Everette Lee DeGolyer
Encyclopedia
Everette Lee DeGolyer. was a prominent oilman, geophysicist
and philanthropist
in Dallas. He was known as "the founder of applied geophysics in the petroleum industry", as "the father of American geophysics," and was a legendary collector of rare books.
on October 9, 1886, the son of John and Narcissa Kagy Huddle DeGolyer of Greensburg, Kansas
. He was the first of three children. The family moved to Joplin, Missouri
, where Everette attended school while his father worked in lead and zinc mining in the area. In 1901 the family moved to Norman, Oklahoma
, where Everette attended the University of Oklahoma preparatory school. DeGolyer attended the University of Oklahoma
beginning in the fall of 1905. During the summers of 1906-1909 he worked for the U.S. Geological Survey, starting as a cook and working up to field assistant. In 1909 DeGolyer began work as a field geologist for the Mexican Eagle Petroleum Company
(El Aguila Oil Company), remaining with the company for ten years, where he was involved in the discoveries of the Potrero del Llano No. 4 in 1910 and the Las Naranjas field after 1911. DeGolyer married Nell Virginia Goodrich, a teaching assistant at the University of Oklahoma, in 1910, living in Tampico, Mexico. DeGolyer returned to the University of Oklahoma to finish his A.B. degree in geology, receiving it in 1911.
to work in New York City in 1916. In 1919, while working as a consultant to the British entrepreneur Lord Cowdray
, DeGolyer negotiated the sale of the El Aguila
company to Royal Dutch Shell
. In the same year, DeGolyer organized the formation of the Rycade Oil Company as well as the Amerada Petroleum Corporation for Lord Cowdray, rising to become general manager, president, and chairman from 1929 to 1932 DeGolyer left the firm in 1932, but remained with Rycade, which was established to explore salt dome
oil deposits through 1941. As a geophysical consultant with Rycade, DeGolyer made the first torsion balance survey in the United States at the Spindletop
oilfield. An oilfield found by DeGolyer on behalf of Rycade at Nash, Texas
was the first oilfield anywhere to be discovered using geophysics. From 1925 DeGolyer established the Geophysical Research Corporation as a subsidiary of Amerada to develop reflective seismology techniques originated by J. Clarence Karcher
and Eugene McDermott
, leaving in 1932 to move to Dallas, Texas
. DeGolyer provided financial support for the 1930 establishment of GRC's successor, Geophysical Service Incorporated
. GSI went on to spin off Texas Instruments
. In 1936 with Lewis MacNaughton, DeGolyer established the petroleum exploration consulting firm DeGolyer and MacNaughton
, and Core Laboratories, Incorporated the same year to provide drilling core and fluids analysis. DeGolyer was also associated with the Atlatl Royalty Company from 1932 to 1950 and the Felmont Corporation in 1934. In 1956 he established Isotopes, Incorporated to provide radioactive isotopes for oilfield and industrial purposes.
During World War II, DeGolyer served as director of conservation with the Office of the Coordinator for National Defense from 1941 to 1942. He was assistant deputy of the Petroleum Administration for War in 1942-43, and was in charge of the Petroleum Reserves Corporation mission to the Middle East in 1943-44 He was president of the American Institute of Mining and Metallurgical Engineers in 1927, and was a director of the American Petroleum Institute
for twenty years. In 1946, working on behalf of the Office of Strategic Services
, the forerunner to the Central Intelligence Agency
, DeGolyer recruited Jack Crichton
of Dallas, to operate a group of companies which frequently were given new names, presumably to make it more difficult to trace their operations. According to investigative journalist Russ Baker
(not to be confused with Russell Baker
of The New York Times
), the companies "operated largely below the radar, and fronted for some of North America's biggest names, including the Bronfmans (Seagram's liquor), the Du Ponts, and the Kuhn-Loeb family of financiers." Crichton became a prominent oil and gas industrialist and was the 1964 Republican
gubernatorial nominee.
. A regent of the Smithsonian Institution
, he was also distinguished professor of geology at the University of Texas in 1940 and held seven honorary doctorates.
DeGolyer served on numerous boards of directors, including the Texas Eastern Gas Transmission Corporation
, Dresser Industries
and the Southern Pacific Railroad
.
