by the Oklahoma Senate in March 2019. As Secretary, he was responsible for 54 agencies, boards, and commissions, including the Oklahoma Health Care Authority, Department of Health, and Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services. Loughridge was a key leader in the State’s policy and operational response to the Covid-19 pandemic.Loughridge serves in a number of community leadership roles, including his final year as an elected member of the Oakdale public school board.