Academy of Petroleum Engineers Inducts New Members

Written by Cory Chandler

The Texas Tech University Academy of Petroleum Engineers inducted six new members March 29.

The academy was created in 1994 by the Texas Tech Department of Petroleum Engineering to recognize petroleum engineering graduates and other industry professionals who have made significant contributions to the profession and also to encourage and inspire current students to achieve success in their fields.

This year’s inductees include the following:

• J. T. (Tommy) Lent, Jr. is partner and vice president of engineering and operations for CrownQuest Operating LLC, an independent drilling and producing oil and gas company in Midland.

Lent began his career with El Paso Exploration Company (later Meridian Oil/Burlington Resources) and also worked with Parker & Parsley (now Pioneer) and Graham Resources Ltd. He is a member and past board member of the Society of Petroleum Engineers and the Natural Gas Producer’s Association. He has served as a member of the Advisory Committee to Odessa College’s Petroleum Technology Department and was a part-time instructor.

• Bill Jones began in 1953 his career with FMC Technologies, originally known as Food Machinery Corporation. He has worked in locations including Odessa, Midland, Dallas, Illinois and Singapore. He retired in 1983 as the Western Regional Sales Manager.

He later formed J & W Services & Equipment Co. and retired again in 1991. Jones has built working-scale models of equipment FMC manufactured for the Permian Basin Petroleum Museum, University of Alaska in Fairbanks, and Texas Tech’s Department of Petroleum Engineering.

• Denny Bullard, vice president of engineering and development for Pioneer Natural Resources. Bullard was vice president of Gulf Coast Operations for Parker & Parsley Petroleum, production manager for Damson Oil Corporation and Production Superintendent with Conoco Inc.

Bullard is a member of Society of Petroleum Engineers, Society of Petrophysicists & Well Log Analysts and American Society of Mechanical Engineers. He has served on various committees for Society of Petroleum Engineers, American Petroleum Institute and Southwest Petroleum Short Course Advisory Committee.

• George W. Slaughter began his career with Texaco and has worked as district production manager and senior vice president of production for Southland Royalty Company. He was senior vice president and general manager in Yemen for Hunt Oil Company. While in Yemen he organized and served as Chairman for the local chapter of Society of Petroleum Engineers in Sanaa, Yemen.

Slaughter has served as chairman of deacons for Fielder Road Baptist Church and is a volunteer for Mission Metroplex, which is a faith based ministry serving the disadvantaged in Arlington. He is a member of Society of Petroleum Engineers.

• Harold Inman retired in 1982 from Mobil, where he worked in positions including senior planning associate for the North American Division in New York and vice president and liquefied natural gas venture manager in Indonesia. In 1979 he was appointed president and general manager of Mobil Exploration Norway Inc.

Inman served as a school board member in Stavanger, Norway. He was a member of Society of Petroleum Engineers, American Petroleum Institute, and the Natural Gasoline Association of America. He is also a member of Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society, Pi Epsilon Tau – petroleum engineering honor fraternity, and Tau Beta Pi – engineering honor fraternity.

• Ray Mikolajczyk is creator of Ray Oil Tool Company, an international supplier of down-hole cementing tools.

Mikolajczyk began his career with The California Company, which later became Chevron Oil Company. He was vice president of consulting engineering firm A. J. Pantaleo & Associates. In 1981 he created his own consultant firm, Ray Mikolajczyk Consultants Inc. He formed Ray Oil Tool Company for developing his inventions. Mikolajczyk holds several patents.

He has served as a vice president of the local Society of Petroleum Engineers in Lafayette, La., on the Producer Advisory Group of Petroleum Technology Transfer Council and is on the American Petroleum Institute Committee for Centralizers and Float Equipment.


CONTACT: Joan Blackmon, Department Business Manager, Department of Petroleum Engineering, Texas Tech University, (806) 742-1801, ext. 222, or joan.blackmon@ttu.edu.