UT PGE Announces 2023 Distinguished Alumni

This year’s honorees join a select group of alumni who are leaders and innovators shaping the oil and gas industry, tackling tough global energy challenges, and embodying the excellence and ingenuity that are hallmarks of UT PGE.

For nearly a century, UT PGE has educated exceptional engineers who provide reliable and affordable energy for the world. Each year, the department honors the best among them at a Distinguished Alumni Awards ceremony and dinner. This year’s event will take place in the Engineering Education and Research Center on campus on Friday, Nov. 3, followed by an alumni tailgate on the GLT Lawn on Saturday, Nov. 4.

Meet the 2023 honorees:

David Baldwin

B.S., Petroleum Engineering, 1985
MBA 1991

David Baldwin joined SCF Partners in 1991 and is currently responsible for the firm’s energy transition initiatives. In this role, he oversees SCF’s energy transition strategy, including identifying new platform investments and helping SCF’s existing companies develop exposure to new energy growth markets. Previously, he was co-president of the firm and led SCF’s efforts in financing and helping to build North American-focused companies.

During his time at SCF, David has supported the creation and development of public companies National Oilwell Varco, Oil States International, Complete Production Services, Forum Energy Technologies, Select Energy Services, and Nine Energy Services.

David earned his B.S. in petroleum engineering and his MBA from The University of Texas at Austin. During his previous career as an engineer with Union Pacific Resources, David was involved in developing and commercializing the horizontal drilling techniques that ultimately led to the U.S. “shale revolution.” While in graduate school, he worked for General Atlantic Partners, a global venture capital firm and early investor in SCF.

David’s civic activities include Greentown Labs, The Center for Pursuit, and Baylor College of Medicine, including serving as the chairman of their Board of Trustees. In 2016, he and his wife, Maire, created “Pursuit for Those with Disabilities,” where they led 300 volunteers in a cross-country bicycle ride that raised $13 million to help build a new state-of-the-art campus for The Center for Pursuit. In 2018, he was awarded the Hoover Medal of Honor for his 30+ years of work supporting persons with disabilities. He is also the co-founder of OpenMinds, a coalition of 70+ entrepreneurs, business leaders, scientists and politicians focused on creating an equitable solution to the “Dual Energy + Climate Challenge.” He also helped create TexE, a partnership among five Texas universities and MIT and Greentown Labs to help inspire and train future entrepreneurs and leaders focused on energy and climate innovation.

Yogashri Pradhan (Rising Star Award)

B.S., Petroleum Engineering, 2015

Yogashri Pradhan is a reservoir engineer for Coterra. At Coterra, she is involved with field development planning in the Delaware Basin unconventional reservoirs. Prior to that, she worked as a reservoir engineer at Endeavor Energy Resources. At Endeavor, she was involved with field development planning for unconventionals in the Midland Basin. Most recently, she was selected for Hart Energy’s 40 Under 40 list.

She also received the Society of Petroleum Engineers’ Regional Reservoir Engineering Dynamics and Description Award and the Regional Service Award in 2020. In 2018, she was the recipient of the Houston Engineers Week Young Engineer of the Year Award, representing SPE’s Gulf Coast Section and the International Young Member Outstanding Service Award from SPE. Yogashri graduated from The University of Texas at Austin with a bachelor’s degree in petroleum engineering in 2015 and received her master’s degree in petroleum engineering from Texas A&M University in 2020. She is currently pursuing her MBA from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business. She is a registered Professional Engineer in the states of Texas and New Mexico.

Pradhan received the 2023 Distinguished Alumni “Rising Star” Award.

Kamy Sepehrnoori

B.S., Mechanical Engineering, 1973
M.S., Engineering, 1974
Ph.D., Petroleum Engineering, 1977

Kamy Sepehrnoori is a Hildebrand Department of Petroleum and Geosystems Engineering professor at The University of Texas at Austin, where he holds the Texaco Centennial Chair in Petroleum Engineering. He has been teaching at UT Austin since 1981 and has graduated more than 250 M.S. and Ph.D. students under his supervision.

He has published over 750 articles in journals and conference proceedings in his research areas and has co-authored four books. Dr. Sepehrnoori is the director of the Reservoir Simulation Joint Industry Project at the Center for Subsurface Energy and the Environment. He won the Anthony F. Lucas Gold Medal from the Society of Petroleum Engineers and the American Institute of Mining in 2022, and the Desiderius Erasmus Award from the European Association of Geoscientists and Engineers in 2023. He holds a B.S., M.S. and Ph.D. from The University of Texas at Austin in mechanical engineering, aerospace engineering, and petroleum engineering, respectively.

Harold “Hal” Silberberg (1926–2021)

B.S., Chemical Engineering, 1947
M.S., Chemical Engineering, 1951
Ph.D., Chemical Engineering, 1958

Dr. Irwin Harold “Hal” Silberberg (1926–2021) entered The University of Texas at Austin in 1943. After earning his B.S. in chemical engineering, he continued as a graduate student. His mentor in the doctoral program was Dr. John McKetta, who became a lifelong friend. Hal, known for his wit, liked to joke that he entered grad school in 1947 and emerged ten years later with a wife, four kids and a Ph.D.

