Oilmen’s Gala Celebrates 100 Years of Petroleum Engineering Education at UW

On Jan. 9, 1925, D.B. Dow of the U.S. Bureau of Mines wrote a letter to University of Wyoming President Arthur Crane urging him to take action to meet the needs of the growing petroleum industry in Wyoming.

The oil and gas industry in Wyoming, Dow wrote, "which is contributing, through royalties, some $8 million yearly to the state and state institutions and which provides a livelihood for approximately one-fourth of the population, should receive some assistance from the university in the way of providing the industry with men capable of handling and hearing problems met with. Money spent by the states in research along lines of efficiency and increased recovery will be well invested."

In response, the first petroleum engineering course at UW was offered on campus in 1926. Taught by a Mr. Guiteras, the introductory course was intended for juniors with some previous petroleum technologist training.

Over the past 100 years, that one course has grown into a full department boasting 130 students and seven dedicated faculty members with world-class research facilities, such as the brand-new Lynch Advanced Multidisciplinary Stimulation Laboratory, drilling completions simulator and Hydrocarbon Research Laboratory. Despite the relatively small size of the department, its impact is substantial, and the quality of research, instruction and graduates produced is on par with the top institutions in the nation.

To celebrate the centennial of petroleum engineering education in Wyoming, the UW student chapters of the American Association of Drilling Engineers (AADE) and International Association of Drilling Contractors (IADC) hosted the Oilmen's Gala May 8 at the Marian H. Rochelle Gateway Center. The event brought together students and faculty members from the UW Department of Energy and Petroleum Engineering, alumni, supporters, donors, industry partners and special guests to honor a century of petroleum engineering education at the university.

Paden Knull, coordinator and master of ceremonies for the event and president of the Pi Epsilon Tau petroleum engineering student honor society, revisited the history of the department in his opening remarks and reflected on the global reach of graduates from the department over the past century.

"This profession is ours, but we are only one part of a long, thin line of crude going back two centuries. We must leave it better than we found it for those who will take up the profession and mantle of oilmen and engineers in the years after," Knull said in a prayer honoring past oilmen before the meal.

In her address, U.S. Rep. Harriet Hageman honored the legacy of her 102-year-old mother by painting a picture of the life her mother was born into in 1923, just before that first petroleum engineering class was offered at UW. She then considered the unprecedented advances people enjoy in health, transportation and quality of life today.

"What is the difference between when my mother was a young girl and where we are now?" Hageman asked. "It's one thing -- it is the commercial production of affordable and reliable energy. It is absolutely the foundation of everything that we have become in this country. It is the foundation of our prosperity."

To those assembled at the banquet, Hageman added, "You keep the lights on; you keep the engines running; you keep our schools funded; and you keep our communities warm in the winter and cool in the summer."

State Sen. Chris Rothfuss also recognized the tremendous impact of the petroleum industry, both on the state and on his own life. After graduating from UW with a degree in chemical engineering, which was at that time part of what is now the Department of Energy and Petroleum Engineering, he worked in oilfields across the globe for a decade. For the past 16 years, he has served on the Legislature's Joint Education Committee and Minerals and Economic Development Committee.

Rothfuss shared memories of beloved chemical engineering professor Harry Deans and extolled the state's leadership in oil and gas production, innovation and safety as well as its robust partnership with the university.

Soheil Saraji, head of the Department of Energy and Petroleum Engineering, likewise celebrated the department's partnerships with the state and industry that have contributed to the success of the department and its alumni.

"Our alumni have led drilling programs, reservoir teams, production operations, technology companies and major energy organizations," Saraji said. "But what makes me especially proud is that UW petroleum engineers have always had a reputation for being practical, adaptable and grounded. That's something we hear from the industry. People know UW graduates work hard. They know that they understand the field, and they know that they can solve problems. That culture did not happen overnight. It has been built over generations by faculty, alumni, students and mentors from the industry."

Insofar as the event was organized to celebrate the 100-year history of petroleum engineering education in Wyoming, Saraji said he also saw it as an opportunity to look forward to what the next 100 years might bring for an evolving, dynamic field.

"I truly believe the next chapter of energy and petroleum engineering at the University of Wyoming may become the strongest one yet," he said.

In recognition of their outstanding support of the UW IADC and AADE student chapters, Knull presented Richard and Marilyn Lynch and Joe and Stephanie Leimkuhler each with a custom engraved belt buckle.

After receiving his buckle, Richard Lynch reflected that he had been working in the oil and gas industry for 46 years, nearly half the centennial being celebrated. The field is critical, he said, because "energy is life -- actually, it is life. It provides us heat, life, mobility and health, and when you're that fundamental, you need it."

Lynch also expressed excitement on behalf of graduating students now entering petroleum engineering.

"I can't imagine a more exciting time than right now," Lynch said. "Everything that's coming together -- it's both the collaboration and the ingenuity that's happening that's going to transform the world."

To close the banquet, Jack Tennant, executive director of the UW Alumni Association, led the assembled guests in a lively rendition of UW's time-honored fight song, "Ragtime Cowboy Joe."

The IADC and AADE UW chapters thanked the following sponsors for their support of the gala: Joe and Stephanie Leimkuhler; Richard and Marilyn Lynch; Beacon Offshore Energy; David and Mary Reed; the College of Engineering and Physical Sciences; Chemical Tracers Inc.; the Department of Energy and Petroleum Engineering; AADE's Rockies chapter; Venator Resources; the Petroleum Association of Wyoming; UW's Office of the President; Loenbro; Iron Lady Energy Advisors; the Denver Section of the Society of Professional Engineers International; Taktikal Directional LLC; and those who supported the banquet's silent auction, the proceeds from which will benefit the UW IADC and AADE student chapters.