Awards Given

2001-02 Gerald A. Cooley Award
2001-02 Corporate Star Award
2001-02 Distinguished Service Awards
2001-02 HGS / HGA Distinguished Service Award
2001-02 Honorary Life Awards
2001-02 President's Awards
2001-02 Rising Star Awards
2001-02 Teacher of the Year Award


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2000-01 Corporate Star Award
2000-01 Distinguished Service Awards
2000-01 HGS / HGA Distinguished Service Award
2000-01 Honorary Life Awards
2000-01 President's Awards
2000-01 Rising Star Awards


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1999-00 Corporate Star Award
1999-00 Distinguished Service Awards
1999-00 Gerald A. Cooley Award
1999-00 Golden Service Award
1999-00 HGS / HGA Distinguished Service Award
1999-00 Honorary Life Awards
1999-00 President's Awards
1999-00 Rising Star Awards


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1998-99 Corporate Star Award
1998-99 Distinguished Service Awards
1998-99 Gerald A. Cooley Award I
1998-99 Gerald A. Cooley Award II
1998-99 HGS / HGA Distinguished Service Award
1998-99 Honorary Life Awards
1998-99 President's Awards
1998-99 Rising Star Awards


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1997-98 Best Bulletin Article Award


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1996-97 HGS Outstanding Poster Award
1996-97 HGS Outstanding Speaker Award
1996-97 Outstanding Earth Science Teacher Award


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Past Awards published in the HGS 75th anniversary Bulletin issue (1923 - 1998) published in the Summer. 1999

James A. Ragsdale

As his length of service to HGS approaches forty years, we gratefully acknowledge James A. Ragsdale's truly exceptional and sustained devotion to the Society by presenting him with the Gerald A. Cooley Award. Jim Ragsdale is cut from rare cloth. An HGS member since 1963, he became a prominent contributor early on as Assistant Editor of the 1965 HGS book, Deltas: Their Geologic Framework. Six years later he served as Editor of another successful HGS publication, Abnormal Subsurface Pressure: A Study Group Report. Jim followed these efforts with service in several elected positions on the Executive Board, first as Secretary in 1978-1979. He served two separate terms (1979 -1981 and 1992 - 1994)) in the position now referred to as Director, known then as Executive Committeeman. He served as President-Elect and President in the years 1995 - 1997 and has been serving since 1998 as Chairman of the Office Management Committee.

Jim was also an invaluable contributor in 1997 and 1998 on the Ad Hoc Committee that rewrote the Society's Constitution, By-laws, and Articles of Incorporation. Service like this does not go unnoticed, of course, and Jim has already been honored with a Distinguished Service Award and Honorary Life Membership. Yet he remains among the most generous volunteers of HGS. In a Society known for wonderful volunteers, dedication and loyalty like this truly set some members apart, and by his actions, Jim has done so indisputably.

• We proudly present to Kerr-McGee Corporation the HGS Corporate Star Award for its substantial and sustained support. Kerr-McGee continued again this year to underwrite the cost of the first year membership in HGS for student members. This award also recognizes the commitment this year of truly invaluable employee effort on behalf of the Society.
• Phillips Petroleum Company has again this year earned the HGS Corporate Star Award in acknowledgment of its continued funding of the free-meal deal for students and faculty. HGS further acknowledges the contributions of Phillips' personnel in several important roles in the Society.
• The HGS Corporate Star Award is presented to TGS-NOPEC Geophysical Company for its continued financial support for the HGS Guest Night Event, and for the exceptional efforts on behalf of the Society from TGS-NOPEC personnel this year.

Bill Osten

Bill Osten has been selected to receive the HGS Distinguished Service Award. He has volunteered for the Society in numerous capacities: serving on the Executive Board as Treasurer-Elect and Treasurer (1999-2001), as a member of the Computer Application Committee (1995-1999), and as the Computer Application Committee Chair (1997-1999). He took on a point role to integrate the computer databases for the HGS Office and Membership committees, and has been known to troubleshoot computing problems at the HGS office when needed. Bill was part of the committee that designed the HGS website in 1996 and has devoted countless hours to this endeavor. He has been our Society’s Webmaster since 1997. His dedication and commitment have enabled all of us to obtain HGS information over the Internet in a timely manner.

Bill began his interest in geology as a freshman at the University of Texas at Arlington, where he developed a love of fossils and fieldwork. He received a BS degree in geology from The University of Texas at Arlington in 1976 and an MS degree in geology from Southern Methodist University in 1978. He then began his career in exploration and production with Phillips Petroleum, and has worked for Phillips in their Houston, Bartlesville, Borger and Oklahoma City offices during the past 24 years. He is currently the Geoscience and Engineering Coordinator for the Venezuela Partnership Group, working out of the Phillips office in Houston.

When asked about his significant role in HGS activities, Bill immediately gives the credit to team efforts and outstanding volunteers. He is the type of leader our Society is grateful for and proud to have among its ranks. The HGS is honored to present Bill Osten with the Distinguished Service Award.

Mary Folk

The Houston Geological Auxiliary proudly announces our 2001-2002 HGS/HGA award recipient, Mary Folk, wife of Stewart Folk. Mary has been a long time member of the Auxiliary, having served as it's President in 1990-1991 and has been an SOS volunteer for many years. She has always been available to help any time she was called upon, even on short notice. She has done table decorations for many HGA functions, helped with membership mail outs, and performed many other services for the Society.

Mary was born in Arkansas and attended Baylor University, where she graduated in 1935. She and Stewart were married shortly thereafter. They have four children, two sons and two daughters. They have traveled extensively and lived all over the world, spending many years in Latin America, where Mary became very fluent in Spanish. They attend St. Francis Episcopal Church, where Mary is also very active.

Jeff Lund

This award is given from time to time to “persons who have distinguished themselves in the science of geology, or who have contributed outstanding service to the success and welfare of this organization”. Jeff Lund merits this award on both counts and for outstanding service to HGS, GCAGS, and AAPG.

When Jeff was elected as HGS President 1997-1998, he already had 25 years of HGS membership and much HGS service under his belt. But it was soon very clear that he was just getting started. Jeff’s year will be remembered as the year of the HGS 75th Anniversary, a year filled with special events, a technical symposium, “Countdown to the 21st Century” with 450 attendees and 30 papers, and a special gala at the Petroleum Club for 300+ celebrants. From the beginning of his term Jeff had a vision as stated by his theme for 1997-1998 “Practicing geology, it’s my profession not just my job”. Jeff recognized that geology is a way of life. During the year we were all reminded that rock hammers were “cool” and that the “art of exploration” was every bit as important as high-powered computers. And Jeff had an immediate impact on HGS membership by finding new office space for the HGS office, and then donating furniture and wall maps.

Subsequent to his term as HGS President, an enviable year of education, communication, encouragement of young professionals, and relevance, Jeff went on to bring honors to HGS by serving the larger community of which HGS is a proud part. During 1999-2000 Jeff served as president of GCAGS, an important year during which the GCAGS celebrated both its 50th Anniversary and the fabulously successful GCAGS Convention in Houston. The theme was “Remember the Past, Visualize the Future”. Jeff knows how to pick his years, and more importantly, we are lucky that he does! And then, in the spring of 2000, it was clear that Jeff was not going to get a rest when he enthusiastically agreed to serve as the General Chairman for the AAPG National Convention to be held in Houston March 2002. A two-year commitment, Jeff made sure that this event was a “grand slam” by his tireless efforts and his ability to recruit and energize volunteers. Many of you will remember this recent event because so many HGS Members attended. In fact, 7,724 attendees from around the world made this convention the most highly attended meeting in the last 20 years. The convention theme “Our Heritage-Key to Global Discovery” was a way of celebrating Houston’s proud history. It resonated with Jeff’s earlier emphasis on professionalism. Not only did Jeff serve as General Chairman, preside at opening ceremonies, introduce dignitaries with characteristic aplomb and present a paper on portfolio management, but he also officiated at a Museum Night of astronomical proportions-with Astronaut Jim Reilly!

While Jeff’s service to HGS is remarkable it is even more so when one realizes he has done so while holding positions of increasing responsibility and leadership in the oil and gas industry beginning with Amoco (1969-1973), Clark (1973-1978), Southland Royalty (1978-1986), Burlington (1986-1989), Ashland (1991-1998), and Kerr McGee where he has been a Vice President since 1998. His education served as a leading indicator how well rounded and industrious he is: BS geology (Case Western Reserve, 1969) MS geophysics (University of Houston, 1973), and an MBA (University of Houston, 1977).

Jeff embodies a spirit of boundless enthusiasm for geology, respect for humanity, and a passion for service to our profession.

Al Danforth

Al Danforth first contributed to the International Explorationists Group as a speaker, presenting a very well attended talk on West Africa, at the invitation of then International Technical Chair, Scott Thornton. A good judge of character, Scott soon after persuaded Al to accept the post of Technical Chair for the group, a job that can genuinely test one's fortitude. With Al's eye for quality and timeliness about topics, the International talks drew consistently large crowds, rivaling and often exceeding anything else on the HGS docket. His quiet drive and competence quickly earned the respect of all involved, and Al was asked to chair the group, which he has now done for two years. Al has accomplished much and served the Society well, and in recognition of this service, we are pleased to present him with the President's Award.

Craig Dingler

Craig has a quiet way of taking on and meeting the largest challenges that exist in the Houston Geological Society. Arguably the two most demanding jobs in HGS are editing the Bulletin and administering the Treasury. Craig has now done an admirable job in both roles, having served as Editor-Elect, then Editor, of the Bulletin during the years 1997-1999, and serving as 2000-2002 Treasurer-Elect and Treasurer. Few matters are more critical to the sustained success of the Society than communications to members, for which the Bulletin is the central organ, and maintaining solid financial footing, an endeavor in which the Treasurer plays the key role. For his sustained contribution in these vital jobs, we present Craig the President’s Award.