, which recognizes "distinguished service to SPE, the profession of engineering and geology, and to the petroleum industry." He received the Sidney Powell Memorial Award from the American Association of Petroleum Geologists
in 1950 Everette L. DeGolyer Elementary School in Dallas is named after DeGolyer. (Located at 32.904191°N 96.861434°W.)
was established in 1957 by gifts from DeGolyer and his wife, Nell, and from bequest
s in his will. DeGolyer served on the boards of the Dallas Museum of Art
, Dallas Arboretum, and Dallas Public Library
. The DeGolyers lived at Rancho Encinal near Dallas. The 1940 estate, located on the shores of White Rock Lake
, would later become the permanent location of the Dallas Arboretum and Botanical Garden. The DeGolyer Estate is listed on the National Register of Historic Places
.
Everette and Nell DeGolyer had four children: Nell Virginia, born in Norman, Oklahoma, Dorothy Margaret, Cecilia Jeanne and Everett Lee Jr, all born in Montclair, New Jersey. Cecilia married George C. McGhee
, a protégé of Everette's, who would go on the become a U.S. Undersecretary of State and U.S. Ambassador to West Germany and Turkey. DeGolyer was a prolific collector of rare books, donating his collection on the history of science to the University of Oklahoma. His collection of rare books of modern American and English writers was donated to the University of Texas. The DeGolyer Library at Southern Methodist University
holds works on law relating to oil and gas. SMU also keeps DeGolyer's collection on the history of Mexico and the American west.
After suffering from aplastic anemia
for seven years, Everette DeGolyer took his own life in his office in Dallas on December 14, 1956.
Geophysics
Geophysics is the physics of the Earth and its environment in space; also the study of the Earth using quantitative physical methods. The term geophysics sometimes refers only to the geological applications: Earth's shape; its gravitational and magnetic fields; its internal structure and...
and philanthropist
Philanthropy
Philanthropy etymologically means "the love of humanity"—love in the sense of caring for, nourishing, developing, or enhancing; humanity in the sense of "what it is to be human," or "human potential." In modern practical terms, it is "private initiatives for public good, focusing on quality of...
in Dallas. He was known as "the founder of applied geophysics in the petroleum industry", as "the father of American geophysics," and was a legendary collector of rare books.
Early life
Everette Lee DeGolyer was born in a sod houseSod house
The sod house or "soddy" was a corollary to the log cabin during frontier settlement of Canada and the United States. The prairie lacked standard building materials such as wood or stone; however, sod from thickly-rooted prairie grass was abundant...
on October 9, 1886, the son of John and Narcissa Kagy Huddle DeGolyer of Greensburg, Kansas
Greensburg, Kansas
Greensburg is a city in and the county seat of Kiowa County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 777. Greensburg is also home to the world's largest hand-dug well....
. He was the first of three children. The family moved to Joplin, Missouri
Joplin, Missouri
Joplin is a city in southern Jasper County and northern Newton County in the southwestern corner of the US state of Missouri. Joplin is the largest city in Jasper County, though it is not the county seat. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 50,150...
, where Everette attended school while his father worked in lead and zinc mining in the area. In 1901 the family moved to Norman, Oklahoma
Norman, Oklahoma
Norman is a city in Cleveland County, Oklahoma, United States, and is located south of downtown Oklahoma City. It is part of the Oklahoma City metropolitan area. As of the 2010 census, Norman was to have 110,925 full-time residents, making it the third-largest city in Oklahoma and the...
, where Everette attended the University of Oklahoma preparatory school. DeGolyer attended the University of Oklahoma
University of Oklahoma
The University of Oklahoma is a coeducational public research university located in Norman, Oklahoma. Founded in 1890, it existed in Oklahoma Territory near Indian Territory for 17 years before the two became the state of Oklahoma. the university had 29,931 students enrolled, most located at its...
beginning in the fall of 1905. During the summers of 1906-1909 he worked for the U.S. Geological Survey, starting as a cook and working up to field assistant. In 1909 DeGolyer began work as a field geologist for the Mexican Eagle Petroleum Company
Mexican Eagle Petroleum Company
Compañía Mexicana de Petróleo El Aguila SA, , called in English the Mexican Eagle Oil Company or Mexican Eagle Petroleum Corporation, was a Mexican oil company in the 20th century.-History:Sir Weetman Pearson, Bart...
(El Aguila Oil Company), remaining with the company for ten years, where he was involved in the discoveries of the Potrero del Llano No. 4 in 1910 and the Las Naranjas field after 1911. DeGolyer married Nell Virginia Goodrich, a teaching assistant at the University of Oklahoma, in 1910, living in Tampico, Mexico. DeGolyer returned to the University of Oklahoma to finish his A.B. degree in geology, receiving it in 1911.
