He received his B.S. in Geology from The Ohio State University in 1969. He served on active duty as a naval officer in the United States Naval Reserve from 1969 through 1972 in the Western Pacific, Vietnam and Iceland. He returned to Ohio to pursue graduate work in geophysics. He received his M.S. in Geology from Bowling Green State University in 1975. He joined Exxon Company U.S.A. in 1975, and held a variety of technical and managerial assignments in petroleum exploration and production covering Alaska, the Rocky Mountain region, and Southeastern U.S. In 1990, he transferred to Exxon Production Research Company to lead an exploration study of Eastern Europe to investigate petroleum opportunities in the former Warsaw-Pact nations. With the formation of Exxon Exploration Company in 1992, he became coordinator of geoscience technology advisors for Exxon's worldwide exploration efforts. He accepted the position of Geoscience Exploration Manager with Esso Norge in Stavanger, Norway in 1994. He returned to Houston in 1997 as Geoscience Technical Manager for Exxon Ventures CIS, Inc with active exploration ventures in Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan and Sakhalin Island, Russia. He became New Venture Development Manager with ExxonMobil Exploration Company with the merger of Exxon Mobil Corporation in November 1999. In November 2002, he accepted the position as President of ExxonMobil Ventures Mexico Limited in Mexico City with responsibility for development of new petroleum exploration and development opportunities in Mexico. He retired from ExxonMobil in March 2006 after over thirty years of service. Since retirement, he has served as a member of the Dean’s Advisory Committee and founding chair of the School of Earth Sciences Alumni Advisory Board for The Ohio State University. He has, also, served as chair of one of the planning commissions of Summit County. Colorado and the board president of Buffalo Mountain Metropolitan District. He volunteers with the U.S. Forest Service as a summer ranger patrol and at the front desk of the Dillon Ranger District. He is an active member of the American Association of Petroleum Geologists, American Geophysical Union, Geological Society of America, Rocky Mountains Association of Geologists, and the European Association of Geoscientists and Engineers. He has served as technical committee and technical session chairperson for conferences for technical conferences in Istanbul, Baku and Mexico. 

Field camp prepared me to be a career geologist

Where has your degree taken you?

How could I stay with the same company for over 30 years? Every 2-4 years was a new assignment with different technical, managerial and geographic challenges.

How do you feel that your experience, specifically as an SES/geology student at OSU, prepared you for your career or life in general?

SES at Ohio State gave me the basic understanding of the geological science that set me on my career path.

What is your favorite memory as a student?

Field camp prepared me to be a career geologist. Also, fossil collecting in the Columbus area with Dr. Aurele La Rocque.

What advice do you have for current and future students?

Start thinking about your career path early and pursue the academic courses and research projects to prepare for that career.