Frank Rabbio

Frank has demonstrated strong leadership skills as Chairman of the HGS Emerging Technology Group for the past two years, which has firmly established itself as one of the mainstays of HGS technical offerings. The Emerging Technology regular dinner meetings stand out for offering valuable insights into new technology and its applications to our profession. The annual Technofest has grown into one of the Society’s banner events, introducing many HGS members to the latest technological advances in our science and yielding financial benefits that help offset the cost of other HGS services, which cannot generate revenue. The President’s Award is presented in recognition of vitality that has characterized the HGS Emerging Technology programs under Frank’s stewardship

Dave Rensink

Dave’s considerable service to HGS has taken a variety of forms. His principal contributions have been his service as an outstanding Treasurer-Elect, then Treasurer, during the years 1998-2000 and as one of the leading voices for HGS in the debate that preceded enactment of law providing for the Licensing of Geologists in the State of Texas. Dave has for the better part of five years played a pivotal role in keeping HGS Executive Boards and members fully informed on the status of this important legislative saga. He has attended countless meetings to gather and/or present information on behalf of HGS, and he has authored numerous articles on State Registration for the HGS Bulletin. He presently serves as Chairman of the HGS Committee on State Registration. We present the President’s Award in recognition of Dave’s years of dedicated service to the members of HGS.

John Adamick

Lee has lent unbounded enthusiasm and a good measure of innovation to one of the most popular and enduring events on the HGS calendar, the Shrimp Peel. His tenure as Chairman of this event has introduced a new venue, the Sam Houston Race Park, which has brought another dimension to the enjoyment of the event. Under his capable leadership, the event’s value to the Society continues to grow, both in terms of financial benefits, which are considerable, and particularly in the goodwill and camaraderie enjoyed by members of both HGS and the Geophysical Society of Houston, with whom this has long been a joint event. For his commitment and service in the success of the HGS Shrimp Peel, we present Lee with the President’s Award

Mike Barnes

Mike is hardly a newcomer to HGS, having joined in 1967, and he involved himself very early, working with the Publications Committee, and eventually with the Computer Applications and Continuing Education Committees. However, in the past year, Mike has emerged as a real stalwart on the front lines for several HGS activities. He organized the Seismic Inversion for Geologists short course last fall, which proved to be one of this year’s most successful courses. Even as he progressed in the development of that event, he also accepted a substantial role in the development of the inaugural APPEX last year. In that connection, he co-chaired the Marketing Exhibits Committee, and ultimately became the principal coordinator of a volunteer corps that contributed mightily to the successful outcome. Having thus demonstrated a talent for finding and enlisting volunteer talent, Mike was asked-and he generously agreed-to perform the same magic as Chairman of the Volunteer Liaison Committee for the much larger AAPG annual convention in March. While neither APPEX nor the AAPG convention is singularly an HGS event, their importance to HGS this past year can hardly be overstated. In particular recognition of his leadership in HGS during the past year, we present Mike with the Rising Star Award.

Lee Backsen

Though neither of these events was exclusively the domain of HGS, Lee contributed substantially to the financial success of both and did more than perhaps any other individual to keep the cost affordable for the thousands of HGS members who attended. In appreciation of Lee’s important service to the members of the Houston Geological Society, we present Lee with the Rising Star Award.

Mike Cline

Mike shines as an example of an HGS member whose earliest efforts on behalf of the Society really achieve important results. Mike joined the Personnel Placement Committee in 1999 and has served as its Chairman since 2000. In this capacity, he used his imagination and ingenuity to significantly enhance the utility of the "Jobs Hotline" page on the HGS Website. This section of the Website now consists of multiple pages, including the "Energy Information and Statistics" page, and thanks to Mike’s considerable effort and very frequent input, it has become one of the most visited portions of HGS Website. It may well be among the most valuable services offered to members of HGS. In acknowledgement of Mike’s innovative efforts on behalf of the HGS and its members, we present Mike with the Rising Star Award.

Stephanie Matthews

Stephanie began her service to HGS as a member of the North American Group in 1997. Her dedication and hard work earned her the position of co-chair, and two years ago she accepted the role of chairperson. Under her leadership the technical program of the North American Group has grown and gained strength, with many excellent presentations and sustained good attendance. As a consequence, the North American Group will enter next year with momentum and some ideas that should make possible still greater achievement.

Bobby Perez

Bobby consolidated the HGS and GSH fishing tournaments in a way that truly met the desires of our fishing members. His efforts resulted in a new venue and time frame that literally revived one of the four traditional sports tournaments on the HGS calendar. This is now the GSH/HGS Saltwater Fishing Tournament. Participation is up, sponsorship and prizes are up, and of course the financial benefits to the Society have rebounded as well. A positive bottom line for the event helps relieve the nearly constant upward pressure on member dues, as expenses tend always to rise, but the less tangible benefit to members of enhanced enjoyment of belonging to the profession and to the Society is undeniably more important.

Jamie Scott

Jamie Scott has been selected as HGS Earth Science Teacher of the Year. Jamie graduated from Metropolitan State College in Denver with a BS degree in geology in 1982 and began working as an exploration geologist. After six years, he met his future wife, an elementary school science coordinator, and decided to change careers. He earned a master’s degree in Education from the University of Houston and has been teaching ever since.

Jamie teaches earth science at Hamilton Middle School in HISD and is a coach for speech, debate and drama. He has coached many winners in the annual HISD Science Fair, including four winners of the Texas State Science Fair. He has also coached for Odyssey of the Mind competitions, and for a team that ranked #2 in the U.S. in a National Science Foundation contest.

His debate teams have won citywide speech and debate tournaments. He has produced and directed 10 plays. His efforts have brought Hamilton more than $40,000 in prizes and grants.

In 1999, Jamie received a City of Houston Proclamation and Presidential Recognition for his work with students and their community projects. In 2000, he received Congressional recognition for his commitment to education and was chosen as the Best Science Teacher in Houston by the Houston Press. And in 2001, Jamie was named as HISD’s Secondary Teacher of the Year.

Jamie’s energy and enthusiasm for his students and their activities seems endless. He is an excellent example of how a teacher can inspire and influence students in a tremendous way. The HGS is pleased to recognize and award his efforts.

Phillips Petroleum Company

Once again we are proud to acknowledge Phillips Petroleum Company for its continued support for the free student meal deal.

Kerr McGee

This year we are happy to acknowledge Kerr-McGee Corpora-tion for its generous support for underwriting free one-year student memberships in the HGS.

Sandi M. Barber

At Guest Night on June 16, the president of the Houston Geological Society will present the Society’s Distinguished Service Award to Sandra M. Barber. This award honors members who have rendered long-term valuable service to the organization, and Sandi fulfills that requirement as well as anyone.

Sandi has been very active in Society affairs since the late 1980s. She was HGS president in 1998-1999, but one cannot say that the presidency was the “culmination” of her service to her profession. She is currently active in five HGS committees as well as being Secretary-Editor of the AAPG House of Delegates.

Sandi brings a brilliant, active mind and relentless logic to every project, along with a ready wit that keeps things interesting. One facet of her value to HGS has been her deep understanding of how our organization works. This, coupled with her organizational skills, has made her a valuable contributor to many different projects.

Some of her most important achievements came while she was HGS president. She was instrumental in setting up the Jerry Cooley Award, for very long-time service to the Society. She says that she was especially gratified to be able to give the first such award to Jerry. It was also during her presidential term that she was a co-founder of the Houston Energy Council, an affiliation of upstream-oriented professional societies that coordinates joint activities of its member organizations. She is now the HGS representative to the council.

Her tenure as president in 1998-1999 was a period of consolidation in the oil industry. Jobs were disappearing rapidly. Sandi responded to this situation by actively promoting training courses and seminars designed to aid people making transitions to new opportunities. Her interest in continuing education has led her to continue as a very active member of the HGS Continuing Education Committee.

Sandi was a major contributor as a member of HGS’s Ad Hoc Constitution and Bylaws Revision committee, chaired by Paul Hoffman, which in 1997-1998 produced a complete revision of the governing rules for the Society. Her logic and attention to detail were invaluable to the committee.

Sandi earned a BA and an MA, both in mathematics, from the University of Texas at Austin. Her industry career has been on the geophysical side of the profession. (It has been said that the first rock hammer she ever held in her hand was given to her while she was HGS president; this was a scurrilous remark, but true.) She spent 13 years with Unocal, mostly as an interpreting exploration geophysicist, before moving on to computer-focused work with Landmark, GeoQuest, Flagship Geosciences, and, currently, SAIC. At this time she is a project manager for a three-company team that is building a commercial GIS-based Web tool to provide access, viewing, and loading of data from one portal for E&P teams.

Steve Brachman

Steve Brachman has truly distinguished himself by continuing to make significant contributions to our society. Steve is one of the many folks who has worked tirelessly behind the scenes doing the jobs that need to be done but few people want to do.

Steve was chairman of the HGS Personnel Placement Committee from 1988 to 1991. In 1991, he took on the task of treasurer-elect and later treasurer. Since that time, Steve has continued to work with our society as Finance Committee chairman for the last four years, preparing the annual budgets to be approved by the board, and usually telling the board they need to “get real.” He is a stickler for making the numbers work, and has been instrumental in keeping the HGS in the black.

Steve graduated with a BS in geology from Eastern Illinois University in 1978, and earned his MS in geology in 1983 from Penn State University. He began his career with Gulf Oil in 1981, then joined Sohio/BP in 1984. In 1990 he moved to Wintershall Energy in Houston. From 1992 he worked for a series of small independents, eventually joining Pogo Exploration.

For his exemplary service, the HGS is proud to honor Steve Brachman with a Distinguished Service Award.

Charles Sternbach

Charles Sternbach is a champion of new ideas for the HGS. During his term as president in 1999-2000 Charles inspired and encouraged each director and committee member to come up with new ideas, and then supported those innovations. Always cheerful, Charles shared his infectious enthusiasm with the entire society, and created pathways to work in partnership with other petroleum business societies for the benefit of all.

Charles was president-elect 1998-1999, vice-president 1997-1998 and chairman of the Emerging Technology Committee 1996-97. He was a member of the executive committee of the North American Explorationists Group for five years. Under his chairmanship, the NAE enjoyed record attendance of HGS members. In addition to his HGS work, Charles organized two years of technical programs on carbonate reservoirs for AAPG national conventions. In 1994, he was elected a Houston area representative to the AAPG House of Delegates.

As president of HGS, he focused on increasing membership, particularly for geoscientists beginning their careers. Charles enthusiastically supported the idea to launch the NeoGeos group for entry-level HGS members by allotting budget money to support their first meetings. He also began the “free meal deal,” a program to provide sponsorship for student and professor attendees at HGS meetings.

