DeGolyer studied at the University of Oklahoma in the mining engineering course.
Charles DeGolyer on the left (2012.201.B0299.0157, Oklahoma Publishing Company Photography Collection, OHS).
Mr. DeGolyer with his books.
In 1941 DeGolyer received the Anthony F. Lucas Gold Medal from the Society of Petroleum Engineers.
In 1942 DeGolyer received The John Fritz Medal from the American Association of Engineering Societies for "outstanding scientific or industrial achievements."
DeGolyer studied at the University of Oklahoma in the mining engineering course.
Charles DeGolyer on the left (2012.201.B0299.0157, Oklahoma Publishing Company Photography Collection, OHS).
Mr. DeGolyer with his books.
In 1941 DeGolyer received the Anthony F. Lucas Gold Medal from the Society of Petroleum Engineers.
In 1942 DeGolyer received The John Fritz Medal from the American Association of Engineering Societies for "outstanding scientific or industrial achievements."
The DeGolyer Estate is now part of the Dallas Arboretum.
geophysicist philanthropist oilman
Everette Lee DeGolyer was born on October 9, 1886, in Greensburg, Kansas, United States. He was the eldest child of John William and Narcissa Kagy Huddle DeGolyer, who had homesteaded in Kansas shortly before the boy’s birth.
Always interested in mining prospects, the senior DeGolyer moved his family to the lead and zinc center of Joplin, Missouri, and then to Oklahoma during the 1901 land opening.
DeGolyer finished high school at the University of Oklahoma preparatory school before entering the University of Oklahoma in the mining engineering course, where he was directed by Charles N. Gould and E. G. Woodruff.
Holding a high reputation in oil discovery, DeGolyer graduated from the University of Oklahoma, receiving the Bachelor of Arts degree in 1911.
In 1907 DeGolyer impressed C. Willard Hayes, chief geologist of the Survey, who hired DeGolyer two years later to head the exploration staff of the Mexican oil company El Aguila. DeGolyer’s acquaintance with Sir Weetman Pearson (later Lord Cowdray) from his work in Mexico in 1910 later led to financial backing for DeGolyer’s early oil companies, Amerada Petroleum Corporation and Rycade Oil Company.
From 1914 he was an independent oil consultant, and he founded and headed an interlocking series of oil exploration and research companies. His ability and unquestioned integrity led to his frequent employment by his own and other governments as adviser on development of oil fields.
in 1924 he found the first salt dome by this method. A subsidiary of Amerada, Geophysical Research Corporation, was set up by DeGolyer to perfect and apply the refraction and reflection seismographs to finding oil fields. In 1926 became president and general manager of Amerada Corporation and Amerada Refining Corporation. DeGolyer was also put in charge of the Geophysical Research Corporation. In 1927-1928 the company found eleven new salt domes by refraction surveys, but it was the discovery of the Edwards oil field in Oklahoma in 1930 by reflection survey that ushered in the modern era of oil exploration.
In 1932 DeGolyer resigned from Amerada Petroleum Corporation. He then moved to Dallas and initiated a number of prospecting concerns, such as Atlatl Royalty Corporation and the Felmont Corporation. He also served as a director of a number of companies, including Transwestern Oil Company, Texas Eastern Gas Transmission Corporation, Southern Pacific Railroad Company, Dresser Industries and the United States and Foreign Securities Corporation.
During the Second World War DeGolyer served as director of conservation in the Office of the Coordinator for National Defense (1941-1942). He was also assistant deputy administrator of the Petroleum Administration for War (1942-1943) and the Petroleum Reserve Corporation's mission to the Middle East in 1943-1944.
In 1952 DeGolyer joined a syndicate that included Jack Alston Crichton and Clint Murchison to use connections in the government of General Francisco Franco to acquire rare drilling rights in Spain. The operation was handled by Delta Drilling, which was owned by Joe Zeppa.
A knowledgeable collector of books, DeGolyer assembled one of the world’s best libraries for the history of science, especially geology. He presented this library to the University of Oklahoma.
DeGolyer took his own life, after having been ill with aplastic anemia for seven years.
