UT PGE Celebrates 2024 Distinguished Alumni

The award is given annually to UT PGE alumni who are leaders in the oil and gas industry — educators, executives, innovators and entrepreneurs with unmatched industry expertise.

This year’s recipients reflect UT PGE’s commitment to educating the world’s best petroleum and subsurface engineers and equipping them with the exceptional skills needed to provide sustainable, affordable and reliable energy for the world.

H. Kent Brock

B.S., Petroleum Engineering, 1980

H. Kent Brock grew up in Lake Jackson, Texas, and entered The University of Texas at Austin in the fall of 1976. He graduated with a Bachelor of Science in petroleum engineering with Highest Honors in 1980. Currently, he serves as president of Strand Energy, L.C., in Houston and is a registered Professional Engineer in the State of Texas.

Upon graduation in 1980, Kent moved to Denver, Colorado, to begin his career at Mesa Petroleum Company, becoming the first petroleum engineer hired directly out of college by the company. At Mesa he worked in operations and also had the opportunity to generate several development plays, drawing on the engineering, geological and petrophysical skills he learned in Austin.

In 1983 Kent joined Harvard Petroleum Company in Roswell, New Mexico, where he handled operations, reservoir engineering and project evaluations. While at Harvard Petroleum, he was able to participate in wells that the company drilled. Kent later moved to Midland, Texas, to open a local office for the company.

In May 1986, Kent joined IP Petroleum Company in Houston where his primary responsibilities were the evaluation of drilling prospects and acquisition opportunities. While at IP he was responsible for the discovery of the Sugg Ranch Field in West Texas in 1987 and was subsequently named exploration manager. This success led him to form Strand Energy, Inc., in 1988 to focus on the generation and development of oil and gas prospects in several areas of Texas.

In 1996 the assets of Strand Energy, Inc., and another small private company were merged to form Strand Energy, L.C. Kent has served as president and a board member of the company since that time. Strand is an active, private exploration and production company focused on several geologic basins within Texas and Louisiana. Since inception, Strand Energy, L.C., has drilled over 250 wells and developed over 30 million BOE of reserves.

In addition to directing Strand’s activity, Kent has participated in the mentorship program at UT Austin, served on UT PGE’s External Advisory Committee, and helped endow a UT PGE scholarship in honor of his late brother, Cary D. Brock.

Kenneth Bowen Ford (1917–2007)

B.S., Petroleum Engineering, 1940

Kenneth Ford was born on the 2nd floor of a frame house in Alvin, Texas. He was the 2nd of four sons of Natalia Wellborn Ford and Henry Harrison Ford.* Soon the family moved to Houston and Kenny began to excel in sports and academics. Before attending UT Austin, he was a student at Exeter in New Hampshire. Kenny entered UT in 1937 and graduated with a bachelor’s degree in petroleum engineering in 1940. He was a member of the Kappa Sigma fraternity and the Texas Cowboys. He was also a member of two honorary engineering fraternities, Tau Beta Pi and Pi Epsilon.

Kenny met Jane Lee Stroud, a member of Zeta Tau Alpha sorority, while they were students. After her graduation they married on March 29, 1941, in the Zeta sorority house. Some of their favorite pastimes were dancing to the music of the Big Band Sound (especially by Ed Gerlach) and going on Flying Longhorn trips. Their loving marriage lasted for 65 years until Jane passed away in November 2006.

Kenny was an ensign in the Navy and served as an engineer on the tanker ship U.S.S. Patuxent in the Pacific during World War II. When he returned in 1945, he continued his work with J. S. Abercrombie Co., an independent oil and gas operator, until he was employed, on the day it was formed, by the international oil and gas consulting firm J. R. Butler. The firm later became Miller and Lents, Ltd. Kenny remained active for 50 years and served as president and director from 1970 to 1987 and was still a director for 11 more years. His most proud professional accomplishment was membership on a six-man select team on the Board of Arbitration for the Prudhoe Bay Oil Field, Alaska.

His service to UT Austin included membership on the Chancellor’s Council, the President’s Associates, the Longhorn Foundation and the Ex-Students Association. He was also a Friend of Alec. Kenny and Jane set up the Kenneth B. and Jane Stroud Ford Endowed Scholarship for a deserving UT PGE student. In 1998 he was honored as a Distinguished Graduate from the School of Engineering. It was a highlight of his life!

Kenny centered his life around his strong faith. He was a charter member and past chairman of the administrative board of St. Luke’s United Methodist Church in Houston. He spent many years as a teacher of the men’s Bible class. Later he and Jane became members at the First United Methodist Church in downtown Houston where his grandfather had been a charter member. Kenny spent time hand-writing notes to his children and grandchildren about life lessons with scripture to guide them.

First was his love for Jane, but his other passions were golf and Bible study. Kenny and Jane had four children, Kenneth Jr., Janie, Sally and Blake; 14 grandchildren; and 34 great grandchildren.^ Two great-grands graduated from UT Austin and one is a student. Kenneth Ford’s legacy … Christian faith, integrity, hard work, grace, honesty, generosity, kindness and love of family!

*Henry Harrison Ford attended UT in 1901 and 1902.
^As of 2024, there were 15 Longhorns from the Ford family.

Written by Jane Blake Ford Slack.

C. Susan Howes

B.S., Petroleum Engineering, 1982

C. Susan Howes, PE, PHR is president at Subsurface Consultants & Associates, LLC (SCA), where she is responsible for all facets of the company’s consulting, recruitment and training services business, including maintaining the highest technical quality standards. Susan joined SCA as VP of engineering in 2016. She was formerly a reservoir management consultant at Chevron, with an assignment in organizational capability as Horizons Program manager.

