Mindy West

Murphy Oil – CFO

Mindy West received a bachelor’s degree in accounting from Southern Arkansas University at Magnolia. She also received a bachelor’s degree in finance from the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville.

West is a pro at finance and accounting. She is a certified public accountant and a certified treasury professional. She worked at Murphy Oil Corporation, an exploration and production company, for 17 years.

Before taking on her current positions as executive vice president, chief financial officer (CFO) and treasurer for Murphy USA Inc., West was Murphy Oil Corp’s director of investor relations from 2001 to 2006. She was also the company’s vice president and treasurer from 2007 to 2013.

West continues to expand her leadership roles. She serves on the board of directors of Simmons First National Corporation and she is a member of the Simmons Bank Board.

Hometown: Fort Smith, Arkansas

First job: Restaurant server

Favorite food: It’s a tie between the chicken fried chicken at Neal’s Cafe in Springdale and the steak and tamales at the Tamale Factory in Gregory.

What accomplishment are you most proud of? Helping to lead Murphy USA’s transition to being a standalone publicly traded company that has grown and flourished ever since.

What attracted you to your career? The depth and breadth of the CFO role, which requires dexterity in managing multiple layers of different projects and functions for different audiences, with different participants and requiring different skills to succeed in each. It is never boring, and, contrary to what some may assume, it is not all about numbers.

What’s one thing others would be surprised to know about you? They would be surprised that my favorite place is first light in the flooded timber during an Arkansas duck season. Also, that I collect cookbooks but I don’t cook.

What talent would you most like to have? Speed reading.

One word that describes you: Determined.

What are you passionate about? Building and rebuilding. Building a business, process or capability from the ground up or deconstructing an existing one and rebuilding it to make it better.

Favorite thing about living in Arkansas: The natural beauty, Southern hospitality and a university with a completely unique mascot. Go Hogs!

Do you have a personal motto? The Beautiful is Coming.

Photography by Jamison Mosley