Oil career
DeGolyer opened a petroleum geology consultancy in 1914, moving to Montclair, New JerseyMontclair, New Jersey
-Demographics:As of the census of 2000, there were 38,977 people, 15,020 households, and 9,687 families residing in the township. The population density was 6,183.6 people per square mile . There were 15,531 housing units at an average density of 2,464.0 per square mile...
to work in New York City in 1916. In 1919, while working as a consultant to the British entrepreneur Lord Cowdray
Weetman Pearson, 1st Viscount Cowdray
Weetman Dickinson Pearson, 1st Viscount Cowdray GCVO, PC , known as Sir Weetman Pearson, Bt, between 1894 and 1910 and as The Lord Cowdray between 1910 and 1917, was a British engineer, oil industrialist, benefactor and Liberal politician...
, DeGolyer negotiated the sale of the El Aguila
Mexican Eagle Petroleum Company
Compañía Mexicana de Petróleo El Aguila SA, , called in English the Mexican Eagle Oil Company or Mexican Eagle Petroleum Corporation, was a Mexican oil company in the 20th century.-History:Sir Weetman Pearson, Bart...
company to Royal Dutch Shell
Royal Dutch Shell
Royal Dutch Shell plc , commonly known as Shell, is a global oil and gas company headquartered in The Hague, Netherlands and with its registered office in London, United Kingdom. It is the fifth-largest company in the world according to a composite measure by Forbes magazine and one of the six...
. In the same year, DeGolyer organized the formation of the Rycade Oil Company as well as the Amerada Petroleum Corporation for Lord Cowdray, rising to become general manager, president, and chairman from 1929 to 1932 DeGolyer left the firm in 1932, but remained with Rycade, which was established to explore salt dome
Salt dome
A salt dome is a type of structural dome formed when a thick bed of evaporite minerals found at depth intrudes vertically into surrounding rock strata, forming a diapir....
oil deposits through 1941. As a geophysical consultant with Rycade, DeGolyer made the first torsion balance survey in the United States at the Spindletop
Spindletop
Spindletop is a salt dome oil field located in the southern portion of Beaumont, Texas in the United States. The Spindletop dome was derived from the Louann Salt evaporite layer of the Jurassic geologic period. On January 10, 1901, a well at Spindletop struck oil . The new oil field soon produced...
oilfield. An oilfield found by DeGolyer on behalf of Rycade at Nash, Texas
Nash, Texas
-Demographics:As of the census of 2000, there were 2,169 people, 891 households, and 603 families residing in the city. The population density was 768.4 people per square mile . There were 1,003 housing units at an average density of 355.3/sq mi...
was the first oilfield anywhere to be discovered using geophysics. From 1925 DeGolyer established the Geophysical Research Corporation as a subsidiary of Amerada to develop reflective seismology techniques originated by J. Clarence Karcher
J. Clarence Karcher
John Clarence Karcher was an American geophysicist and businessman. He invented and eventually commercialized the reflection seismograph, applying for patents on this in 1919. In doing this he created the means by which most of the world's oil reserves have been discovered...
and Eugene McDermott
Eugene McDermott
Eugene McDermott was a geophysicist and co-founder of first of Geophysical Service and later of Texas Instruments.Born in Brooklyn, New York, on February 12, 1899. He graduated from Stevens Institute of Technology in 1919 with a mechanical engineering degree.-Early career:Upon graduation,...
, leaving in 1932 to move to Dallas, Texas
Dallas, Texas
Dallas is the third-largest city in Texas and the ninth-largest in the United States. The Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex is the largest metropolitan area in the South and fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States...
. DeGolyer provided financial support for the 1930 establishment of GRC's successor, Geophysical Service Incorporated
Geophysical Service Incorporated
Geophysical Service Inc. was founded by John Clarence Karcher and Eugene McDermott in 1930 for the purpose of using refraction and reflection seismology to explore for petroleum deposits. It became one of the most successful seismic exploration contractors in the industry for many years...
. GSI went on to spin off Texas Instruments
Texas Instruments
Texas Instruments Inc. , widely known as TI, is an American company based in Dallas, Texas, United States, which develops and commercializes semiconductor and computer technology...
