HistoryWhen the Mewbourne College of Earth and Energy was formed on January 1, 2006, it brought together two OU schools with rich and illustrious histories and strong current programs: the ConocoPhillips ConocoPhillips School of Geology and Geophysics and the Mewbourne School of Petroleum and Geological Engineering. In addition to these, the Mewbourne College of Earth and Energy includes the Sarkeys Energy Center, and the Oklahoma Geological Survey. The ConocoPhillips ConocoPhillips School of Geology and Geophysics was founded in 1900 and holds the distinction of being the first school in the United States to offer a degree in petroleum geology. Its graduates (over 5,000 to date) are highly recruited by industry and government employers. It was named in March 2007 to honor a $6 million gift from the corporation, OU’s largest corporate donor. The Mewbourne School of Petroleum and Geological Engineering awarded its first degree in geological engineering in 1919 and its first degree in petroleum engineering in 1927. It was named in 2000 to honor alumnus Curtis Mewbourne, who has contributed $11 million to endowed faculty positions and student support. Like the ConocoPhillips ConocoPhillips School of Geology and Geophysics, the Mewbourne School has graduated more than 5,000 students and they enjoy a 100 percent job placement rate. The School takes pride in the fact that seven past Society of Petroleum Engineers presidents have been OU alumni. The Sarkeys Energy Center is an interdisciplinary research center which focuses on the energy-related strengths of the university. The institutes develop technology and programs that advance the energy industry in the state and throughout the world and provide significant, "real world" research and education opportunities for students. The Oklahoma Geological Survey is a state agency for research and public service affiliated with the OU Mewbourne College of Earth and Energy. The Survey is chartered in the Oklahoma Constitution and is charged with investigating the state's land, water, mineral, and energy resources and disseminating the results of those investigations to promote the wise use of Oklahoma's natural resources consistent with sound environmental practices. The Mewbourne College of Earth and Energy is housed within the Sarkeys Energy Center which comprises a four-square-block, seven-acre, 340,000 square-foot teaching and energy research complex located on the northeast corner of the Norman campus of the University of Oklahoma. There are more than 200 teaching and research laboratories, over 30 classrooms, and faculty and administrative offices. Completed in 1991, the Sarkeys Energy Center provides a state-of-the-art setting in which OU's faculty and students and the energy industry can explore interdisciplinary energy issues and train future generations of researchers and industry leaders. Sarkeys Energy Center is also home to the Lawrence S. Youngblood Energy Library, which houses the combined geology and geophysics collections of the Oklahoma Geological Survey and the University of Oklahoma that began in the late 1890s, and today contains more than 90,000 catalogued volumes and more than 200,000 map sheets. Larry R. Grillot, the College’s first dean, brings 30 years of experience in the exploration and production division of Phillips Petroleum. Trained as a geophysicist, he has held posts supervising operations in the U.S., Canada, Asia, Africa, Europe, and Australia. He holds a bachelor’s in physics from Mississippi State University and master’s and a Ph.D. in geological sciences from Brown University.
Mewbourne College of Earth and Energy
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