Charles championed the extremely successful “Legends in Wildcatting” panel presentation in January 2000, which set a new record for HGS dinner attendance. He also was instrumental in obtaining funding from the AAPG to match HGS funding to videotape the event, which resulted in the HGS’ first videotape publication. He continued the Legends theme by promoting the 100th anniversary celebration of the 1901 Spindletop discovery well in Beaumont, and helped organize the HGS field trip to the original Spindletop site.

For his extensive service to the Houston Geological Society, we are honored to present Charles Sternbach with the Distinguished Service Award for 2000-2001. Thank you, Charles.

Linnie Edwards
By: Dolores Humphrey

Monday, April 9, 2001 was a red-letter day for the Houston Geological Auxiliary, which held an animated Board meeting and luncheon at the lovely home of Margaret E. Jones, Treasurer. A matter of great importance was voted on: choosing the winner of the 2000-2001 HGS/HGA Distinguished Service Award. Votes were counted and the answer was Linnie Edwards! Mrs. Charles Edwards, past president of HGA, joined both HGA and GeoWives in 1983, (almost 20 years of service).

Linnie's record could be framed in gold. Because she accompanied her husband Chuck, on his worldwide business trips for Chevron, she could not become involved on a regular basis in Auxiliary activities until about 1985. But since then she has served as director, parliamentarian, treasurer, third vice president, first vice president and president of the Houston Geological Auxiliary, as well as a member of each of the committees. She has also served twice as president of GeoWives, as well as first vice president, second vice president, treasurer and committee chairman. Linnie was registration chairman when the AAPG International Convention was held in Houston in 1995. During the summer months, when the workload of processing membership renewals is heavy, she can be found regularly in the HGS office, rendering valuable assistance.

This is not all. In addition to Linnie's participation in the Geological Auxiliary, she has held offices, including president, in the Geophysical Auxiliary. In this regard, she established a precedent, as the first woman in the Houston area to serve as president of both these two organizations.

Linnie is also involved in other community service. She is active in Memorial Drive Presbyterian Church and currently serves on the Board for Women’s Ministry. She recently completed a 3-year tenure on the Board of Directors of Holly Hall Retirement Community and currently serves as her church’s representative to Holly Hall. She is a past president of the Metropolitan Chapter of Chevron Retirees Association, and is active in a Republican women’s group.

Born and reared in west Tennessee, near Memphis, Linnie attended the University of Tennessee at Memphis and upon moving to Houston attended the University of Houston. She became a staff member at the Standard Oil Company of Texas (later Chevron).

Linnie says she is grateful for Chuck's membership in HGS which has given her the opportunity to develop many special friendships with members of the Auxiliary and of GeoWives. And the rest of us are grateful to Linnie herself, a person one might describe with the following adjectives: generous, cheerful, kind, competent, resourceful, well-informed, indefatigable, loyal ... and one noun: a friend.

W. L. (Warren) Calvert

Warren Calvert is a success story. In 1973, he began the W. L. Calvert Memorial Scholarship Fund for graduate scholarships with an $8000 donation, which has now grown to over $300,000. In that time the fund has awarded over $150,000 in graduate scholarships to 62 students studying at 14 different universities. Each year since its inception Warren has continued to work with the HGS scholarship board to help select the best-qualified candidates as an active participant in the scholarship decision- making process.

Warren graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Ohio State University with a BA in geology in 1935. He attended school in the morning and worked in the afternoons with Hi Fuel Gas Company, then joined them full-time after graduation. He later worked for the Ohio Geological Survey, then with an independent oilman, O. D. Weaver, often called Dr. O.D. During this time, Warren worked as a stratigrapher in the Michigan, Ohio, Illinois, and Appalachian basins. He has authored two articles published in the AAPG Bulletin. Warren moved to Houston in the early 1960s. He retired in the mid-70s, at which point he endowed the Scholarship Fund.

For his dedicated service in fostering young geologists, the HGS is honored to bestow an Honorary Life Membership. Thank you Warren, for the great example that you have set and helping us contribute to the betterment of our geologic profession.

Lee Boatner

Since 1997, Lee Boatner has been quietly working with the society in handling hotel arrangements for our lunch meetings and working in the key role of negotiating the hotel service contracts for all of the society’s monthly meetings. Lee has been very successful in keeping our meeting costs to a minimum while at the same time ensuring that our meetings are held at good locations with high-quality meals.

Lee graduated with a BS in geology from Louisiana State University in 1974. He began his career as a geologist with Placid Oil Company in 1977. From 1982 to 1990 he was an independent, and then joined Louisiana Offshore Ventures in 1990. In 1992 he again consulted, until joining Houston Energy Inc. in 1995.

Lee is a consistent, effective negotiator and someone the HGS can count on to get the job done. HGS runs on people working behind the scenes, and Lee is one of the best. For his diligent service, HGS is honored to present Lee Boatner with a President’s Award.

Steve Hill

Steve Hill has an uncanny way of organizing fun trips and events. He has proven his gift in a big way with the January HGS field trip to Spindletop. This trip, long anticipated, celebrated a great event in style. During this trip, more than 200 geologists visited Spindletop on the 100th Anniversary of the wildcat well blowing out, with Spindletop historian Michel T. Halbouty. The weather was perfect and everyone enjoyed our stroll on hallowed ground, which led to quite a few wildcatting tales along the way. Steve, as a wildcatter himself, has quite a flair for celebrating our rich heritage. He executed the logistics flawlessly and captured the spirit by arranging for such a well-planned experience that participants will be talking about it for quite some time. For example, we watched a video telling of Spindletop’s history on the bus ride, enjoyed stories by local celebrities (including the mayor of Beaumont), heard a keynote address by Michel T. Halbouty- “If they had no fear, why should we? Finally while wearing our commemorative Spindletop caps we toured the museum and overlook of the discovery well. Steve, the HGS thanks you for a job well done!

Inda Immega

Inda Immega’s tireless work for the HGS has allowed the members to reap many benefits over the years. Inda is a woman who likes to work in partnership with other geoscientists. She rarely takes credit for all the work she does, but we feel she deserves individual recognition.

Inda was instrumental in beginning the HGS’ Earth Science Week programs. Together with Alison Henning and Janet Combes, she continues to organize and actively participate in the hugely successful program to bring the earth sciences into elementary and secondary schools. This is one of the most popular HGS programs. Craig Moore remembers having to “wade through children” dragging their parents to the various exhibits organized by Inda, Alison and Janet at the Earth Science Week displays at the Houston Museum of Natural Science. Inda and Janet also organized a field trip to the Brazos River as part of the Earth Science Week activities. Children were encouraged to take their parents to the river and collect fossils by the bucketful. Here Inda was truly in her element, leading the field trip, welcoming the parents and children into the science of geology.

In 1994, as one of the principal members of the HGS Computer Applications Committee (CAC), Inda and others began investigating methods for providing online information. In early 1995, Inda was one of the originators of the HGS website. Since that time, she has assisted in reviewing the site to keep it up to date and useful to the membership.

Inda was introduced to geology through her family. Her grandmother collected rocks, and she has many happy memories of expeditions to look for palmwood and other wonders in “Granny's ditch.” Attending an NSF summer science program in geology as a high school junior sealed her fate. Inda was the first woman to receive an undergraduate degree, BS, from the Texas A&M University College of Geosciences, and she later earned her PhD from Indiana University. Inda worked with Shell Oil for 20 years as a geoscientist par excellence.

In recognition of Inda Immega’s generous donation of time and energies to the betterment of the science of geology and the HGS, we present her with the President’s Award.

Thank you, Inda.

Steve Hill

Rene Mott has been a key person for ensuring that the HGS dinner meetings run smoothly. Working with Lee Boatner to handle hotel arrangements, Rene is the woman on the scene who makes sure that the microphones work, the audiovisual equipment is there and functioning, the speakers know where to go and when to go there, and that anything that goes wrong is taken care of. People like Rene are the lifeblood of the society, quietly effective and dedicated to getting the job done, whatever it may be.

Rene earned her BS in geophysics from Texas A&M in 1982. She earned her MS in sedimentology in 1986 from the University of Texas at Dallas. Rene began her career with Unocal, then joined Maxus in 1989 and subsequently worked with Gulfstar and Peltex. She is currently a geophysicist with SeismicMicroTechnology.

For her cheerful dedication and service, HGS is proud to honor Rene Mott with the President’s Award

Andrea Adams and Kelly Latter

Both Andrea Adams and Kelly Latter became HGS members in 1998. They had both finished graduate school in 1996 with MS degrees in geology. Kelly from University of Texas El Paso and Andrea from Texas A&M University. They moved to Houston and became practicing geoscientists in the energy business. They met on an unexpected evening, in March, 2000. It was the kick-off meeting for the NeoGeos. This was an after-work gathering of young members whom the HGS asked: How can we help you get going in this big city, this profession, this network? What can we do to make you feel more welcome in the society? Thus began the HGS NeoGeos group, early career professionals transitioning from university to the workplace.

In the year since that night, Andrea and Kelly have collaborated to create a forum to welcome young newcomers into a geoscience professional society. Over the last year they have shared the role of Chair of the NeoGeos and increased the membership to over 200. News of their success has traveled to other professional organizations. AAPG, RMAG and NOGS to name a few, have inquired about NeoGeos, how it is organized and what fueled its growth. They have told the story and publicized events right here in the Bulletin.

Under the leadership and direction of Andrea and Kelly, the NeoGeos continue to meet monthly to network, socialize and share mainly nontechnical work-related interests. Together through the year, they built a database of members, started a Website, and planned events and field trips. They tapped into the experienced ranks of the HGS by inviting Michel Halbouty to share career wisdom with the group. The NeoGeos took a tour of the Hughes-Christiansen rock bit manufacturing facility last fall, and they nearly filled an entire bus to Beaumont for the Spindletop Anniversary field trip! Their volunteer spirit has been behind the events of Earth Science Week and the Houston Museum of Natural Science - Certified Volunteer Geologist Program, designed to share geology with the general public.

The efforts of Andrea and Kelly this year are really centered on something we all share: the continuing satisfaction of being in the geoscience profession. The NeoGeos and their enthusiastic volunteer spirit are the future of the HGS, the future of the geoscience profession in Houston and the continuation of the legacy we have all inherited as members. We honor and recognize Andrea and Kelly this year with the HGS Rising Star Award for giving of their time and energy to such a great cause.