. In 1936 with Lewis MacNaughton, DeGolyer established the petroleum exploration consulting firm DeGolyer and MacNaughton
DeGolyer and MacNaughton
DeGolyer and MacNaughton is a petroleum consulting company based in Dallas, Texas, with offices in Houston, Moscow, and Calgary.DeGolyer and MacNaughton was founded in 1936 by Everette Lee DeGolyer and Lewis MacNaughton. In 2004, it acquired Calgary-based Outtrim Szabo Associates forming its...
, and Core Laboratories, Incorporated the same year to provide drilling core and fluids analysis. DeGolyer was also associated with the Atlatl Royalty Company from 1932 to 1950 and the Felmont Corporation in 1934. In 1956 he established Isotopes, Incorporated to provide radioactive isotopes for oilfield and industrial purposes.
During World War II, DeGolyer served as director of conservation with the Office of the Coordinator for National Defense from 1941 to 1942. He was assistant deputy of the Petroleum Administration for War in 1942-43, and was in charge of the Petroleum Reserves Corporation mission to the Middle East in 1943-44 He was president of the American Institute of Mining and Metallurgical Engineers in 1927, and was a director of the American Petroleum Institute
American Petroleum Institute
The American Petroleum Institute, commonly referred to as API, is the largest U.S trade association for the oil and natural gas industry...
for twenty years. In 1946, working on behalf of the Office of Strategic Services
Office of Strategic Services
The Office of Strategic Services was a United States intelligence agency formed during World War II. It was the wartime intelligence agency, and it was a predecessor of the Central Intelligence Agency...
, the forerunner to the Central Intelligence Agency
Central Intelligence Agency
The Central Intelligence Agency is a civilian intelligence agency of the United States government. It is an executive agency and reports directly to the Director of National Intelligence, responsible for providing national security intelligence assessment to senior United States policymakers...
, DeGolyer recruited Jack Crichton
Jack Crichton (Texas businessman)
John Alston Crichton, known as Jack Crichton , was an oil and natural gas industrialist from Dallas, Texas, who was among the first of his ranks to recognize the importance of petroleum reserves in the Middle East. In 1964, he carried the Republican banner in a fruitless campaign against the...
of Dallas, to operate a group of companies which frequently were given new names, presumably to make it more difficult to trace their operations. According to investigative journalist Russ Baker
Russ Baker
Russ Baker is a US investigative journalist and founder of the nonprofit website . His recurring themes are politics, secrecy, and abuses of power. His recent writings have focused on elites in finance, resource extraction, military and intelligence operations, and their quiet influence over...
(not to be confused with Russell Baker
Russell Baker
Russell Wayne Baker is an American Pulitzer Prize-winning writer known for his satirical commentary and self-critical prose, as well as for his autobiography, Growing Up.-His career:...
of The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
), the companies "operated largely below the radar, and fronted for some of North America's biggest names, including the Bronfmans (Seagram's liquor), the Du Ponts, and the Kuhn-Loeb family of financiers." Crichton became a prominent oil and gas industrialist and was the 1964 Republican
Republican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
gubernatorial nominee.
Other ventures
In non-petroleum-related activities, Everette DeGolyer was active in publishing, where he had controlling interest and was chairman of the editorial board of the Saturday Review of Literature. DeGolyer was also associate editor of New Colophon and the Southwest ReviewSouthwest Review
The Southwest Review is a literary journal published quarterly, based on the Southern Methodist University campus in Dallas, Texas. It is the third oldest literary quarterly in the United States of America . The current editor-in-chief is Willard Spiegelman.The journal was formerly known as the...
. A regent of the Smithsonian Institution
Smithsonian Institution
The Smithsonian Institution is an educational and research institute and associated museum complex, administered and funded by the government of the United States and by funds from its endowment, contributions, and profits from its retail operations, concessions, licensing activities, and magazines...
, he was also distinguished professor of geology at the University of Texas in 1940 and held seven honorary doctorates.
DeGolyer served on numerous boards of directors, including the Texas Eastern Gas Transmission Corporation
Spectra Energy
Spectra Energy Corp is a S&P 500 company headquartered in Houston, Texas, that operates in three key areas of the natural gas industry: transmission and storage, distribution, and gathering and processing. Spectra was formed in late 2006 from the spin-off from Duke Energy...
, Dresser Industries
Dresser Industries
Dresser Industries was a multinational corporation headquartered in Dallas, Texas, United States, which provided a wide range of technology, products, and services used for developing energy and natural resources...
and the Southern Pacific Railroad
Southern Pacific Railroad
The Southern Pacific Transportation Company , earlier Southern Pacific Railroad and Southern Pacific Company, and usually simply called the Southern Pacific or Espee, was an American railroad....