Hal began his career at the Mobil research facility in Dallas. After two years, he was recruited by UT Austin to be assistant director of the Texas Petroleum Research Committee. An academic life greatly appealed to him, so Hal and his family returned to Austin, and he began his long career in the Petroleum Engineering department.

Shortly after returning, Hal and his wife, Adele, found their ideal piece of property, 11 acres just outside Austin, which became home for the rest of their lives. Hal wryly named it “Nebbish Acres,” but he gradually transformed it into a park-like setting, with fruit trees and an expansive lawn among the ancient oaks. Relying on his self-described “edifice complex,” Hal was closely involved in three additions to the grounds and the development of parts of the property. His children, their spouses, five grandchildren and twelve great-grandchildren all enjoyed the property, which also became a regular feature of Adele’s annual family reunion.

At UT Austin, Hal guided doctoral students through their research and dissertations, and he continued to write, publish, edit and occasionally present papers at conferences. His main research interests were thermodynamics and phase behavior of hydrocarbon systems, and he authored over 50 technical articles and reports.

In 1977, Hal became the PE graduate advisor. His efforts in that role led to his receiving the 1980 Graduate Engineering Council Award for Meritorious Support. He was specifically lauded by faculty and students for his improvements in recruiting and for his personal interest in the students, which was, for many, the decisive factor in choosing UT Austin. He was also credited with shaping and improving the overall graduate program, especially the MS program. Hal was recognized for his dedicated support of students and for preparing them for their careers. Later, he and Adele endowed the Silberberg Undergraduate Petrophysics Teaching Laboratory.

By the time Hal retired, he had been a part of UT Engineering for over 50 years.

Brian Sullivan

B.S., Petroleum Engineering, 1976
J.D., 1979

Brian Sullivan is a Licensed Professional Engineer in Texas in petroleum and natural gas engineering and is board certified in oil, gas and mineral law by the
Texas Board of Legal Specialization. Brian is currently a grader for the Oil, Gas and Mineral Law Certification Examination. Starting in the spring of 2019, Brian joined the faculty of the Hildebrand Department of Petroleum and Geosystems Engineering at The University of Texas at Austin, where he teaches Oil and Gas Law to upper-division engineering students.

In 1982, Brian and Mike McElroy founded a law firm now named McElroy, Sullivan, Miller & Weber, LLP. Brian is a partner emeritus and continues to assist
the firm. Prior to founding the firm, Brian was a legal and technical examiner (now administrative law judge) in the Oil and Gas Division of the Railroad Commission of Texas. Prior to leaving the Railroad Commission, Brian was appointed staff counsel to Commissioner Buddy Temple. Brian was previously employed as a production engineer at Amoco Production Company and a consulting engineer with Max F. Powell, PE.

Brian has served as chairman of the Oil, Gas and Energy Resources Law Council of the State Bar of Texas; chairman of the UT PGE Visiting Committee; and a member of the Regulatory Affairs Committee of the Interstate Oil and Gas Compact Commission. He has also served as a trustee at St. Stephen’s Episcopal School in Austin and Schreiner University in Kerrville, and as an elder at Westminster Presbyterian Church in Austin.

Brian has been recognized by Texas Lawyer as one of five “Go To” lawyers for energy law and has been a Texas Monthly “Super Lawyer” every year since 2007. He graduated with honors in petroleum engineering from The University of Texas at Austin in 1976 and subsequently graduated from The University of Texas Law School. Brian has been licensed to practice law since 1979. Brian has been married for more than forty years to his law school classmate, Cynthia Marshall Sullivan. They have three children and five grandchildren.

Jerry Windlinger

B.S., Petroleum Engineering, 1976
M.S., Petroleum Engineering, 1976

Jerry Windlinger earned a Bachelor of Science (1974) and a Master of Science in petroleum engineering (1976) from The University of Texas at Austin. He is a member of the Society of Petroleum Engineers and is a registered Professional Engineer in the state of Texas. He has over 50 years of experience in the energy industry, having held roles at Exxon and a 38-year career at Andarko Petroleum Corporation, where he retired as VP of corporate development. Following retirement, Jerry served on the boards of Parsley Energy and RDV Resources.

In his tenure as VP of corporate development at Anadarko, Jerry was responsible for Anadarko’s global acquisitions, divestitures and business development activities. Jerry joined Anadarko in 1978 and served in a variety of technical and managerial positions in reservoir engineering, exploration, development and acquisitions in the U.S. and internationally. Jerry helped implement Anadarko’s first CO2 floods in Texas and Wyoming, oversaw development of tight gas in Texas and Louisiana, led coalbed methane exploration resulting in discoveries and development in Utah and Wyoming, kicked off the JV era in 2007 in the Delaware Basin, and started the industry’s first commercial ventures with outside investors to drill development wells.

As an alumnus and lifelong supporter of UT Austin, Jerry recruited Texas engineers for employment at Anadarko. He later served on the UT PGE External Advisory Committee for multiple terms and helped initiate the Distinguished Alumni Awards and annual alumni tailgate to facilitate networking and fundraising.