Bill Klesse serves as the Chief Executive Officer of Valero Energy Corporation and Chairman of the Valero Board of Directors.  Formerly, Klesse served as Valero’s Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer, overseeing all of the company’s refining and marketing operations. 

Bill Klesse has been with Valero and the former Ultramar Diamond Shamrock and its predecessors for almost 40 years.

Early in his career, Klesse held various managerial positions in engineering, petrochemical feedstocks, planning and development and marketing before being named Vice President of Logistics and Strategy in 1982.  In 1984, he was named director of corporate development and was subsequently promoted to Senior Vice President, and then, Executive Vice President.  After the 1996 merger of Ultramar Corporation and Diamond Shamrock, which formed Ultramar Diamond Shamrock (UDS), Klesse served as Executive Vice President of the company’s refining operations.  In 1999, he was named Executive Vice President of Operations of UDS and became Chairman of the Board of Shamrock Logistics GP, LLC.  After Ultramar Diamond Shamrock was acquired by Valero in 2001, Klesse served as Executive Vice President of Refining and Commercial Operations.  In 2003, he was named Valero’s Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer. And on Jan. 1, 2006, became the Chief Executive Officer of Valero Energy Corporation and Vice Chairman of the Valero Board of Directors. As of Jan. 19, 2007, he became Chairman of the Valero Board of Directors.
Klesse is a graduate of the University of Dayton, where he earned a bachelor of science degree in chemical engineering.  He then earned his master’s degree in finance from West Texas A&M University.