.
Honors
DeGolyer was the first recipient, in 1966, of the DeGolyer Distinguished Service Medal awarded by the Society of Petroleum EngineersSociety of Petroleum Engineers
The Society of Petroleum Engineers is a not-for-profit professional organization whose mission is to collect, disseminate, and exchange technical knowledge concerning the exploration, development and production of oil and gas resources and related technologies for the public benefit and to provide...
, which recognizes "distinguished service to SPE, the profession of engineering and geology, and to the petroleum industry." He received the Sidney Powell Memorial Award from the American Association of Petroleum Geologists
American Association of Petroleum Geologists
The American Association of Petroleum Geologists is one of the world's largest professional geological societies with over 31,000 members as of 2007. The AAPG works to advance the science of geology , to promote technology, and to inspire high professional conduct...
in 1950 Everette L. DeGolyer Elementary School in Dallas is named after DeGolyer. (Located at 32.904191°N 96.861434°W.)
Later life and philanthropic activities
The DeGolyer Library at Southern Methodist UniversitySouthern Methodist University
Southern Methodist University is a private university in Dallas, Texas, United States. Founded in 1911 by the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, SMU operates campuses in Dallas, Plano, and Taos, New Mexico. SMU is owned by the South Central Jurisdiction of the United Methodist Church...
was established in 1957 by gifts from DeGolyer and his wife, Nell, and from bequest
Bequest
A bequest is the act of giving property by will. Strictly, "bequest" is used of personal property, and "devise" of real property. In legal terminology, "bequeath" is a verb form meaning "to make a bequest."...
s in his will. DeGolyer served on the boards of the Dallas Museum of Art
Dallas Museum of Art
The Dallas Museum of Art is a major art museum located in the Arts District of downtown Dallas, Texas, USA, along Woodall Rodgers Freeway between St. Paul and Harwood. In 1984, the museum moved from its previous location in Fair Park to the Arts District, Dallas, Texas...
, Dallas Arboretum, and Dallas Public Library
Dallas Public Library
The Dallas Public Library system serves as the municipal library system of the city of Dallas, Texas .-History:In 1899, the idea to create a free public library in Dallas was conceived by the Dallas Federation of Women's Clubs, led by president Mrs. Henry Exall. She helped raise US$11,000 from...
. The DeGolyers lived at Rancho Encinal near Dallas. The 1940 estate, located on the shores of White Rock Lake
White Rock Lake
White Rock Lake is a reservoir located in east Dallas, Texas . The lake was formed by damming White Rock Creek, which today widens into the lake before continuing south out of the spillway and emptying into the Trinity River...
, would later become the permanent location of the Dallas Arboretum and Botanical Garden. The DeGolyer Estate is listed on the National Register of Historic Places
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
.
Everette and Nell DeGolyer had four children: Nell Virginia, born in Norman, Oklahoma, Dorothy Margaret, Cecilia Jeanne and Everett Lee Jr, all born in Montclair, New Jersey. Cecilia married George C. McGhee
George C. McGhee
George Crews McGhee was an oilman and a career diplomat in the United States foreign service.-Early life:McGhee was born on March 10, 1912 in Waco, Texas, the son of a Waco banker. He studied at the University of Oklahoma, graduating with a degree in geology in 1933...
, a protégé of Everette's, who would go on the become a U.S. Undersecretary of State and U.S. Ambassador to West Germany and Turkey. DeGolyer was a prolific collector of rare books, donating his collection on the history of science to the University of Oklahoma. His collection of rare books of modern American and English writers was donated to the University of Texas. The DeGolyer Library at Southern Methodist University
Southern Methodist University
Southern Methodist University is a private university in Dallas, Texas, United States. Founded in 1911 by the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, SMU operates campuses in Dallas, Plano, and Taos, New Mexico. SMU is owned by the South Central Jurisdiction of the United Methodist Church...
holds works on law relating to oil and gas. SMU also keeps DeGolyer's collection on the history of Mexico and the American west.
After suffering from aplastic anemia
Aplastic anemia
Aplastic anemia is a condition where bone marrow does not produce sufficient new cells to replenish blood cells. The condition, per its name, involves both aplasia and anemia...
for seven years, Everette DeGolyer took his own life in his office in Dallas on December 14, 1956.