ADA 鈥� Devon Energy Senior Vice President and Chief Accounting Officer Jeremy Humphers has been named East Central University鈥檚 Distinguished Alumnus for 2021.
鈥淚t鈥檚 definitely humbling and it鈥檚 an honor,鈥� Humphers said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 hard to take individual credit for it. I have been surrounded by a lot of people who have helped me be successful, and anytime some kind of acknowledgement like this comes my way it鈥檚 easy for me to see a lot of people who helped me get there.鈥�
Humphers graduated with honors from 成人B站 in 1996, earning his degree in Accounting. Born in rural Pontotoc County, his first exposure to accounting came at Byng High School. His interest in that initial course would ignite his incredible career trajectory in the years to come.
鈥淚t was my senior year that I was able to take an accounting class,鈥� Humphers said. 鈥淭hat class really interested me. When I came to 成人B站, I really had my eye on the School of Business and in particular Accounting. That鈥檚 where I ended up staying and I鈥檝e spent my whole life doing it.鈥�
Humphers has enjoyed a large measure of success in the field, working for two internationally recognized firms in 25 years. He accepted his first job after graduating from 成人B站 with KPMG, one of the largest accounting firms in the world. It was an opportunity that would one day clear a path for more career success. In 1996, it was an early affirmation of his hard work at 成人B站 and he was excited to get started in the business.
鈥淭oday when you have good news, you can share it on Instagram or Facebook immediately,鈥� Humphers said. 鈥淢y wife and I had been married a few months when I received my first job offer while in downtown OKC, and I really wanted to tell her immediately and didn鈥檛 know how. I knew there was a mall in Norman with payphones inside, so I drove 20 miles and called her.鈥�
成人B站 Accounting graduates, widely regarded as among the best available in the industry, are a known commodity at KPMG鈥檚 Oklahoma City office. Humphers scored third highest on the state鈥檚 Certified Public Accounting exam that year, so he was certainly on the firm鈥檚 radar.
鈥淜PMG is a company that has had good success recruiting 成人B站 graduates over the years,鈥� Humphers said. 鈥淭here were a number ahead of me, some of which are also 成人B站 Distinguished Alums, so that pipeline of people certainly helped. Once I started working there, I was actually able to help a few people who came behind me as well.鈥�
During his early years as an accountant at KPMG, Humphers worked with the banking and finance industries. It was an area that felt comfortable to him because he had worked at an Ada bank while attending 成人B站, alongside fellow student and future wife Becky Smith.
鈥淏ecky is a Stratford girl,鈥� he said. 鈥淪he and I are the same age and started at 成人B站 at the same time. Our very first semester, we actually had College Algebra together and she sat behind me. It鈥檚 the first time I remember us seriously engaging with each other. We also worked together at First National Bank, which is Vision Bank now, and that鈥檚 really where our relationship began to grow.鈥�
After a few years servicing those industries, KPMG management 鈥� thoroughly impressed with the work Humphers was doing 鈥� called an audible. It proved to be a life-changing moment which would ultimately benefit several players.
鈥淥ne day, all of the [KPMG] partners called me into the office,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 thought I had done something terribly wrong, kind of like going to the principal鈥檚 office.鈥�
Humphers certainly wasn鈥檛 in any trouble. On the contrary, his excellent job performance had led to a challenging new opportunity which his management team believed he 鈥� among his peers 鈥� was best suited to tackle. That new accounting challenge was Devon Energy.
鈥淭hey told me, 鈥楯eremy, we are having trouble keeping the right people serving this client in the right way, so we would like for you to switch industries and work with Devon so we can have some stability serving them.鈥� It seemed like a great, important opportunity, so I became a person who was a part of the oil and gas industry,鈥� he said.
In the summer of 2003, after a few years working with Devon Energy as a KPMG auditor, another opportunity arose for Humphers. Devon management had recognized and appreciated his good work and offered him a leadership position there.
鈥淚t was a time in my life when I wanted to try something different that would be good for my family, so I decided to pursue it,鈥� Humphers said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 been really rewarding. I came to Devon at a time when the industry was growing and flourishing, and I was able to be a part of that.鈥�
It is common knowledge the oil and gas industry is cyclical, and Humphers understood that as he embarked on his new position. He has provided a stabilizing presence for Devon, just as he had while working at KPMG. He is now in his 18th year of service there.
鈥淭oday, I oversee the accounting and tax functions at Devon,鈥� Humphers said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a big job. If it has a dollar sign, I probably have something to do with it. I鈥檝e always enjoyed working with numbers and puzzles, and I get to do that most days of the year. It鈥檚 fantastic. I have the blessing of working with a lot of really talented people.鈥�
Outside the office, Humphers spends time volunteering his talents. He has served the Regional Food Bank of Oklahoma, the Norman Youth Soccer Association, and the 成人B站 Foundation. He is also a deacon and treasurer of the Norman Church of Christ. Throughout all his success, he credits 成人B站 for helping pave the way.
鈥淚 couldn鈥檛 get the type of scores needed to get a lot of scholarship money, so I was looking for value and East Central was an incredible value,鈥� Humphers said. 鈥淚 have told people that one of the greatest investments I ever made was my education at 成人B站. There are three things I think a student should apply to every degree program at 成人B站 鈥� be someone who is curious, be someone who has grit, and be someone who is optimistic.鈥�
Above all, Humphers is a family man. That quickly becomes evident in any conversation with him. He and Becky have been married for 26 years and have two healthy, happy children 鈥� his son Jacob, 21, is in college and his daughter Kenady, 18, recently graduated from Norman North High School and is preparing for college in the fall.
鈥淚 learned the value of hard work from my dad and the value of giving to others to improve our communities from my mom,鈥� Humphers said. 鈥淭hey wanted their children to achieve all they can and even more than them. When I look at my children, one of the goals I have with them is for them to be more successful and dream bigger than I might have even imagined for myself.鈥�
Humphers has come a long way since that exciting payphone call to Becky in 1996. He knows exactly how important she has been to his continued success.
鈥淐hristmas Eve, our sophomore year at 成人B站, we went on a date and the rest is history,鈥� he said. 鈥淪he鈥檚 wonderful, a cancer survivor, a great mother, very caring of others. Our kids do well because of the care and guidance she gives them. I wouldn鈥檛 be where I am today without her.鈥�
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