H. E. (Eddie) Chiles* was born in Itasca, Texas. He worked as an oil patch roustabout before hitchhiking to Norman in 1930. In 1934, he graduated from the University of Oklahoma with a B.S. in petroleum engineering. In 1939, after working as a sales engineer with Reed Roller Bit Co. in Houston, he founded the Western Co. of North America, which served the petroleum industry with technical services required in the discovery and production of oil and gas. He started the company with little more than two trucks, three employees and the will to succeed. At its peak, the Western Co. had more than 5,000 employees and annual worldwide revenues of more than $500 million.
1992
Owen K. Garriott received a B.S. in electrical engineering from OU in 1953 and M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in electrical engineering from Stanford University. He served as an electronics officer in the U.S. Navy before becoming first an assistant professor, then associate professor at Stanford University. His research and writing focused on ionospheric physics. In 1966, he completed the U.S. Air Force Pilot Training Program, receiving qualification as a pilot in jet aircraft. Garriott was one of the first six scientist-astronauts selected by NASA. His first space flight aboard Skylab in 1973 lasted 60 days and set a new world record for duration. His second space flight was aboard Skylab-1 in 1983.
Gustavo J. Inciarte* received his B.S. in petroleum engineering in 1957 at the age of 19. He served as president of INTEVEP, S.A., the R&D and technical support company of the Venezuelan oil and petrochemical industry. His 33-year career in the oil industry began in 1957 in Lake Maracaibo for Shell of Venezuela Ltd. Gustavo was the first Venezuelan to hold the post of chief exploitation engineer for Shell, planning and implementing the first large-scale commercial application of thermal recovery methods for heavy oil fields in the Bolivar coast. His efforts initiated INPELUZ (Institute of Petroleum Research at Zulia University) in 1968, which later became the Graduate Petroleum Engineering School at Zulia University.
Betty R. Jackson received a B.S. in architectural engineering in 1949 and an M.S. in civil engineering in 1950. After a 38-year career in many areas of architectural and engineering practice and administration, she retired as vice president of H.T.B., Inc. She began her professional work experience with H.T.B. as a draftsman while a student at OU and was an important part of the growth of the firm, one of the largest in Oklahoma. Jackson’s distinguished career was filled with many professional accomplishments as she consistently chose the pioneering path and, through her unwavering commitment to excellence, paved the way for other women in a male-dominated profession. She was the first woman to become president of the 12,000 member American Consulting Engineers Council in its 27-year history.
Richard L. O’Shields is retired chairman and CEO of Panhandle Eastern Corp. Panhandle Eastern operates one of the nation’s largest natural gas pipeline systems, providing natural gas to the Midwest, Mid-Atlantic and Northeast areas, and has interests in a variety of other petroleum industry activities. O’Shields was named president of Panhandle Eastern in 1970. He became chairman in 1979 and served nine years in that capacity until his retirement in 1988. For 13 years, he was also CEO of the company. O’Shields, born in Arkansas and raised in Oklahoma, served in the Air Force during World War II. He received his B.S. in mechanical engineering from OU in 1949.
Lawrence G. Rawl* received a B.S. in petroleum engineering in 1952. He became chairman and CEO of Exxon Corp. in 1987. He joined Exxon’s Houston-based, domestic operating division upon graduation and, following several assignments, transferred to the corporation’s producing department in New York in 1960. His career took him to many assignments of increasing responsibility internationally with Exxon USA and Esso Europe Inc., where he was elected executive vice president and director in 1978. He returned to New York in 1980 when he was elected senior vice president and director of Exxon Corp., president in 1985 and chairman and CEO in 1987.