Oklahoma Oil, Gas, and Energy Leaders

Boone Pickens

Hard work, intuition and the nerve to take a chance describe T. Boone Pickens. A household name to the nation, Pickens is first an Oklahoman. His story ranges from earning …

Dobie Langenkamp

Both of R. Dobie Langenkamp’s, grandfathers were Oklahoma pioneers in the 1920s in oil development. The younger Langenkamp worked as an oilfield roustabout, a pump station operator, and a refinery …

Don E. Pray

Donald E. Pray reached many goals by graduating from Tulsa’s Central High School in 1950, graduating from the University of Tulsa in 1955 with a degree in petroleum engineering, and …

Elliot & Virginia Phillips

Elliot Waite Phillips was born January 11, 1918 in Okmulgee, Oklahoma to Waite and Genevieve Phillips. His sister Helen Jane was 6 and a half years older. Chope attended school …

H. Allen Chapman

H. Allen Chapman was the son of Tulsa philanthropists James A. and Leta Chapman. He married Mary Kathryn Lancaster in 1960. She graduated from The University of Tulsa and worked …

Kenneth Renberg

Born Günter Renberg on November 30, 1920 to Anna and Herman Renberg in Delmenhorst, a city in Northwest Germany, he immigrated to the United States in June 1937, leaving behind …

King Kirchner

King Kirchner was co-founder, chairman, and chief executive officer of Tulsa-based Unit Corporation from 1963-2001. Following retirement, he continued to serve as a director of Unit Corporation, the fourth largest …

Larry Nichols

Devon Energy is a leading independent energy company engaged primarily in the exploration, development and production of natural gas and oil. The company’s operations are concentrated in various North American …

Lloyd Noble

Lloyd Noble was the second of three children born to Samuel Roberts and Hattie Edith Skinner Noble. He was born in Ardmore, Chickasaw Nation, Indian Territory, on November 30, 1896. …

Lynn Schusterman

Lynn Schusterman was born in Kansas City, Missouri and raised in Oklahoma City. She first learned about philanthropy from her father. As she listened and watched him she was impressed …

Melvin & Jasmine Moran

Born in St. Joseph, Missouri to European Jews, Melvin Moran grew up in Oklahoma. He attended schools in Tulsa before settling with his family in Seminole while working in the …

Robert L. Parker

Robert L. (Bob) Parker Sr., a Tulsa native, graduated from Culver Military Academy in Indiana and earned a B.S. degree in petroleum engineering from the University of Texas. In 1954 he …

Thomas Gilcrease

Born in 1890, Thomas Gilcrease was the oldest of fourteen children and learned the value of hard work early in his youth. As a boy, he loved to read—a hobby …

Walter Helmerich

Walter Hugo Helmerich III was planning to be a teacher. Those plans changed in 1950 when he met the Hollywood actress Peggy Dow at an opening night party of Gentlemen …