Janet Combes

Janet Combes, an HGS member since 1995, has taken a very proactive role in the organization. For the past two years, Janet has served as logistics chair for the Earth Science Week Committee: she is the keeper of lists, the facilitator of tasks, the maker of arrangements. More importantly, Janet is the committee's public voice, managing the ties to other committees inside HGS and to ESW efforts in other parts of the country. Janet maintains ties with local colleges and has been successful in making ESW field trips part of several college courses. Janet is listed as the public contact for the field trip and handles the registration - and calls throughout the year. With her experience at staging her own short courses, she has put our ESW outreach activities on a professional level. Janet is also largely responsible for the greater involvement of our sister professional societies in the Houston ESW celebration. Her co-chairs value her creativity and dependability.

Janet is also an active member of the Houston Museum of Natural Science Committee. A regular at HGS Days and special tours for the industry, she recently contributed to a docents’ proposal for improvements to the Wiess Energy Hall. She has enriched HGS days at the museum by bringing in her own maps, logs and sections to illustrate geoscience work processes.

Janet is a 1999-2002 Houston representative for the AAPG House of Delegates. She has volunteered for committee positions with the SEPM and the GSA. Janet has a BS in geology from LSU, an MS in geophysics from UH, and a PhD in geology from the University of Texas Austin. With 20 years domestic and international experience, she is currently working as a consultant with specialties in Gulf Coast Tertiary and coalbed methane.

Alison Henning

Alison Henning has served as academic chair for the Earth Science Week Committee since the committee was formed two years ago: She devises and carries out ESW activities related to elementary and secondary schools. Taking advantage of the coincidence of the annual Metropolitan Area Teachers of Science meeting and the ESW kickoff, Alison has twice arranged HGS speakers and presentations. MATS’s most popular Sharathon table, overflowing with geoscience resources, was Alison’s. Last year, Alison organized talks by HGS members in elementary schools. This past year, she created and conducted an ESW art contest in an “adopted” school. When Jennifer Patschke suggested developing more child-oriented programming for the Energy Theater, Alison wrote the scenario for the popular skit “The Adventures of Gus Gasoline and Jane.” An active member of the Museum of Natural Science Committee, Alison is always ready to lend a hand. She initiated and guided visits to the museum by participants in Rice teacher training institutes and has developed hands-on geophysical demos for the Wiess Energy Hall.

Alison served for a year as HGS Academic Liaison, organizing HGS speakers for elementary and secondary schools in Houston.

She has Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in geophysics from the University of Texas. After graduating in 1997, she moved to Houston and worked in the oil industry for several years. Most recently, she worked in Statoil's Houston office, doing AVO modeling and interpretation in the deep water Gulf of Mexico. After a successful career with Statoil, Alison is once again eligible for NeoGeos as she has returned to school and is pursuing a PhD at Rice.

Kevin McVey

Kevin joined the HGS Continuing Education Committee in 1998 and since joining he has taken an active roll in all of the committee's activities. Members of the committee volunteer their time and talent to be available whenever the committee offers a course. Kevin has been available in all cases to provide help in registering attendees, assembling handouts and any other function the committee requires. Additionally, Kevin chaired the extremely successful “Deepwater Dryhole Seminar,” a seminar to provide information for geoscientists to understand what can go wrong when prospecting in deepwater. Recently, Kevin has assumed the duties of planner for “Financing the Deal for $10,000,000 or More” that will be given in the fall, 2001.

Kevin continues to be a great asset to the HGS and the Continuing Education Committee with his untiring efforts, his willingness to help and the limitless ideas he brings to the committee.

Kevin received his BS degree in geology from the University of Akron in 1976 and is a Certifed Professional Geologist by the American Association of Petroleum Geologists. He is currently employed by Texaco as a regional geologist in the Deepwater Gulf of Mexico group.

Phillips Petroleum Company

By Charles Sternbach

The HGS Corporate Star Award this year goes to Phillips Petroleum. Phillips has generously supported the HGS in the following programs: Student Free Meal Deal, contributions to production costs of the HGS Legends video, and most recently with a contribution to the HGS fundraising efforts for the education of Houston K-12 teachers in the DESP. We are very grateful for all corporate support, and Phillips has been very generous with the HGS!

John Adamick

By Charles Sternbach and Dan Smith

John Adamick received the HGS President’s award in 1992 and 1998, the latter award for the HGS 75th anniversary technical program. John shows that there is no reason younger individuals who provide distinguished service to the HGS cannot be recognized with a distinguished award. John stepped in this year to connect more than a dozen students with HGS mentors through the AAPG Mentor Program.

John Adamick has a long history of distinguished service to the HGS, and he started very early. I first met John in 1986 when he received the HGS Outstanding Student Award while attending Stephen F. Austin University. The next year, 1987, I was on the HGS Warren Calvert Scholarship board that awarded him a $2000 scholarship. He received his MS in geology from Stephen F. Austin University and subsequently completed management programs at Rice and Harvard universities.

John’s graduation in 1988 was unfortunate timing for entering the petroleum business because of the severe energy depression. However, his perseverance landed him a position at TGS-Calibre Geophysical Company, where he has filled a variety of positions and is currently president of the Offshore Division.

Immediately after graduation, John began his service to HGS as liaison to Texas A & M University. In 1989 he joined the Awards Committee and was chairman 1990-92. Also, he was chairman of the Arrangements Committee 1989-90. Understanding the value of aid to students, he has been a tireless continuous worker on the Undergraduate Scholarship Foundation from 1990 to present and was on the Graduate Scholarship Committee 1991-94. He is one of a very few HGS scholarship recipients who has contributed to the fund to replace what he received.

In 1997, John chaired the highly successful 75th anniversary technical symposium “Countdown to the 21st Century,” which drew 450 attendees. He received the President’s Award twice, in 1992 and 1998. Also, in 1993, he was a candidate for HGS Secretary. He co-authored the eastern Gulf of Mexico technical paper presented at the March 1999 HGS dinner meeting.

The list goes on. Presently, John is the HGS mentor program coordinator and has connected more than a dozen students with mentors. He is also on the AAPG Mentoring Program Committee. He is currently the chairman of the “Eastern Gulf of Mexico” technical session for the GCAGS 2000 convention in Houston.

Past convention activities include housing chairman for the 1991 GCAGS Houston convention and 2nd-place recipient of the Best Poster award at the 1998 GCAGS New Orleans convention. He was also technical program chairman for the AAPG 1995 convention in Houston.

John is a rare person indeed. He realized at the outset of his career that taking part in professional organizations is a key attribute of a professional. He shows that younger individuals who provide distinguished service to HGS will be recognized and rewarded at a young age. John has set a new standard by which future HGS honorees will be judged.

Dean Grafton

By Martha Lou Broussard

Currently a trustee of the HGS Foundation and chairman of the Awards Committee, Dean Grafton has been a tireless worker for the Houston Geological Society. He has held the offices of Treasurer, Second Vice President, and was President in 1977-78. During his tenure as president he conceived the HGS Distinguished Service Award and received the award in 1984. Dean was awarded Honorary Life Membership in 1990. He has served as chairman of the Calvert Memorial Graduate Scholarship Fund, was 75th Anniversary Symposium Best Paper Award chair, and has been on the Ballot Committee several times. He was also on the Nominations Committee, of course, and has been an Associate Editor of the HGS Bulletin. In 1981, he served on a special Constitution and Bylaws ad hoc committee to study the classes of membership of HGS and make-up of the executive board. He also served as chairman of an ad hoc committee that investigated the feasibility of establishing an HGS undergraduate scholarship program. The executive board adopted the committee’s recommendations and HGS now awards undergraduate scholarships to seven area universities.

In national affairs, Dean has been an AAPG delegate and was foreman of the Houston delegate group in the mid-70s. He has been a best paper judge from HGS for both GCAGS and AAPG and has served as chairman of the Advance Registration Committee for OTC on behalf of HGS and AAPG. He was Matson Award chairman for the 1979 AAPG annual meeting in Houston.

Dean Grafton is a native of Ohio, born and raised in Mt. Pleasant in the eastern Ohio coal fields. He graduated from Ohio State University in December 1948 with a BS in geology and is a life member of the Ohio State University Association. He began his career in petroleum geology in the Permian Basin of west Texas in January 1949. After five years in west Texas, he moved to Houston and has remained here, except for four and one-half years in San Antonio. He elected early retirement in November, 1985, after 36 years in the petroleum industry. At the time of his retirement, he was region exploration geologist for Occcidental Petroleum Company (Cities Service Oil and Gas Corporation) - Gulf of Mexico Region.

Dean’s wife of 45 years, Georgia, is a native Houstonian. They met when both worked for American Republics Corporation. Georgia was secretary to the chief geologist. She has been active in the Houston Geological Auxiliary in past years, serving as second vice president and on many committees.

In addition to HGS, Dean is a member of AAPG (including DPA), American Institute of Professional Geologists (president, 1984, honorary membership, Texas Section-AIPG, 1985.) History of Earth Sciences Society, American Association for the Advancement of Science, and the Planetary Society.

In his many years of voluntary service to the profession, Dean exemplifies all that the Gerald A. Cooley Award means.

The Houston Geological Auxiliary

Houston Geological Auxiliary ( HGA )

By Charles Sternbach

The HGS is honored and pleased to present a special award to the HGA, to commemorate their Golden Anniversary of service to the HGS. Appropriately the award is called the “Golden Service Award.” The HGS recognizes 50 years of dedicated service and contributions to the geologic profession. We are grateful beyond measure to all the HGA volunteers, executive board members, and presidents of the HGA for generous assistance and outstanding leadership. The proud HGA heritage is closely linked with the HGS.

Examples of HGA’s dedicated service includes helping with this year’s Legends in Wildcatting Night and the Guest Night to be held at the Houston Museum of Natural Science. The entire HGS, the HGS executive board, and I say thank you and congratulations!

Jeanne Cooley

By Jeanette Coons

Jeanne Cooley has been a valuable contributor to the activities of the Houston Geological Society and Houston Geological Auxiliary for 48 years. She has held numerous offices on the HGA executive board and has served on virtually every committee. Since 1987, Jeanne has been a director. In 1989-90 she served as third vice president (HGS liaison) and again in 1994-95. Jeanne was second vice president in 1993-94, and courtesy chairman in 1997-99. This year, she again has served as a director on the executive board.