DeGolyer made his greatest contributions in the application of physical principles to solution of geo-logical problems. He advocated and developed the theory, earlier suggested by European geologists, that salt domes form by the plastic flow of salt upward from deeply buried beds under the pressure of overlying rocks. Without question, DeGolyer’s development and use of these tools gave the search for petroleum its greatest impetus of the twentieth century. DeGolyer was the author of many articles and papers - perhaps several hundred in all. The more important are listed in the bibliography at the end of this memoir. In his chosen field his most significant contributions were studies in early years on the nature of salt domes, and in later years on the art of prospecting for petroleum.
He was honored with the degree of Doctor of Science by the Colorado School of Mines, Southern Methodist University and Washington University, and the Doctor of Laws degree by Trinity College, Tulane University, and the Universidad de Mexico. In 1948 he was given the first Distinguished Service Citation by the University of Oklahoma and in 1952 was inducted into the Hall of Fame of Oklahoma.
DeGolyer received the Anthony F. Lucas (1941) and John Fritz (1942) medals of the American Institute of Mining and Metallurgical Engineers. The American Association of Petroleum Geologists awarded him the Sidney Powers Memorial Award in 1950. He was the first recipient, in 1966, of the DeGolyer Distinguished Service Medal awarded by the Society of Petroleum Engineers.
DeGolyer was chief of the technical advisory commission to President Franklin D. Roosevelt at the Teheran Conference. However, for most of his life he was a strong supporter of the Republican Party.
DeGolyer was a member of the National Academy of Sciences, Sigma Xi, and Phi Beta Kappa and a charter member of the Society of Economic Geologists and of the American Association of Petroleum Geologists.
DeGolyer had a complex, many-sided personality. In conversation and correspondence about him with his friends and associates, the most frequent comments dwell on the character and quality of his mind. Such phrases as "a superb intelligence," "great mental courage," "brilliant qualities of mind," "logical reasoning," "clear thinking," and "sound judgment" are typical. But many say that his greatest talent lay in his understanding and appreciation of other people's minds, an ability to discern a good idea expressed by someone else, to enlarge upon it, even to stimulate the author of the idea to a more fully rounded understanding of his own idea. Without doubt he wielded a great influence and was a fine stimulator of other people's minds and ideas. He was truly a catalyst in many mental processes.
A man with such a fine intellect would of course have self-confidence, and an ample quantity of this characteristic is what no doubt led some to apply to him the words "cocky," "vain" - and other similar epithets. Others described him as having "a vast sense of self-importance" and even a lack of tolerance for those less gifted. Perhaps he was even selfish or bordering on the ruthless in his more aggressive undertakings. Certain it was that he hated to lose an argument, a dollar, or a game of cards - when engaged in the latter he could seldom be persuaded to quit until he was winning.
Right alongside these descriptions we find such phrases as "a quick penetrating wit," "marvelous sense of humor," "good mixer," "makes friends wherever he goes," "thoughtful," "gracious and friendly," "a storyteller beyond compare," and "a most stimulating man." But friends and foes alike would agree that although he on occasion could be tough and stubborn, through it all he was inquiring and penetrating. Such were the diverse talents and multiple personality of the man. Possibly the sum of this complex personality is revealed by the manner of his death. Troubled by serious health problems, he sensed the approach of death arid, in characteristic fashion, did not wait, but went out to meet it.
Physical Characteristics:
DeGolyer was troubled for more than eight years by aplastic anemia which required constant blood replacement,
and had lost the sight of one eye through retinal failure.
DeGolyer married Nell Virginia Goodrich, a teaching assistant at the University of Oklahoma, in 1910, living in Tampico, Mexico. They had four children.
Mrs. DeGolyer was the founder of Planned Parenthood of Dallas and later served as president of the national Planned Parenthood organization.
Homer Louis DeGolyer was an avocational historian and genealogist, and made particular studies of early Dallas County history.
Mrs. Maxson served on the board of the Dallas Symphony League, St. Matthew's Children's Foundation and the DeGolyer Foundation.
Dorothy Margaret DeGolyer was a consummate hostess. She was intelligent, beautiful, well-traveled, artistic and had exquisite taste.
Everett Lee DeGolyer was a past board member at Monteclair College and St. Mark's School of Texas, past president of Planned Parenthood of Dallas, had served on the national board of directors and was a past chairman of the board for the Southwestern Conference on Foundations.
Weetman Dickinson Pearson, 1st Viscount Cowdray, known as Sir Weetman Pearson, was a British engineer, oil industrialist, benefactor and Liberal politician.
