ALEXANDRIA,VA — Michel T. Halbouty, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the Michel T. Halbouty Energy Company, will receive the Legendary Geoscientist Award of the American Geological Institute (AGI) and AGI Foundation during the American Association of Petroleum Geologists’ (AAPG) All-Convention Luncheon on Monday, March 11 in Houston. M. Ray Thomasson, President of Thomasson Partner Associates, Inc., President-Elect of AGI, and Past President of AAPG, will be the citationist. Halbouty is recognized as one of the world’s preeminent geologists and petroleum engineers whose contributions to the petroleum industry and to society are virtually unparalleled.

    He is the “perennial wildcatter” who has had a remarkable and distinguished career spanning more than 70 years as a geologist, engineer, businessman, and author. “Your commercial ventures have provided the essential energy resources that support our society, your research contributions enrich our academic community, and your service to Presidents help guide our country,” said Thomasson.

    Halbouty says, “I consider my profession and the science it represents as one of the most vital to the welfare of the world’s people.” Throughout his professional career, Halbouty has given a significant amount of his time and his expertise to ensure the economic stability of the U.S. and has been a member of numerous government panels and committees. He chaired President Reagan’s Energy Policy Advisory Task Force during the 1980 presidential campaign and then served as leader of the Transition Team on Energy. He also served on the Board of Earth Sciences of the National Research Council.

    Halbouty has been instrumental in the discovery of many oil and gas fields throughout the world and was the first independent to make a discovery in Alaska. He has written more than 370 papers on geology and petroleum engineering and is the author of several books including Salt Domes – Gulf Region, United States and Mexico, the only such single volume on the subject in the scientific literature. Several of his papers have been translated into Spanish, Russian, Chinese, and German.

    With a double major in geology and petroleum engineering, Halbouty earned his Bachelor of Science and Master of Science degrees from Texas A&M University. He returned 25 years later to receive his Professional Geological Engineering degree. Halbouty was awarded an honorary Doctor of Engineering degree from Montana College of Mineral Science and Technology and an honorary Doctor of Geoscience degree from the USSR Academy of Sciences, the only honor the academy has bestowed to a scientist outside the Soviet Union. The University of Nanjing, People’s Republic of China, presented Halbouty with an honorary Professorship in Geology to recognize his numerous contributions to the advancement of petroleum geology in China.

    In January 2002, Halbouty was inducted into the Texas Science Hall of Fame. He is a member of the National Academy of Engineering as well as many professional and technical societies, including the American Association of Petroleum Geologists, where he is a past president; the Geological Society of America, where he is a fellow; the Society of Exploration Geophysicists; the Seismological Society of America; the American Institute of Mining, Metallurgical and Petroleum Engineers; the Society of Petroleum Engineers of AIME; the American Association for the Advancement of Science; the International Association of Sedimentologists; and the Association Mexicana de Geologos Petroleros.

    AGI and the AGI Foundation created the Legendary Geoscientist Award in 1999 to recognize lifetime achievements in the geosciences. Previous recipients are J. David Love and Konrad Krauskopf.

    The American Geological Institute is a nonprofit federation of 39 geoscientific and professional associations that represent more than 120,000 geologists, geophysicists, and other earth scientists. Founded in 1948, AGI provides information services to geoscientists, serves as a voice of shared interests in our profession, plays a major role in strengthening geoscience education, and strives to increase public awareness of the vital role the geosciences play in mankind's use of resources and interaction with the environment. More information about AGI can be found at http://www.agiweb.org. The Institute also provides a public-outreach web site, http://www.earthscienceworld.org.
 

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