For the past few years, Jeanne helped staff the Houston Geological Society booth during the icebreakers at AAPG and GCAGS conventions. She was a ticket taker at the HGS annual shrimp boil gatherings. Jeanne and Jerry put in many hours at the HGS office during membership drives.

Jeanne Cooley was born in Alvin, Texas, and lived there until she went to the Texas State College for Women where she majored in health and recreation. After college, she taught health at San Jacinto High School. In 1949, she married Jerry Cooley, who was with Phillips Petroleum, and they moved to Louisiana and Oklahoma before coming back to Bellaire in 1952. They were blessed with four children: Carol, Dixie, Tricia, and Mike, and have six grandchildren. Jeanne has been active in the TSCW Association, as well as the Aggie Mom’s Club, and served as president of both for at least one term. As her daughters reached scout age, Jeanne was a dedicated Girl Scout leader for many years.

In addition to activities in HGA, she has served as president of the Houston Geophysical Auxiliary. Jeanne was very visible in her support of Jerry and his community service and they were both active members of Bellaire Methodist Church. Jeanne Cooley always has a smile and is ready to help out wherever needed. We are pleased to have Jeanne honored by the Houston Geological Society for her distinguished service.

Jim Ragsdale

By Charles A. Sternbach and Sandi Barber

Jim Ragsdale has contributed lengthy and unwaivering service to the HGS. He currently chairs the HGS office committee. His service began early, and includes a term as HGS secretary in 1978-1979 and HGS president 1996-1997.

For his outstanding service to the society, the HGS Board has bestowed Honorary Membership on Jim Ragsdale. His quiet contributions through the years have certainly earned him such recognition.

Jim received his Bachelor’s degree in geology from Rice Institute, where he formed life-long friendships. He matriculated (Jim loves fancy words) at University of Texas at Austin, studying sedimentology with Bob Folk. With Master’s degree in hand in 1960, he ventured out into the world with Texaco in San Antonio and later Houston. While at Texaco, Jim was the assistant editor for the 1965 HGS publication Deltas in Their Geologic Framework, proudly serving as “Martha Lou’s [Broussard] abject slave” for its preparation. He also edited the HGS Abnormal Subsurface Pressures publication.

In 1969, Jim joined Sohio, when “their annual budget for the entire Gulf Coast was $600K.” During the 1970s he expanded his experience, working with Ada Oil, Ashland Exploration, Watson Oil, and Blocker Energy. After two years of consulting, in 1983 Jim joined Agip Petroleum Company, from which he “retired” in 1999. Like many geologists, Jim’s idea of retirement is consulting.

Jim has been active in many ways besides his editorial work. He has served as AAPG delegate from Houston for a total of 12 years, elected for 1978-81 term and again in 1987. Interrupting his time as delegate, in 1990-93 he was on the AAPG DPA advisory council. Since 1993 he again has represented Houston members as a delegate. Jim served the HGS as secretary in 1978-79, as entertainment committee chairman in 1994-95, three times as executive committeeman (now called director) in 1979-81, 1992-94 and spring 1995, and then as president-elect in 1995-96.

Jim’s term as HGS president in 1996-97 was distinguished by his quiet manner of leadership. Although not obvious to the membership, that year was marked by many changes for the society. The office was relocated, a new office manager was hired, the bylaws received needed revision, and planning began on the 75th anniversary celebrations. Jim will protest that he delegated all the hard work, but that is part of his special leadership talent. He challenges those around him by questioning the status quo. He “stirs the pot” with unusual suggestions. Then he delegates the important projects to people of talent and willingness to serve, supporting and seeing those efforts to successful completion. At the end he stands aside, directing all credit elsewhere, claiming none for himself.

After completing his term as president, Jim has continued to serve. As Jerry Cooley’s illness progressed, Jim offered his support on the office management committee. He later stepped in to chair that committee, working with office manager Joan Henshaw in providing our members outstanding service. As a member of the nominating committee, he has assisted in providing strong slates of HGS board candidates. And he is assistant editor of the Transactions for the GCAGS 2000 convention here in Houston in October. Of course, his repeated editing efforts are not surprising when you realize that among Jim’s passions is writing fiction.

I was very honored when asked to write this article, for I much admire Jim. Working with him is always educational, inspirational, and most especially-fun. Whatever Jim does, he does with integrity and humor. And despite his protests, Jim has done much for this society and its members, thereby earning this honor.

Paul Babcock

By Charles Sternbach and Denise Stone

Paul Babcock, as HGS membership chairman for several years, has done the society a great service. This year, he kicked an important job up another notch to recruit many new HGS members. Following last year’s industry-wide downturn, HGS membership fell from 4400 to 3600 at renewal time. Paul relentlessly solicited HGS membership at meetings, and among AAPG members who reside in Houston, added over 900 members to bring us to about 4500 at the end of the year!

Paul Babcock receives the President’s Award this year for his hard work and commitment to the HGS as membership chairman for the last two years. The role of membership chairman, critical to the continuing financial health of the HGS, is one requiring continuous effort and attention. As you might imagine, if membership numbers decrease, dues income drops, adversely affecting the ability of the organization to function. As a result of Paul’s efforts over the past two years, our membership total exceeds 4400, a very respectable number for the largest local geoscience organization in the world.

Paul’s strategy in growing the membership during the oil price downturn of last year was to give greater visibility and circulation to HGS membership applications. He did this by making applications available at technical meetings, social events, and conventions and distributing them electronically. Through direct mailings of applications to members of other geoscience organizations, similar in function and purpose to the HGS, Paul successfully tapped into new HGS members.

Paul has worked in exploration and exploitation of North American projects in Houston, and Denver, most recently as chief geologist at Burlington Resources. Prior to that he worked for Superior Oil / Mobil supervising Gulf of Mexico projects. Please join me in congratulating Paul for excellent service to the HGS and a job well done!

Kara Bennett

By Charles A. Sternbach and Andy Link

Kara Bennett had an outstanding year as Bulletin Editor, which is one of the HGS’s toughest jobs. As the husband of a former HGS Bulletin editor, I know what a continuous effort it takes every month to put out an award-winning Bulletin. Kara also produced HGS’s first video publication Legends in Wildcatting, which chronicles the January 10th, 2000 dinner meeting with industry legends.

The term of the editor of the HGS Bulletin is for one year, yet the commitment to the society is for two years. As the editor-elect, one learns the ropes for a year before serving as editor the following year. Kara Bennett has served very well in both positions.

HGS editors are jugglers of people, time, and money. They solicit articles for publication, edit them with the aid of the editorial staff, and then combine the articles and advertising into a specific number of pages. As editor, Kara lived in a continuous cycle of deadlines to get the Bulletin to the publisher. During each cycle, she reviewed and edited submissions from various authors, organizations, and the HGS board, merged the editorial changes proposed by her staff with her own, and wrote the editor’s letter. Then, she worked with Annette Mather and Danielle Frost on the final layout, determining the most aesthetic, efficient, and economical way to present each month’s Bulletin. Through Kara’s efforts, the HGS has the luxury of a top quality, informative publication that is 10% under budget.

Kara has been active in the Computer Applications (1997-99) and Personnel Placement (1996-2000) committees. She originated the HGS Jobs Hotline web site in 1996 and has maintained it until recently. Kara also was the force behind creation of HGS’ first video publication, Legends in Wildcatting, which she conceived, produced, and directed.

Except for a hiatus from 1985-1991 while in graduate school, then working for Amoco in New Orleans, Kara has been a member of the HGS since 1983. She worked in domestic and international exploration, basin analysis, and sequence stratigraphic analysis for MMS, Gulf, and Amoco, and has also worked in uranium exploration and coal bed methane. Currently she is at Landmark Graphics where she is involved with software usability, design, and training for interpretation software.

Jim Funk

By Charles Sternbach

Jim Funk was a member of the original HGS Legends in Wildcatting selection committee. When Byrd Larberg was unable to help moderate the panel because of business overseas, Jim stepped in and did a terrific job. Much planning for this very successful event went on over the Christmas Holidays. During the panel discussion, Jim kept the discussion lively and focused. In the end, we were able to capture some great exploration stories and address audience questions. Jim is a highly distinguished oil industry professional. Jim is a geologist who always encouraged exploration. The HGS is proud to have him as an active member.

After completing his PhD at the University of Kansas, Jim began his career with Shell in 1976 as an exploration geologist working frontier lease sales in Alaska and California. He then led exploration groups in the Rockies and in Michigan at the height of the center basin play. In 1986, Jim received his first taste of exploration in the Gulf of Mexico and New Orleans as Shell began drilling a number of deepwater wells and shot the first large-scale 3D exploration surveys in the Gulf. He returned to Houston in late 1987 as general manager of geology and had the opportunity to evaluate and provide direction for all of Shell's exploration activities. Jim went back to New Orleans in 1990 and spent seven years as a general manager of Shell Offshore Inc., first for exploration and then for the shelf E&P business unit, and helped position it as a leader in exploration discoveries and production. When Jim retired from Shell in early 1999, he was president of Shell Continental companies and general manager of new business development. Since retiring Jim has been doing some E&P consulting and evaluating various business opportunities. Jim is a Certified Petroleum Geologist, and is a member of AAPG, HGS, NOGS, SEPM, and IPAA. He is also a trustee of the AGI Foundation and member of the Board of Earth Sciences and Resources at the National Research Council.

Denise Stone

By Charles Sternbach and Synthia Smith

Denise Stone has been active in HGS over many years and was an early chairman of the very successful International Explorationists group. This year she served as HGS secretary. During this time she devised a new committee, NeoGeos, a special interest group focused on younger professionals. This group is just beginning, but has already tapped into a critical need of our society to bring along young professionals. The group has received a warm welcome, and will continue to grow and evolve. Denise’s dedication to launching the NeoGeo initiative was strong, and it is the kind of creative thinking the HGS should encourage!

Denise Stone is a geologist with BP Amoco. As a young woman, her natural curiosity led her to pursue the science of geology “. . . Geology explains so much of what you see. . . why mountains are where they are and why rocks look the way they do.”) Denise received her BS in geology from Texas Christian University in 1979 and began her oil patch career as a student summer intern at Unocal in 1978. She joined Superior Oil International after receiving her MS in geology from Memphis State University in 1981, and in 1985 went to work for Amoco Production Company, now BP Amoco. As her career has unfolded, Denise has enjoyed traveling to exciting places, learning new and challenging technologies, and working with tremendous people.