Previously, she held roles of increasing responsibility in reservoir engineering, business development, corporate engineering and HR for over 25 years at Anadarko. Susan is recognized as an industry leader in petro-technical talent attraction, development and retention. She has co-authored more than 40 publications on uncertainty management, risk management, talent management and ethics for Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE) conferences and publications.

As a high school student, Susan received the SPE Gulf Coast Section (GCS) scholarship. She has served in several leadership roles on the GCS board, including chair, and has held a variety of roles on several SPE standing committees including the Soft Skills Committee and the Talent Council. She represented Gulf Coast North America on SPE’s International Board as regional director and chaired the SPE US Advisory Council. She received SPE’s Young Member Outstanding Service Award, Distinguished Service Award, and DeGolyer Distinguished Service Medal. Susan is a Distinguished and Honorary Member of SPE and served as SPE Distinguished Lecturer for 2019–2020. She chaired the 2024 Program Committee for SPE’s Annual Technical Conference and Exhibition (ATCE) and serves as past-chair of the SPE Management Technical Section.

Susan has served on the Industry Advisory Board, Petroleum Engineering Department at Montana Tech; the External Advisory Committee, Hildebrand Department at UT Austin; and the Program Advisory Board, Petroleum Engineering Department at Colorado School of Mines. She serves on the Geology Foundation Advisory Council, Jackson School of Geosciences at UT Austin.

Susan is on the Girl Scouts of San Jacinto Council Board of Directors and chairs the Society of Women Engineers–Houston Area (SWE-HA) Awards Committee. She received the 2020 Woman of Excellence award from the Federation of Houston Professional Women and the 2024 SWE-HA Volunteer of the Year Award. Susan and her husband Hal are the proud parents of Elizabeth Howes, Rachel Cosgrove and son-in-law Patrick Cosgrove.

Horacio Daniel Marin

M.S., Petroleum Engineering, 1994

Horacio Daniel Marin graduated with a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering from the National University of La Plata with an overall average of 9.5. He was awarded his master’s degree in petroleum engineering from The University of Texas at Austin in 1994, and in 2009 he participated in the Stanford University School of Business Executive Program.

Throughout his 35-year professional career, Horacio has worked in the oil and gas industry, developing growth strategies in the energy sector in several countries including his home country of Argentina, the United States, Mexico, Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Bolivia. A highly respected professional in the energy industry, he has made important contributions to industry growth and international expansion and has occupied different positions in operations, development, exploration and strategy.

Horacio was responsible for the development of the subsoil and infrastructure of the Fortín de Piedra Area in Vaca Muerta, Neuquén, Argentina, which was carried out in record time. Currently, he is chairman and CEO of YPF S.A., a state-controlled energy company that is Argentina’s biggest oil and natural gas producer.

R. Graham Whaling

B.S., Petroleum Engineering, 1977

R. Graham Whaling serves as chairman of Headwaters Minerals, where he was a founding partner in 2016. Headwaters is currently managing three successful oil and gas mineral funds with operations in the Permian Basin of West Texas. Graham has had a long and distinguished career in the energy business and brings over 45 years of energy investing and management experience.

Before the founding of Headwaters Minerals, he was the CEO of Parkman Whaling, a Houston-based energy-focused investment banking advisory firm that he founded alongside Jim Parkman in 2007. Before forming Parkman Whaling, Graham was chairman and CEO of Laredo Energy, which he co-founded in 2001. Prior to Laredo, he was chairman and CEO of Monterey Resources, which was acquired by Texaco in 1997. Previously, he had been CFO of Santa Fe Energy, from which Monterey was spun off. Graham spent seven years as an energy-focused investment banker with Lazard Freres & Co. and First Boston. He began his career as a petroleum engineer with Ryder Scott Company. Graham holds an MBA from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and a Bachelor of Science in petroleum engineering from The University of Texas at Austin.

Sanzhar Zharkeshov – Rising Star Award

B.S., Petroleum Engineering, 2010

Sanzhar Zharkeshov was born in 1986 in the Karaganda region of Kazakhstan. He graduated from the Kazakh University of Economics, Finance and International Trade with a degree in finance in 2009 and from The University of Texas at Austin with a degree in petroleum engineering in 2010.
Sanzhar is a highly experienced executive in the oil and gas industry with a strong international presence.

He began his career as a research engineer in the Center for Petroleum and Geosystems Engineering in Austin, Texas, focusing on enhanced oil recovery technologies. He has served in various roles across the globe, including as a drilling engineer for ExxonMobil in the U.S. and Iraq, senior project engineer for the Kashagan project in Kazakhstan, and head of field supervisors at Merlin ERD in Scotland. From 2019 to 2020, he held the position of vice minister of Ecology, Geology and Natural Resources in Kazakhstan. He continued to expand his influence in the region by joining Naftogaz in Ukraine as deputy CEO for Geology and Development from 2020 to 2022.

In March 2022, Sanzhar was appointed chairman of the Management Board of QazaqGaz, the national gas company of Kazakhstan, where he is working to elevate the country’s position in the global gas industry. Known for his robust connections internationally, he has held advisory roles and contributed to projects in countries including Colombia, Oman, Russia, and the United Kingdom. His achievements include recognition from Queen Elizabeth II for contributions to the UK oil and gas industry, the 2017 Drilling Engineering Award from the Society of Petroleum Engineers, the 2015 ExxonMobil Innovation Medal, and the 2014 ExxonMobil VP Capital Efficiency Award and Medal. He currently serves on UT PGE’s External Advisory Committee.

Distinguished Alumni recipients are selected by a committee of UT PGE alumni, including past award honorees. This marks the 14th year UT PGE has given the Distinguished Alumni award, its highest recognition to graduates of its top-ranked undergraduate and graduate petroleum engineering programs.