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October 17, 2024

From Diplomat to Corporate Leader: Sean McCormack’s Journey from Colby to Chevron

McCormack's international expertise shapes career in global communications

Sean McCormack ’86 is a former foreign-service diplomat turned vice president of communications for Chevron Corp. (Photo courtesy of Sean McCormack)

By Katherine Morrison

During his 15 years as a foreign-service diplomat, Sean McCormack ’86 spent time in Turkey, Algeria, and Washington, D.C., learning the intricate interrelations between international politics and the energy industry.

Today, as vice president of communications at Chevron Corp., McCormack’s background in international relations helps him lead the company’s global communications.

McCormack credited Colby with giving him the foundation for curiosity and understanding the world. A common thread of his Colby education was his fascination with human behavior, which motivated him to experiment with courses he never expected to take, ultimately leading to his passion for international politics.

The foundation

Young Sean McCormack ’86 posing for a photo. (Photo courtesy of Sean McCormack)

Like many of his peers, McCormack arrived on Mayflower Hill in 1982 with the mindset of charting a successful career and decided to pursue economics.

During his junior year, he studied economics in London, where he quickly learned how differently his classmates viewed the world. “Growing up in Scarborough, Maine, I led a pretty sheltered life,” he said. “But when I went to London, I realized it’s a big, wide world out there.”

During that time, he met students whose parents were diplomats, a career he knew little about.

After he returned to Colby, his broadened perspective and new interest in international relations spurred him to enroll in political science courses. Looking back on his time abroad, he said those moments crystallized his path to geopolitics. He credits Roger Bowen, an associate professor of government during McCormack’s time at Colby, for inspiring him to use a Jan Plan project to explore U.S. foreign policy toward the Philippines. This experience made him realize there is more to politics than the electoral process.

“The central part of Colby’s education is that it challenges you to think critically, and that is such an essential behavior and skill,” he said. “There is a connection between thinking critically and following your passion.”

A career in diplomacy

After graduating from Colby, he studied international relations and affairs at the University of Maryland, earning his M.A. McCormack joined the U.S. Foreign Service in 1995, beginning a career that took him to Ankara, Turkey, and Algiers, Algeria.

While serving, McCormack learned to speak Farsi, which led him to an assignment as a Farsi-speaking officer in the consular section in Ankara. During his time in Turkey, he traveled throughout the country, noting that it felt like a crossroads of archaeology.

In Algiers, he served during an unstable period on the U.S. Embassy compound. That was his first experience at the intersection of energy and international politics. An economic officer arranged a tour with the ambassador down to southern Algeria, where oil and gas exploration was happening, and McCormack went along.

In 2001 McCormack became spokesman for the National Security Council and deputy White House press secretary under President George W. Bush. He later followed Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to the State Department, where he was spokesman and assistant secretary for public affairs. This period was an intense but rewarding part of his career.

It was a big, challenging leap. “One of the biggest shocks in my professional life was going from managing a small team of three to leading the bureau of 200 people,” he said.

McCormack left government work in 2009 after finding satisfaction with his career. He had enjoyed the camaraderie and the challenging work environment but decided to change his life and career. This drove him to look for a new path in corporate communications.

Like a lot of people who go to Colby, we are strivers. We need a mountain to climb. I needed a different mountain to climb.”

Transitioning to the corporate world

McCormack’s next move was to Boeing, the aerospace giant, where he was vice president of communications. There, he applied many of the skills he had developed working for the government to lead teams and craft narratives in the private sector.

After nearly a decade at Boeing, he spent four years as a managing director at TrailRunner International, a global communications consultancy, but quickly realized consulting was not his passion. He missed working with people to help them reach their full potential.

McCormack found his next mountain to climb when he joined Chevron in 2022. “I enjoy wrestling with consequential issues,” he said. “But now the most rewarding part of my career is helping people realize what they can accomplish and that they’ve grown along the way.”

McCormack draws on what he has learned about human behavior throughout his career to help his team of roughly 115 develop skills and thrive.

McCormack maintains a solid connection to Colby. “It’s energizing to visit; there’s nothing like the combination of youth and hope,” he said. “It’s been a great window back into a place that I knew very well and loved.”