At The University of Tulsa, the connection between engineering and leadership took center stage this spring as Chip McElroy (B.S. ’85), CEO and president of McElroy Manufacturing Inc., returned to campus to deliver the inaugural College of Engineering & Computer Science Dean’s CEO Lecture.
“This lecture series reflects our commitment to preparing engineers not only to solve technical problems but to lead organizations and shape the future,” said Andreas Polycarpou, dean of the College of Engineering & Computer Science. “Chip McElroy embodies what we aspire for our graduates: technical excellence, entrepreneurial drive and the ability to lead with purpose.”
Addressing a full lecture hall, McElroy offered a candid, experience-driven perspective on leadership, beginning with a challenge to the common misconception that engineering and business follow separate tracks. In reality, he argued, engineers are uniquely prepared to lead. From the first day of their training, engineers confront complex, open-ended problems with no single right answer, a mindset that becomes a powerful competitive advantage.
“Apply it,” McElroy urged. “Go look for things other people are missing.”
That mindset has defined his own career. Since becoming CEO of his family’s Tulsa-based company in 1988, he has guided McElroy Manufacturing through sustained growth, strengthening its global reputation for durable, technically advanced equipment.
Throughout that journey, he has remained deeply connected to UTulsa, regularly hiring its graduates and crediting its faculty for shaping his technical acumen and leadership approach. “The education wasn’t just from the books or lectures,” McElroy noted. “It came from the engineering professors, and the same is true of the great professors I had in the business school.”
Equally important was his message about failure. Rather than avoiding it, McElroy reframed failure as a vital part of growth. “Everybody likes winning, but we rarely learn from it,” he said. “It’s important that we learn from our mistakes.”
Perhaps his most powerful takeaway was also the simplest: Leadership does not begin with a title. It begins now. Whether in the classroom or the workplace, McElroy challenged students to take initiative, go beyond expectations and actively shape their own paths.
“You’ve got to go make your own future,” he said. “Don’t wait to be asked.”
Reflecting on his career, McElroy emphasized that the most significant transition was not from engineer to CEO, but from managing projects to leading people. Unlike systems and equations, people are inherently complex and unpredictable.
“People are beautifully irrational,” he explained. “They are emotional. Leadership means learning how to engage, whether with colleagues, teams on the manufacturing floor or customers.”
In recognition of his professional achievements and enduring commitment to his alma mater, McElroy has been inducted into the College of Engineering & Computer Science Hall of Fame (1995), named a UTulsa Distinguished Alumnus (2008) and inducted into the Collins College of Business Hall of Fame (2017). Alumni like McElroy play a vital role in advancing the university’s mission, and UTulsa is proud to count the McElroy family among its strongest supporters.