Alumni Profiles

David C. Baldwin is a leader in recognizing the next rising star – he is like a “Shark Tank” judge of the oil and gas industry with his great intuition for which companies have the passion and persistence to make it big.

Texas Exes have plenty of ways to stay connected to their alma mater, from socializing with fellow alums to supporting favorite academic programs to cheering on the Texas Longhorns. Life Members Lois and Richard Folger of Midland like to do all of the above, with gusto.

Helge Haldorsen (PhD '83) is the general director of Equinor Mexico in Mexico City. He is an industry game-changer who is looking to technological innovations to increase oil and gas production and create a more sustainable energy future.

The oil and gas industry recently added another new company to its family: Newton Energy Partners. Founded by two UT PGE alumni—Bud Newton (BSPE '83) and son Mitchell Newton (BSPE '07)—Newton Energy Partners launched in October 2010 after receiving a $75 million equity commitment from Kayne Anderson Energy Funds.

Sue Park has only been out of college for three years, but already she’s an operations engineer for Chevron overseeing 20 offshore wells and, in 2008, she was named a “Face of the Future,” by Fortune 500 Magazine—an honor given to only 48 young professionals across the U.S.

Without the leadership and petroleum engineering background of UT PGE Distinguished Alumnus Robert L. Parker, Sr. (BS PE ’44), the world we know today could look a lot different. Parker's time on campus was short, but his global impact is immeasurable.

The University of Texas at Austin Petroleum Engineering alumnus and legendary Midland oilman Autry Stephens is showing the world that success comes from following your passion and knowing your strengths, even if by accident.

Saint Clair Peyton Yates’s introduction to independent oil and gas exploration occurred in 1924 when he was just 10 years old and living in Artesia, New Mexico where his father — with the help of a Model T Ford and his intuitive wife — drilled and discovered the first commercial oil well on New Mexico state-owned lands, thus starting the state’s $7.6 billion permanent royalty fund that finances public schools.