Distinguished Alumni Honorees

John Weinzierl, PE co-founded Memorial Resource Development LLC, an oil and gas production company, in 2011 and currently serves as the CEO of its successor company, MRD Holdco LLC. Since the company’s formation, John led the public listing and of two subsidiary companies, Memorial Resource Development Corp. and Memorial Production Partners LP, and was CEO of an organization that had over 500 employees, produced over 1 billion cubic feet equivalent of gas per day, and operated in six states.

Don L. Sparks currently serves as chairman of the board of Discovery Operating, Inc., a small, independent oil company based in Midland, Texas, that he co-founded in 1973.

Margaretha "Peggy" C.M. Rijken leads Chevron's Productivity Enhancement Team, which focuses on research, development and consulting in the areas of formation damage, geomechanical modeling and hydraulic fracturing. Rijken received the Chevron Reservoir Management Excellence Award in 2010 and 2015 and co-holds a patent in non-aqueous stimulation.

C. Ronald "Ronny" Platt is a highly respected member of the petroleum industry and one of the leading petroleum engineering experts in regulatory hearings and litigation. He has served as an expert witness in more than 150 lawsuits and 500 administrative hearings and was the governor's appointee to the State of Texas Membership on the Energy Resources Committee of the Interstate Oil Compact Commission for 12 years.

Fred Kerwin Fox's technological contributions to the field of petroleum engineering continue to influence industry operations today.

Robert S. (Bob) Schechter was raised in Rosenberg, Texas, where his parents operated a small clothing store. Inspired by his high school chemistry teacher Mr. Althouse, Schechter decided to become a chemical engineer, graduating from Texas A & M University in 1950 with a BSChE, before beginning his doctoral program at the University of Minnesota. With the onset of the Korean War, Schechter was called into the U.S. Army’s Chemical Corps. While stationed in Anniston, Alabama, he met and married his beloved Mary Ethel Schechter. Upon his discharge as First Lieutenant, they returned to Minnesota where he completed his doctoral program in 1956.

Before graduating from the University of Texas with a Bachelor of Science and Master of Science in Petroleum Engineering in 1961 and 1962 respectively, George H. Fancher, Jr. had a vision and a plan for owning and operating his own oil company. His father, a Professor of Petroleum Engineering at UT PGE, sparked his intellectual curiosity in engineering with brief introductions to the thrill of the wildcat. More significantly his father taught George at an early age the importance of a strong work ethic. George's early exposure to the dream of big wildcats combined with his drive and entrepreneurial spirit laid the foundation for his successful career.

George Stegemeier is an engineer with more than 60 years' experience in oil exploration and production. He holds degrees in petroleum engineering from the University of Missouri-Rolla (BS '52) and from the University of Texas (MS '53), and (PhD '59). He was born in Wood River, Illinois, the son of George H. and Rose A. (Smola) Stegemeier. There, along with his two brothers Rich and Bob, he grew up in the carefree freedom of his parent's small town and on his grandparent's farms.

Gail Chenoweth, who was raised in Midland, Texas, is the third generation in her family involved in the oil industry. Her maternal grandfather worked in the West Texas oil fields and her father, O. L. Chenoweth, was a 1942 graduate of The University of Texas at Austin Petroleum Engineering Department. Before returning to pursue her bachelor of science in petroleum engineering, Gail received a bachelor of arts in studio art from UT Austin in 1976 and worked as a jewelry designer in Dallas for two years.

Jack Zarrow, a Russian immigrant's son who built a philanthropic pipeline that continues to fuel various charity efforts in and beyond Tulsa, died February 2, 2012. He was 86.