Denise has been active in HGS, AAPG, and GCAGS over many years. HGS highlights include being chairman of the very successful International Explorationists group and serving as HGS treasurer (“this was hard work, because we didn’t have a Treasurer-Elect back then...but I learned a lot and now take better care of my own money.”)

Denise is currently serving as HGS Secretary. During this time she initiated the launch of a new committee, NeoGeos, which ‘ is a special interest group focused on early-career professionals. “These young people are enduring large uncertainty factors in their careers. I’ve discovered the reasons for becoming a geologist haven’t changed over the years...it gets in your blood, it’s something you love to do.” The group is just beginning, but it has already tapped into a critical need of our society to bring along young professionals, especially during unstable times. Denise’s dedication to launching the NeoGeos was strong, and her leadership epitomizes the kind of initiative and creative thinking the HGS should encourage!

Gabor Tari

By Charles Sternbach and Martin M. Cassidy

Gabor Tari continues as the poster chairman for the HGS International Explorationists group. The quality and number of posters at each meeting has astounded me for the last several years. The posters bring forward much technical information and make for a very productive and fun social hour. Gabor has recently expanded his responsibilities to take on posters for the general dinner meetings.

In 1989 Gabor Tari arrived from Hungary to pursue a PhD in geology at Rice University under the mentor ship of Professor Bert Bally. Even as a student Gabor was active in the Houston Geological Society and the HGS International Geologists group. He also became a member of the GSH. He completed the PhD in 1994 and is a well-rounded explorationist, now working for Vanco.

In 1998 he took over the important duty as poster chairman for the HGS international group. His good judgment and enthusiastic pursuit of multiple poster presenters for the international meetings has been very effective in bringing new information to the membership. The groups of quality and relevant posters he has recruited for each meeting compliment the talks and present hard data about “hot” oil and gas plays around the world. They provide a focus for the social hour, at which at which they can be viewed and discussed.

Combined with a timely set of topics by authoritative speakers, Gabor’s efforts have resulted in a steadily increasing attendance at the monthly International dinner meetings. Gabor has now accepted the additional duty as chairman of posters at HGS Dinner meetings. We owe great thanks to this newcomer to the Houston exploration community and look forward to many years of his continuing achievements in the HGS.

Lee Shelton

By Charles Sternbach and Synthia Smith

Lee Shelton made a terrific contribution by picking up the Shrimp Peel, which needed a chairman and reformatting to include a new venue. Lee’s extraordianary efforts, with the support of SCA Sponsorship, put us in the Winner’s Circle.

Ladies and gentlemen, place your bets on Lee Shelton as a Rising Star Awardee! In his first active role with the HGS, Lee Shelton made a terrific contribution this past fall by stepping into the role of chairman for the Shrimp Peel, and completely reformatting the event to include a new venue at Sam Houston Race Park.

Lee joined Exxon in 1976 after graduating with an MS Ed from Stephen F. Austin State University, and over the next 20 years, held various scouting and geoscience training assignments in Denver, Midland and Houston. Since 1996, Lee has been a Marketing Manager with Subsurface Consultants and Associates. Lee’s coordination efforts at this fun location expanded the Shrimp Peel’s traditional shrimp and beer festivities to include horse races, betting, and dancing to a country and western band. Next year (weather permitting) we’ll peel our shrimp in the infield, as the horses race around us! With the support of Subsurface Consultants Associates, Lee’s extraordinary efforts, put the HGS in the winner’s circle. “Go Baby, Go!”

Sharma Dronamraju

By Charles Sternbach and Robert Pledger

Sharma Dronamraju has been a recent addition to the terrific Continuing Education committee (chaired by Robert Pledger). Sharma helped organize the International Business Symposium (with Thom Tucker) and put together the coal bed methane course in February, which was a huge success. Many people came from outside Houston to partake of an excellent 1-day program. Sharma has several other courses in the works.

Sharma joined the HGS Continuing Education Committee in 1998 and he has taken an active role in all of the committee’s activities. Members of the committee volunteer their time and talent to be available whenever the committee offers a course. Sharma has been available in all cases to provide help in registering attendees, assembling handouts, and any other function the committee requires. Additionally, Sharma co-chaired the first International Symposium 2000, a symposium to provide information for geoscientists to crossover from domestic to international experience. Recently, Sharma designed, assembled speakers, and procured a location for a one-day seminar on coal bed methane. Both programs were reasonably priced and included world-class speakers.

Sharma has been and continues to be a great asset to the HGS and the domestic and international Continuing Education committees with his untiring efforts, his willingness to help and the limitless ideas he brings to the committee.

Sharma received his BS (Honors) in geology from Osmania University in India in 1982, his MS in applied geology from the Indian Institute of Technology in 1984, and holds a MS in geology from Texas A&M. He is currently employed by Fugro GeoServices, Inc. as a project geoscientist.

Dwight "Clint" Moore

by Jeff Lund

The HGS Executive Board has determined that Dwight "Clint" Moore is a recipient of one of the society's most prestigious honors, Honorary Life Membership.

Clint's tireless and distinguished contributions to our society, the geological profession, and the petrolum industry are well known and truly merit this recognition.

Prior to leading the HGS in 1994-95 (the year we hosted a national AAPG Convention), Clint had served as president-elect and vice president. His service as an elected officer is only an indicator of the depth to which he has improved our organization. Among the unique events and traditions we owe to Clint's initiative are:

• The HGS/NOGS guidebook Productive Low Resistivity Logs of the Offshore Gulf of Mexico; he proposed it and became chief editor.
• HGS Guests Nights at the Houston Museum of Natural Science and the IMAX theatre, which he proposed and organized for eight straight years.
• The Houston Museum of Natural Science Liaison Committee with HGS Days and Volunteer Geologist training and service; created and organized by Clint.
• The highly successful North American Explorationists group was his solution to the Permian Basin/Mid-Continent attendance problem.
• Creation of HGS "Rising Star Awards" to acknowledge and encourage young leaders, and the beginnings of our new reservation system.
• Creation of the Interdisciplinary Council to facilitate communication among industry professional societies.
• Creation of the Fund Development and State Registration Committees to help meet the financial needs of the society and the professional needs of its members.

Clint has been a long-time member of AAPG and is a DPA Certified Petroleum Geologist. He has served as a member of the AAPG House of Delegates in four consecutive terms, co-chair of the AAPG/DPA Government Affairs Committee, and member of the AAPG Committee on Committees and the AAPG Education Committee.

Recently, Clint has been a key member of the very proactive AAPG House of Delegates Constitution and By-laws Committee, working diligently to design fundamental changes in AAPG governance, to improve representation and the voice of all members, through this restructuring of the Association. His admonitions for change are not always popular with some traditionalists, but they are well thought out, thoroughly documented, and always offered with the desire to enhance and represent the voices of all members.

Clint has has been AAPG's representative on the AGI Government Affairs Program Advisory Committee. He was a session chair at AAPG National Conventions in 1995, 1997, and 1999, and presented technical papers at the 1993 AAPG Hedberg Salt Research Conference, the 1995 GCAGS convention (keynote address), 1995 GCS-SEPM Research Conference, 1996 AAPG annual convention and the 1997 AAPG international convention in Vienna. His paper entitled "The Evolving Exploration of the Sub-Salt Play in the Offshore Gulf of Mexico" was given before more than a dozen local scientific societies, including HGS. He has made numerous presentations to a wide variety of professional audiences including AAPG, GCAGS, SEPM, HAPL, OOSA, and HGS and has received many awards and citations for excellence.

Clint's professional career, primarily as a geoscientist and exploration supervisor at Diamond Shamrock (Maxus) and Anadarko, has also resulted in significant contributions to science and our industry. He was instrumental in conceiving of and pioneering the "sub-salt play" in the Gulf of Mexico. He has added significantly to his company's reserve base as a result of advocating this leading-edge play concept, an accomplishment we all strive for but rarely achieve in our own careers. He was Anadarko's geologist for the 1993 Mahogany discovery, which drew worldwide attention to sub-salt plays. Anadarko has subsequently made discoveries at Tanzanite, Monazite, Hickory, and Agate. Clint served as project geologist on most of these, and then geological supervisor as these prospects were identified, leased, high-graded, and subsequently discovered.

Clint is very active in Republican politics at all levels, serving as one of 123 delegates from Texas to the 1996 Republican National Convention. He is active in the Harris County Republican Party, serving as their rules chairman and a precinct chairman/election judge, and serves on the State Republican Rules Committee, as well.

His family background is rooted deeply in the oil patch. His father was an old fashioned wildcatter for over 35 years, drilling primarily in Mississippi while raising money at home outside Detroit, MI. Clint grew up in the tradition of taking risks to find oil and gas, and his father spent much of his career in pursuit of giant field plays. Clint must have acquired this instinct from his father, and he has achieved great success because of that tutelage. He earned his degree from Southern Methodist University in 1978 with majors in geology and business administration while minoring in economics. He was a University Scholar at SMU and received the Sabine Royalty/DGS Scholarship.

It has been my privilege over the years to have Clint and his wife Diana as personal friends. He has motivated me, and many others, to take pro-active roles in our profession, instead of hiding in our cubbyholes! We are all part of a wonderful profession, which affects the economics of the world and human welfare. Clint Moore is one of the stalwart, motivated members of the profession of petroleum geology, who encourages and leads his peers to take control of their professional lives rather than to passively go with the flow.

Thank you Clint, for showing so many of us how to follow your example, and urging us to take our shot at making a difference!

Charles R. "Chuck" Noll, Jr.

By Dan Smith

The Executive Board of the Houston Geological Society takes pleasure in announcing that Chuck Noll has been elected to Honorary Life Membership. Chuck Noll's reputation and contributions to the Houston Geological Society and the geosciences in general, give us a shining example that we all would like to emulate. Optimism, enthusiasm, dedicated service, and a continuing search for excellence in all of his endeavors characterize his life and his works.

