William Thomas

William “Bill” Thomas, quarterback for the Bartlesville High School football team in the late 1960s, says the prospect of joining a college team with a throwing offense drew him to attend The University of Tulsa. However, the decision didn’t solely rest on his shoulders; his twin brother, Robert “Bob” Thomas — tight end on the same team — also signed off on the pair’s collegiate choice. 

“We’ve always been a set,” says Bill. “Bob was always my best friend.” The two partnered in business ventures starting at the age of 9, mowing lawns and waxing cars. Bill recalls that he was injured one year but to keep the business running, Bob did all of the work. Bob still split the profits with Bill, confounding their parents. “We said, ‘look, this is our business — it’s our money,’” he smiles. 

Time spent on the gridiron and toughing out grueling two-a-days stand out when Bill talks about his TU experience, and he formed tight friendships that have endured through today. Bill says he took advantage of the freedoms that came with leaving home and made the most of his time enjoying the carefree spirit that marked the early 1970s. 

However, academics didn’t take a complete backseat to the fun he had. A political science major, Bill initially envisioned using the degree as a springboard to law school. He looks back on a lecture series that Dean Strong taught: “His depth of foreign affairs experience was rather remarkable — I didn’t work that hard in most classes, but I’ll never forget looking at that blue book three days after one of the exams. Not only did I get an A, but I got a ‘well done.’ I wish I’d kept it.” 

Bill realized graduate school wasn’t the direction he wanted to take and shifted his focus to adding accounting courses during his junior and senior years. He earned a minor in accounting and passed his certified public accounting exam a year after graduating from TU. 

At that point, Bill and his brother took separate paths to launch their careers. He relocated to St. Louis to join an accounting firm and experience a bigger city that offered new opportunities, though still knew he would one day join Bob in a venture of their own. 

That day came a couple of years later, after Bob started his career in real estate. He had sourced an eight-unit apartment and the two made the purchase with an intent to flip it for a profit. “That began our lives together as entrepreneurs,” said Bill. He packed his bags, left St. Louis and headed home to Tulsa. They cofounded Gemini Properties, which eventually evolved into a focus on housing for seniors in 1989 with the founding of Senior Star Living. Today, Senior Star, which operates 15 communities across seven states, ranks in Fortune magazine’s list of top ten workplaces for aging services. 

Bill says he’s most proud of the culture they’ve established at Senior Star. After about 20 years of company growth, the pair reached a point in which they could not personally interact with each associate on a regular basis. They took a year to formulate goals and guiding principles based on what was important for all of their employees. That work shaped the company’s culture and its future, and still guides the business today. 

The significance of giving back to the community made an impression on Bill as a young adult. He notes that philanthropy changed Tulsa’s community and made it a better place to live and work. His earliest involvement in charitable giving had a personal connection, when his close friends had a baby who was diagnosed with cystic fibrosis at just three months old. “It was quite a rallying of 30-year-olds to see what we could to do help them.” His involvement with the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation extended to other nonprofits and “just rolled into the fabric of our own company,” said Bill.  
In recent years, Bill has served as chair of the Philbrook Museum of Art Board of Trustees, as well as for the American Seniors Housing Association (ASHA) and the Tulsa Community Foundation. He and his wife, Susan, co-chaired the Alzheimer’s Association 2019 Tulsa Memory Gala and raised a record $3.7 million. The couple also chaired the Philbrook Wine Experience twice, transforming it into one of the top three fundraisers of its kind in the nation.
He describes the generosity that’s come to define Tulsa, made especially apparent the more he traveled to other cities. “When something needs to be done, our community leaders have stepped up to do it,” citing Tulsa’s Gathering Place as a recent example. 

Bill also delights in the progress that has transformed TU’s campus. He bears a deep appreciation for the football scholarship that paid his tuition, and what that gift meant for his and Bob’s lives. “I didn’t think I deserved it, but I got it and carried a sense of obligation to pay that back,” he said. He calls TU a cornerstone of the city, and through more than 15 years of service as a member of the Board of Trustees, has given generously of his time and talent to ensure the university’s future remains bright. 

Bill was surprised to receive the distinguished alumnus honor, remarking that it’s wonderful to think of others wanting to honor him in that way. He shares his sentiments around the importance of the work done on a university campus, and the commitment of faculty to changing someone’s life at a pivotal time. “Waking someone’s spirit to look past themselves has had a big impact on my life and my own feeling of satisfaction. If I can help connect somebody to that spirit even in a small way, I think I will have made a difference.”