Montana Tech will honor three alumni with the Distinguished Alumni Award at Montana Tech’s 114th Commencement Ceremony on Saturday, May 17, 2014. This year’s Distinguished Alumni Award recipients are: Glenn M. Eurick, B.S. Environmental Engineering, 1977; Patrick O’Brien, B.S. Petroleum Engineering, 1973; and Bruce Williams, B.S. Petroleum Engineering, 1971
The Distinguished Alumni Award is presented to alumni of Montana Tech, who have established a professional career of at least 20 years, of which five years have been in a responsible capacity, and who has either contributed in an outstanding manner to the furtherance of his or her profession and/or has been an outstanding contributor to Montana Tech.
ABOUT THE AWARDEES:
Glenn M. Eurick
B.S. Environmental Engineering, 1977
Glenn was born and raised in Butte, MT and graduated from the Montana College of Mineral Science and Technology in 1977. He began his engineering career with Minnesota Power and Light working in compliance and permitting associated with construction and operations. Glenn soon moved to the mining sector where he has worked to influence the content of environmental laws and regulations at the state and national levels.
As an early graduate of Montana Tech’s pioneering environmental engineering program, Glenn is acknowledged as a leader in the environmental profession, particularly in the mining industry. He is known for interpreting and integrating environmental laws and regulations at the operations level with a degree of practicality.
Glenn has a long history with former and current professional organizations such as the Rocky Mountain Environmental Professionals Association, current Water Quality Chair for the National Mining Association, and Environmental Chair and Past Chair of Waste, Education and Water Subcommittees for the Utah Mining Association. He is a member and co-founder of the former Coalition for Mercury Management based in Washington DC, a founder of the Western Mining Environmental Roundtable (a western regional mining issues advocacy group), and an organizer and promoter of the multi-resource variation of the My Earth--Our Home education program.
Glenn has been a strong advocate and ambassador for Montana Tech. As an alumnus he tirelessly dedicates his time and financial support to his alma mater. Glenn is a founder, past chair, and current member of the Montana Tech Environmental Engineering Industrial Advisory Board, a founder and Charter member of the Montana Tech Alumni Association Utah Chapter, and former board member of the Montana Tech Foundation representing environmental engineering. He is the recipient of the Calvin K. Sudweeks Award for outstanding contribution in the field of water quality in the State of Utah and the inaugural recipient of the Environmental Engineering Alumni Recognition Award for Montana Tech. The son of Doris and Carl Eurick of Butte, Glenn currently resides in Salt Lake City, UT with his wife Sheri. They have three children, Janelle, Mason and Brock, and 5 grandchildren.
Patrick O’Brien
B.S. Petroleum Engineering, 1973
Pat O’Brien graduated from the Montana College of Mineral Science and Technology with his Bachelor of Science degree in Petroleum Engineering in 1973. He began his career in the oil and gas industry with the Dowell Division of Dow Chemical Company engineering and supervising all phases of well stimulation and cementing. He joined the Colorado Interstate Gas Company in 1974 where he was responsible for the design, acquisition and development of company-owned gas storage fields.
As an entrepreneur in 1980, Pat co-founded Tower Drilling serving as president for ten years. During that time, Tower drilled more than a thousand wells in the DJ Basin north of Denver. In 1984 Pat became co-founder and chairman of Tower Energy Corporation created as a vehicle to invest in wells drilled by Tower Drilling.
In 2002 Pat was the co-founder of America Oil and Gas, Inc., a small public oil and gas company whose main area of focus was the Powder River Basin of Wyoming and the Bakken formation in North Dakota. He served as President and CEO for eight years until AOGI’s sale to Hess Corporation in 2010.
Currently Pat is an investor and Special Advisor to Extraction Oil & Gas, a wholly owned subsidiary of PRE Resources, LLC, as well as an investor, board member, and co-founder of Elk Meadows Energy Corporation both based in Denver, CO.
Pat is known among his peers as one of the most admired and respected oil and gas executives in Denver. He continues to be an advocate and ambassador for Montana Tech giving generously of his time and finances. Pat received the Petroleum Department Alumni Recognition Award in 2002, is a member of the Chancellor’s Roundtable and is currently serving on the Montana Tech Foundation Board of Directors.
Bruce Williams
B.S. Petroleum Engineering, 1971
Bruce Williams, a Butte native, graduated from the Montana College of Mineral Science and Technology with a Bachelor of Science degree in Petroleum Engineering in 1971. During his professional career of over 40 years Bruce worked in engineering, operations, management and executive positions for Shell Oil Company, Petro-Lewis Corporation, Whiting Petroleum Corporation, Preston Reynolds and Company and Fidelity Exploration & Production Company. Although he spent most of his career living in the Rocky Mountain area, Bruce has worked in most of the major oil and gas producing regions in the lower 48 states.
Bruce is known among his peers as a consummate spokesperson for industry. His ability to communicate complicated issues in an effective manner to lay people and decision makers has played a key role in driving policies affecting natural resource development in Montana, Wyoming, and the region at large.
Bruce retired as Vice President of Operations for Fidelity Exploration & Production Company in 2008. He served on the Wyoming Oil and Gas Conservation Commission from 2008 – 2014, and on the Wyoming Enhance Oil Recovery Commission from 2010 – 2014. He is a 2006 graduate of the Leadership Wyoming program, served on the Board of Directors of both the Sheridan County Chamber of Commerce and the Montana Petroleum Association, and is a retired member of the Society of Petroleum Engineers.
Bruce and his wife of 40 years, Debi, have two married children, Staci and Tom, and five grandchildren. Bruce and Debi live in Sheridan, Wyoming during the warm weather months and in Surprise, Arizona in the winter.