Chuck was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in 1931. His father worked for Gulf Oil Company in the business aspect of the oil industry, but Chuck chose a career as a geologist after taking a geology course during his sophomore year at Dartmouth College. He graduated with a B.A. degree in geology from Dartmouth in 1953 and earned his M.S. degree in geology from the University of Oklahoma in 1955. He went to work for Stanolind, later to become Pan American Petroleum Corporation (now BP Amoco). Chuck rose quickly through the ranks to the level of senior staff geologist with diverse assignments at Oklahoma City, Tulsa, Jackson, and Houston.

Chuck joined Davis Oil Company in Houston in 1971 as division manager and established a significant exploration position for Davis in the Gulf Coast and West Texas. In 1982, after leaving Davis, he joined a management team in which he could utilize his entrepreneurial spirit. First, he was exploration manager for Frio Exploration Company, and in 1987, he became exploration manager for New Bremen Corporation, a position he still holds. In 1988, he also formed C. R. Noll and Associates to assist Neumin Production Company as an exploration consultant until 1991, when he became exploration manager. In 1989, his group added Live Oak Resources, Inc., the interests of which now include gas gathering systems in Copano Bay–Aransas Bay and Jim Hogg County, Texas. These endeavors have resulted in the formation of several corporations in which Chuck serves in various management positions.

Chuck's 44 years in the industry have afforded him exposure to all phases of petroleum geology. He has worked in exploration and field development. He is an accomplished prospect generator, prospect evaluator, and manager. Chuck has extensive experience in many geographical areas, including the Gulf Coast, Permian, Arkoma, Anadarko, and Black Warrior basins. continued on page 45 ?

Throughout his career, Chuck has been a dedicated professional, readily offering his talents, leadership, and hard work to the furtherance of petroleum geology. The present recognition conferred upon Chuck by the HGS truly is merited by his four decades of contributions and notable achievements. Space constraints prevent stating all of his activities, but some of his positions should be mentioned. He has been an active member of AAPG since 1955, and a Certified Petroleum Geologist with DPA since 1981. Chuck began his many contributions to AAPG and its Gulf Coast Section, GCAGS, in 1971, when he was selected vice chairman of the Personal Placement Committee for the AAPG annual meeting. He was on the Entertainment Committee for the 1979 annual meeting and was interview chairman at AAPG's 1974 annual convention in San Antonio. He was general vice chairman of the 1995 AAPG annual convention held in Houston.

In 1973, Chuck was elected to his first term in the House of Delegates and, as of this year, has been a delegate for 19 of the past 27 years. He was foreman of that prestigious group in 1984, served as chairman of the Ad Hoc Committee on Campaign Policy in 1996–97, and Credentials Committee chairman in 1997–98. He received both the AAPG Distinguished Service Award and Certificate of Merit in 1995. He is currently a nominee for AAPG secretary.

It was my pleasure and honor to work with Chuck in 1991 when we co-chaired the Houston convention of the GCAGS. Working with Chuck that year was a very rewarding experience. Chuck received the GCAGS Distinguished Service Award in 1992.

One of the most meaningful activities in Chuck's career was serving as president of the AAPG Division of Professional Affairs in 1992–93. He received the DPA Distinguished Service Award in 1996.

Chuck has been a dedicated participant in the activities of the HGS, beginning as the Personal Placement Committee chairman in 1970–73. He has served HGS in many capacities including the Presidency in 1986–87, and continued his activities as chairman of the HGS Memorial Scholarship Fund until 1991. In recognition of his contributions to the HGS, he received the Distinguished Service Award in 1992.

Chuck also found time to be active in AIPG and was president of the Houston section in 1979.

In addition to his professional participation, he has also given his talents to his community and his church. These activities include being chief advisor to the Amoco-sponsored Junior Achievement Company that, in 1967, took top honors in Houston and placed in the top fifteen companies nationally, to fund raising for the University of Houston Excellence Campaign, to serving as a Little League baseball coach and commissioner. He has also served Dartmouth College well in several capacities including as an elected member of the Dartmouth College Alumni Council. He is currently on the University of Oklahoma School of Geology Alumni Advisory Council.

Chuck has two grown sons, Robby and Randy. JoAnn, his wife, participates with him in many of his professional activities. She has encouraged and aided him in his work for his profession.

It has indeed been my pleasure to have known and worked with Chuck ever since our early Amoco days, a period of some 38 years. Chuck is a true geoscientist, always learning, always growing professionally, and always sharing what he has learned with others. He is a tireless and dedicated worker who reaches out with sincerity, personal integrity, courtesy, wisdom, and service to his fellow men and women.

This year's recipient of the HGS Corporate Star Award is Exxon Production Research (EPR) for its efforts in conducting the HGS Continuing Education class: Sequence Stratigraphy Core Workshop—Concepts and Applications to Oil and Gas Exploration and Production. The class was taught January 14–15 at the Renaissance Houston Hotel to 50 geoscientists who gained a basic knowledge of sequence stratigraphy terminology, concepts, and applications. Dr. John C. Van Wagoner of EPR taught the class, and was ably assisted by three of his co-workers. Dr. Van Wagoner brought in slabbed cores for the class and EPR provided class manuals that contained more than 50 pages of color graphics. EPR also paid for the room and refreshments. This level of facilitation and assistance is truly remarkable, and the society appreciates the support it received from EPR.

Martin M. Cassidy

Martin M. Cassidy is a petroleum geologist and president of both Casmar Consulting and the Texas National Oil Repository. He is also a Ph.D. candidate in geology at the University of Houston. He is currently doing these tasks after 32 years with Amoco in oil and gas exploration.

Martin received his B.A. and graduated cum laude from Harvard in 1955. He worked for a year in Houston and Corpus Christi with Standard of Texas before spending three years in the Air Force. After working in the oil and gas business in Texas, he earned an M.S. in geology from the University of Oklahoma. He also worked for two years on a Ph.D. at Harvard before returning to Texas in 1962 to join Pan American (Amoco).

In 1964 he became active in the HGS, first serving as chairman of the Research Committee. He worked with Martha Lou Brousard, Jim Ragsdale, Art Smith, and others in publishing the first HGS delta volume. In 1966–67 he was the treasurer of the HGS, and in 1968–69 he was second vice-president, now titled vice-president.

In 1969 he entered Amoco International and left Houston to work in Libya, southeast Asia, and the UK. Upon returning to Houston in 1988, Martin became involved with the HGS International Explorationists group. His extensive experience helped the group identify important international plays to present at the monthly meetings.

Martin continued to provide leadership when he became chairman of the HGS International Explorationists group in 1997. Membership in this group has continued to grow, and the popular dinner meetings provide high-caliber technical information to attendees. Martin continues to believe that oil and gas exploration is an exciting business, although it has become much more difficult now that oil is a commodity traded worldwide.

David C. Crane

by Ken Aitken

Although Dave has not been an HGS member for nearly as many years as some of the rest of us, his contributions to HGS as well as to AAPG have been extremely significant. He joined AAPG in 1974, and has been active in what is now called the Geologic Computing Committee (GCC) since about 1980. He helped organize the first session devoted to PC applications, held at the 1984 Annual Meeting in San Antonio, a session that boasted more than 800 attendees! The following year, he aided in organizing the AAPG Conference on Personal Computers in Geology, held in Keystone, Colorado. Last fall, he was appointed chairman of the AAPG Web Site Committee, working closely with the Executive Committee. Even more recently, he has traveled to Tulsa as a paid consultant to AAPG on issues relating to Internet delivery of AAPG's digital data and publications.

Closer to home, Dave joined the HGS and the Computer Applications Committee (CAC) shortly after his return to Houston in 1994. He was an early advocate of the HGS Web site shortly after the Internet became available to the general public. He served as our first Web master until last year. Although this has been a cooperative effort by many CAC members, it was Dave who took the bull by the horns, getting things up and running, while simultaneously developing some long-range goals and strategies. This was no mean feat, in an area that was (and continues to be) quite wide open. Dave reined us in and kept us focused, resulting in a Web site that is useful to both our membership and the public.

Dave has also helped to organize a number of our HGS courses dealing with PCs and the Internet, and served as an instructor several times.

He currently serves as an alternate HGS delegate to AAPG's House of Delegates and recently stood for election as a regular delegate.

Dave's valued contributions come from his tenacity and hard work, combined with his knowledge (acquired over a career of many years) of how computers relate to the business of geology. He is able to focus on the finer details while also formulating an appreciation of where our efforts fit into a broader domain.

Dave received a Ph.D. in geology from Rice University in 1965 and immediately began his career with IBM, serving its oil & gas exploration customers in various capacities and in various locations. He left IBM in 1978, after seven years in its international petroleum exploration support center, to open his own consulting practice, serving the exploration industry on a global basis. His projects have varied from PC-oriented, to Unix, to large mainframe environments. Later he served as a senior consultant, management consulting services, to EDS Corporation, and as a systems and management consultant to a local law firm. In his "spare" time, he is also a member of HGS, AAPG, SEG, and the Society of Sigma Xi.

Evelyn Wilie Moody

by Bill Champion

Evelyn Moody is a loyal and hard-working member of HGS. She has managed the Library Committee for twenty years and has seen the GS collection, the continuing gift from our society at the Houston Public Library (HPL), flourish under her coordination. When HPL gave away the E-log collection, she got most of it returned. Her committee helped catalogue the Texas well logs and assembled, with the Houston Geological Auxiliary, the driller's log collection. That is the most comprehensive set of those logs in existence. Each of those collections is available on the second floor of the HPL Central Branch next to city hall.

Further, she has endeavored to get people in touch with log libraries and other sources of geologic information. She was recently reelected to the AAPG House of Delegates, part of the HGS representation to the members' control of AAPG.

As committee chairman, educator, oil finder, subsurface geologist, and paleontologist, Evelyn Moody is a credit to the HGS.

Lawrence W. "Bill" Osten

by Paul Britt

Bill chose a career as a geologist because of a love of fossils and field work that he did as a freshman at the University of Texas at Arlington. He earned his B.S. in geology from there in 1976, and went on to Southern Methodist University to obtain his M.S. degree in 1978. He accepted employment with Phillips Petroleum, and has been there for nearly twenty years, working primarily development geology in the Mid-Continent, San Juan basin, and the Gulf Coast. Bill currently works properties in and along the Gulf Coast.

