John D. Groendyke is Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer of Groendyke Transport, Inc., the fifth largest motor carrier of bulk commodities serving the continental United States, Canada, and Mexico.

Mr. Groendyke graduated from Wentworth Military Academy, in Lexington, Missouri, where he attended high school and junior college. He received his Bachelor of Science in Business from Oklahoma State University and his law degree from the University of Oklahoma. He served as a Captain in the U. S. Army, and after a two-year tour of duty he returned to Enid, Oklahoma, to join the family trucking operation which was founded by his father, H. C. Groendyke, in 1932.

Groendyke has become a distinguished citizen of the state of Oklahoma, serving on numerous boards and affiliations. He has served on the OG&E Energy board of directors, the board of the National Tank Truck Carriers, the board of the Wentworth Military Academy, and the board of the Wentworth Military Academy Foundation. He is presently serving his sixth term as Commissioner of District #8 for the Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation. Groendyke serves as a trustee and was a past chairman for the Oklahoma Chapter of The Nature Conservancy and is a member of the board of directors of the Grand National Quail Foundation and Grand National Quail Club, having served as past president and chairman of both. He is also an active member of the United Way Pillars Club, and is a founding partner of The Collector’s Foundation where he shares his passion of collecting classic automobiles.

The Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation honored Groendyke as Commissioner of the Year in 1991 and on December 2016, Mr. Groendyke received a citation from the State of Oklahoma for being the longest serving commissioner in Oklahoma history. He was inducted to the Spears School of Business Hall of Fame in 2008. He serves as an active member of the OSU Foundation Board of Trustees and the board for the Friends of the Oklahoma History Center. In 2011, Groendyke established the chair in the Wildlife Conservation and Natural Resource Development within the OSU College of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources. In 2013, he was inducted into the Oklahoma Hall of Fame and honored with the NatureWorks Wildlife Stewardship Award. He is a life member of the OSU Alumni Association and in February 2015 was inducted into the OSU Hall of Fame and in 2017 was honored as an OSU DASNR Champion.

Mr. Groendyke has two daughters, two sons, and ten grandchildren. He and his wife, Virginia, reside in Enid and are involved in many community activities. When he is not trucking, his energies are in wildlife conservation, farming and ranching, real estate, and collecting and showing antique automobiles.