Many alumni can recall an initial connection with Oklahoma State University’s Spears School of Business, whether it was a campus visit or a class in the business building.

For Neil Hansen, class of 1997, it’s tough to pinpoint one moment.

Memories since pre-kindergarten tend to blur together.

Hansen was only 3 when his family moved to Stillwater, where his father, Dr. Don Hansen, taught OSU accounting courses. As the younger Hansen grew up, he joined his dad for walks around Theta Pond and lunch breaks in the Student Union.

“Most of our family friends were business school professors as well, and I was friends with their kids,” Neil Hansen said. “There were a lot of ties to the university and to the business school.”

Over the past three decades, Hansen’s meteoric rise in business has carried him thousands of miles from his childhood home. In various leadership roles with global energy company ExxonMobil, he lived and worked in Russia for three years, Thailand for three years and Belgium for two years.

Today, Hansen is based in Houston as senior vice president and chief financial officer of Exxon Mobil Corporation. Through every move and promotion to the C-suite, Hansen remembers where it all started.

“OSU has been a part of my life from such a young age,” Hansen said. “It’s always been there as a positive influence.”

Hansen will return to his alma mater as a 2026 Spears Business Hall of Fame inductee Oct. 9 in the ConocoPhillips OSU Alumni Center.

He achieved this recognition by continually challenging himself and willingly accepting opportunities outside his comfort zone. Hansen echoes advice from a past supervisor: “Doing difficult things gives you the confidence and capacity to do even more difficult things in the future.”

As an emerging professional, Hansen understood that philosophy. At OSU, his father had a reputation for tough classroom standards, instilling business fundamentals into students who nicknamed him “The Accounting God.”

Hansen never took his dad’s famous courses, but the now-retired professor influenced his son’s passion for business education.

After obtaining his OSU bachelor’s degree in marketing, Neil Hansen diversified his skills with a graduate degree in accounting from the University of St. Thomas and an MBA in finance from the Thunderbird School of Global Management.

Hansen used those credentials to build a broad career at ExxonMobil, his workplace since 2000. His roles have spanned financial reporting and analysis, treasury, risk management, investor relations, fuels marketing and various global leadership roles.

Before his elevation to senior vice president and CFO in February, Hansen served as president of Global Business Solutions, an organization of 5,000 employees with more than 70% of them working outside of the United States.

“You realize people are people, regardless of where they live, their background or their culture,” Hansen said. “But, to be an effective leader, you learn to adapt your leadership style to the environment and emphasize different leadership elements depending on the context, while remaining true to your core values.”

Hansen thanked his wife, Natalie, and their children, Emily and Joseph, for their love, personal sacrifices and willingness to support him throughout his career, including 10 relocations in 20 years.

Outside work, the family enjoys visiting destinations from Iceland to New Zealand, but Hansen’s roots remain firmly grounded in Stillwater.

He and his dad love talking about OSU sports, almost on a weekly basis. Hansen also stays in touch with Spears Business leaders, offering valuable feedback about ways the school can continue to meet society’s evolving business needs.

“The growth at the business school is great,” Hansen said. “The commitment I have to its success is deep. It’s important to ensure Oklahoma State provides students with a strong education in core business fundamentals because they will always need them, regardless of their chosen career path. That solid foundation widens your set of opportunities and provides you with the base from which to broaden and grow.”