As a direct result of his interest in computers and computer geoscience applications, Bill became an active participant on the HGS Computer Applications Committee, where his energetic style quickly resulted in his becoming chairman of that committee. He has served in that position for the past three years. Under his direction, the committee continued toward their goal to establish a premier Web site for the HGS on the World Wide Web. What began as a simple information page about the HGS has blossomed into an extensive site, with interactive forums, detailed HGS calendar of activities, an on-line Bulletin, virtual field trips, personnel placement services, and member and vendor advertising. As if this wasn't enough, he took a point role in the integration of the computer databases and programming for the HGS office and membership services. Under his direction, the Computer Applications Committee has continued a very active computer continuing education program, hosting two or three seminars per year. Bill's volunteer spirit goes beyond the call of duty when computer problems arise at the HGS office. When asked about his role as chairman, he quickly states that the committee is a team effort of outstanding people, and plays down his own involvement. Certainly, Bill is richly deserving of this award, and the HGS is grateful for the dedication that he has shown.

Robert E. Pledger

by Craig Moore

Robert E. Pledger has a gift for organizing activities and seeing them through to their successful conclusion. Robert's challenge this year, as chairman of the Continuing Education Committee, encompassed two phases. The first was to ensure that high-quality, first-class short courses were made available to our HGS membership. He succeeded admirably! The second phase, in response to massive industry layoffs, was to organize and implement a new suite of short courses designed to help our displaced members. To this end, Robert went that extra mile not only to ensure that HGS offered these programs in a timely manner, but also to participate as a distinguished lecturer on how to make the transition into independent consulting.

Robert earned his B.S. in geology from Lamar University and an M.B.A. in business/finance from the University of Dallas. An independent since 1977, he is president of Benchmark Oil & Gas Company. Robert has served twice as chairman of the Houston chapter of SIPES, served on the National Board of Directors of SIPES, and served as chairman of the National Energy Advisor Council. o

Ken Aitken

by Bill Osten

Ken's contributions to the Houston Geological Society may go unnoticed by the general membership, but his behind-the-scenes work enables the HGS to continue functioning like a well-oiled machine. Since the upgrade of the HGS/GSH membership computer database was completed this year, Ken has spent many hours reviewing and maintaining the database. He also helps in training and working with the HGS office staff as they prepare the countless reports, lists, and mailing labels critical to the society.

Ken used his expertise in Microsoft Access, the engine that runs the membership database, to configure the office computers so that both members of the HGS office staff could input information into the database simultaneously. This configuration has significantly increased the productivity of the office staff during the membership renewal process.

Ken's assistance has extended to other HGS committees' needs as well. He worked with Greg Gregson, chairman of the Directory Committee, to improve the efficiency of publishing the Membership Directory. Ken used the database to create reports that could be sent directly to the printer, which will reduce the cost to publish the directory.

The society is fortunate to have Ken as an active member. He is a founding member of, and continues to serve on, the Computer Applications Committee. He also received an HGS President's Award in 1989.

Ken Aitken is a geological computer and Internet consultant who came to Houston more than 25 years ago as a geologist in NASA's lunar science program. His experience includes work with three major oil and gas companies, managing efforts in geological computer applications, and serving as a senior scientist at IBM. Ken is currently involved with developing customized software applications in the Microsoft Windows environment, designing and implementing Internet applications, and teaching courses in geographic information systems (GIS) at the community college level.

Daniel Bonnet

by Ron Neal

The Houston Geological Society has appropriately recognized Dan Bonnet as a recipient of a 1998–99 Distinguished Service Award. This is a fitting symbol of the "passing of the torch" of our society for the new millennium. His combination of technical sophistication wedded to sound geological concepts makes Dan the quintessential example of the geologist and explorationist of the 21st Century. His enthusiastic and unfailing commitment to the needs of our society elevates Dan as a shining example of what we all can do and should be as members of the HGS.

Dan was born in New Orleans, Louisiana in 1954. In 1976 he received his B.S. in geology from the University of Memphis and in 1979 his M.S. in geology from Louisiana State University. After graduation, he moved to Houston where he married Tena Petty in 1984. Dan and Tena have three sons who are the pride and joy of Dan's life. They give Dan the opportunity to further expand his volunteerism by coaching his sons' sports teams.

Dan's professional career began with Unocal, working the geology of the Texas Gulf Coast. After tours of duty with Anschutz and as a consultant, Dan found a home with Houston Energy, Inc., where he has been an active and successful explorationist on the Louisiana and Texas continental shelf. In 1995, he was a major force in the transformation of Houston Energy into a 3D-oriented company. He is responsible for the creation and integration of Houston Energy's 3D system and continues to function as the company's computer "guru." Because of Dan's affable nature, he is a person of whom other professionals feel comfortable asking questions. This quality helps make him a quiet leader and a naturally popular co-worker.

In 1979, Dan joined the Houston Geological Society and has served on or chaired several of the society's committees. Most recently Dan has served as chairman of the HGS Historical Committee and before that as secretary of the HGS Executive Board. In 1995, Dan was a recipient of the 1994–95 President's Award in recognition of his labor for the benefit of the society. Contributing to this selection was Dan's five year term as HGS Awards Committee chairman, chairman for the 1995 AAPG National Convention Matson Awards, AAPG National Convention Technical Program Committee, and member of the HGS Awards Committee. With each committee position, Dan has been resolutely dependable and faithfully true to the high standards of the society.

I have had the honor and privilege of being a friend of Dan's for more than 24 years and have seen him grow and mature as a leader. It is this leadership in the Houston Geological Society, his community, and profession that gives Dan the rare distinction of being able to say, "I have made a difference."

Jeffrey W. Lund

by Clint Moore

Jeffrey W. Lund is a recipient of this year's HGS Distinguished Service Award, and this is indeed an appropriately named award to be bestowed on such a truly distinguished member.

Having been a friend of Jeff's for nearly 20 years, I've always been impressed by his thoughtful, wise, and supportive advice, enhanced by his positive and upbeat "can do" spirit. His friendly demeanor and keen intellect have rewarded him with many friends and followers, and helped establish him as a leader in many areas of his life, respected by all. If you need a thoughtful and effective leader, here's your guy!

Jeff is a 28-year veteran of HGS membership. He served as president-elect in 1996–97 and as HGS President during the 75th anniversary year 1997–98. He was elected to the executive board as executive committeeman from 1992–94 and served as vice president and technical program chair in 1994–95. He received an HGS Speakers Award in 1979 and began service in elected office as an AAPG House of Delegates member in 1988, rising to Houston delegation foreman in 1992–93. He remains active in HGS business—as chairman of both the Nominations Committee and the Ad Hoc Committee on Global Climate Change.

Jeff has also been active in GCAGS winning a "Best Speaker's Award" for a co-authored paper at the 1978 convention. He is currently vice-president of GCAGS and will serve as president in 1999–2000, during the GCAGS annual convention planned for Houston in October 2000. He was a member of their Board of Directors during 1997–98 and presently serves on the GCAGS Executive Committee.

Jeff fondly remembers the special events of 1997-98, commemorating the 75th anniversary, as the highlight of his HGS career. His personal highlights were the 75th Technical Symposium with geologist-astronaut Jim Reilly as keynote speaker, and the 75th anniversary gala held at the Petroleum Club. Seventeen past-presidents of the HGS were in attendance, and we toasted the history and future of the society and our profession. It is rumored that Jeff and I were even seen donning derrick-head "hats" in celebratory style that evening. The literal "high" point of the 75th anniversary year for Jeff remains his "mid-life crisis" adventure of climbing the west summit of the Grand Teton on the exact 75th anniversary of the society, August 8, 1998, and posing for a photo holding his HGS mouse pad! Now that's dedication to furthering the cause of HGS!

Jeff also remembers the sense of anxiety followed by relief that accompanied his role in 1996–97 as president-elect. He chaired then-HGS President Jim Ragsdale's Ad Hoc Committee to find new office space for HGS, then packed and moved continued on page 39 ? the files and furniture, and recruited Joan Henshaw as office manager. He was also able to take advantage of a unique opportunity to have his employer, Ashland Exploration donate secretarial and conference room furniture, as well as the Geologic Map of the World, which serves as the focal point of our HGS conference room. Appropriately, he received a 1996–97 President's Award in recognition of this effort.

Jeff began his career in petroleum geology with Amoco in 1969 after graduating from Case Western Reserve University with a B.S. in geology. He earned an M.S. in geophysics under Dr. Milton Dobrin at the University of Houston in 1973, while employed at Clark Oil Producing Co. He continued at the University of Houston and received an M.B.A. in finance in 1978. He was regional exploration manager for Southland Royalty Company from 1986–91 and for Meridian Oil (now Burlington Resources) until 1991, when he joined Ashland Exploration as vice president–regional manager and eventually vice president of exploration and land. When Ashland exited the upstream business in 1998, Jeff joined Kerr-McGee Oil and Gas as vice president–portfolio management this past September.

Jeff has had a great career of service to his fellow members and the profession he so dearly loves. However, his most valued life achievements are undoubtedly his marriage to his wonderful wife Marti, and their college-age daughter, Briana. It's been said by many people, that behind every great man is a great woman. In Jeff's case, he's got two great women to keep him on the right track!

Congratulations Jeff, on this well deserved recognition from HGS and all your friends that have the privilege to know you!

Deborah Sacrey

by Charles Sternbach

Deborah embodies the saying "If you want something done right, ask a busy person to do it." Her scope of volunteer and professional activities demonstrates her devotion to her profession. Members of HGS, SIPES, AAPG, GCAGS, SEG, GSH, Petroleum Club of Houston, and the University of Oklahoma especially know her boundless energy. Deborah's recent efforts on SIPES career training seminars, PC workstation classes, and continuing mentorship have helped many in the petroleum industry's difficult times. When Deborah was HGS treasurer (and treasurer-elect), she streamlined and improved one of HGS' most difficult jobs.

Deborah's prominence has gone well beyond Houston. She is a SIPES National Director and has just won election as secretary of the AAPG House of Delegates at the San Antonio annual meeting.

Deborah graduated from the University of Oklahoma with a B.S. in 1976 and has worked for Vulcan, Weeks Exploration, Petro Oil, Gulf Energy & Minerals, Old Dominion, and Michigan Wisconsin Pipeline. She has established a thriving consultancy in Houston. Typically, Deborah's evenings and weekends are spent helping clients and friends.

The Houston Geological Society Executive Board recognizes that some outstanding HGS members continue to serve well above and beyond the call of duty. Some HGS members have received every recognition and accolade that the society offers. Of these, a few continue to generously dona