William C. Douce
William C. Douce
“Do the best job you can at whatever you’re given to do, and if you do that, then just like cream floating to the top of a bottle, you’ll flow just as far up to the top as your talents will take you.”
Biography
Born and reared in Kansas and a graduate of Kansas University, William C. Douce became the chairman and chief executive officer of Phillips Petroleum Company in 1980 and retired in 1985. His nearly fifty-year career with the company had by then proven Douce’s outstanding record of achievement in refining, chemical development and leadership. Douce was active nationally, regionally and locally in industry and civic affairs. He served as chairman of the Oklahoma Heritage Association (now the Oklahoma Hall of Fame) from 1988 to 1990 and was a member of the Oklahoma Commerce and Industry Hall of Honor.
Fun fact
Early in William Douce’s career with Phillips he became prominent in the Junior Chamber of Commerce (Jaycees). A 1953 issue of TIME Magazine shows Douce as president of the Oklahoma Jaycees presenting an Indian war bonnet to U.S. President Harry Truman.
Oklahoma connections
Douce joined Phillips Petroleum Company in Bartlesville, Oklahoma in 1942.