Distinguished Alumni Honorees

Paul M. Bommer is a distinguished senior lecturer and holder of the Chevron Lectureship in Petroleum Engineering in the Hildebrand Department of Petroleum and Geosystems Engineering at The University of Texas at Austin. In 2014, he was awarded the University of Texas Regents’ Outstanding Teaching Award, which recognizes those who serve students in an exemplary manner and as an incentive for others who aspire to such service.

Charles John “Chip” Rimer began his career in 1983 with ARCO Oil & Gas Company in Denver as a drilling and completion engineer. In 1986, he moved to Midland, Texas working in the production and drilling departments.

Michael J. Minarovic is the CEO and co-founder of Arena Energy, an employee-owned exploration and production company. Since its start-up in 1999, the company has invested nearly $4 billion of capital in the federal waters of the Gulf of Mexico and has been the most active driller in this basin for the past five years.

James Dupree is currently chief operating officer of subsurface, projects and exploration, and a member of BP’s upstream executive team. Dupree’s portfolio includes three upstream functions: global projects, reservoir development and exploration.

Laurie W. “Larry” Folmar, B.S. in petroleum engineering (1947), served as director and senior vice president for producing operations in the Eastern Hemisphere at Texaco.

John H. Campbell III most recently served as chief executive officer of Percussion Petroleum, LLC in Houston. Campbell grew up in The Woodlands, Texas and graduated from Oak Ridge High School in 2004.

On January 21, 1957, James “Jim” Barnum was born in Atlanta. Barnum lived in the small town of Smyrna, Ga., until he was 10-years-old and then relocated to Seabrook, Texas, near Houston. He graduated from Clear Lake High School in 1975 and was accepted into The University of Texas at Austin petroleum engineering program in the fall of 1975.

Gary L. Thomas is president of EOG Resources Inc., one of the largest independent crude oil and natural gas companies in the United States with proved reserves in the United States, Trinidad, the United Kingdom and China.

Autry C. Stephens is the president and CEO of Endeavor Energy Resources LP. He received both his BS and MS degrees in petroleum engineering from The University of Texas at Austin Hildebrand Department of Petroleum and Geosystems Engineering in 1961 and 1962, respectively.

A third generation Longhorn graduate, Jillian Jopling earned her BS in petroleum engineering in 2004. She originally enrolled in The University of Texas at Austin as a chemistry major, but found her passion in engineering and changed majors.