Rex Wayne Tillerson (born March 23, 1952) is an American civil engineer and former energy executive who is the 69th and current United States Secretary of State, serving since February 1, 2017.[1] Tillerson joined Exxon in 1975 and rose to serve as the chairman and chief executive officer (CEO) of ExxonMobil from 2006 to 2016. His major foreign policy positions in 2017, according to Aaron David Miller and Richard Sokolsky, include:
"urging the United States to stay in the Trans-Pacific Partnership and the Paris climate accord, taking a hard line on Russia, advocating negotiations and dialogue to defuse the mounting crisis with North Korea, advocating for continued U.S. adherence to the Iran nuclear deal, taking a neutral position in the dispute between Qatar and Saudi Arabia, and reassuring jittery allies, from South Korea and Japan to our NATO partners, that America still has their back."
Rex Tillerson
Tillerson began his career as an engineer and holds a bachelor's degree in civil engineering from the University of Texas at Austin. By 1989 he had become general manager of the Exxon USA central production division. In 1995, he became president of Exxon Yemen Inc. and Esso Exploration and Production Khorat Inc. In 2006, Tillerson was elected chairman and chief executive officer of Exxon, the world's 6th largest company by revenue. Tillerson retired from Exxon effective January 1, 2017, and was succeeded by Darren Woods. He is a member of the National Academy of Engineering.
Tillerson is a longtime volunteer with the Boy Scouts of America and earned the rank of Eagle Scout. From 2010 to 2012 he was the national president of the Boy Scouts, its highest non-executive position. He is a longtime contributor to Republican campaigns, although he did not donate to Donald Trump's presidential campaign. In 2014, Tillerson, who had made business deals on behalf of Exxon with Russian President Vladimir Putin, opposed the sanctions against Russia.[6] He has previously been the director of the joint United States-Russia oil company Exxon Neftegas.
