Edward A. “Ed” Blair retired as president of the Americas Division of BHP Petroleum Inc. in 1998, and has worked all over the world in his 40 years in the oil and gas industry. A 1958 petroleum engineering graduate, he was employed for 23 years by Exxon, where he held various engineering and management positions in the United States, United Kingdom and Malaysia. He joined Hamilton Oil Co. in 1982 as vice president of engineering and operations and was named president of the company’s U.K. operations in 1988. When Hamilton was acquired in 1991 by BHP, Blair became president of the U.K., Europe, Russia, Africa and Middle East Region, a post in which he served until being named president of BHP Petroleum Americas in 1994.
BS Chemical Engineering 1943
Douglas J. Bourne of Tulsa graduated from OU in 1943 with a B.S. in chemical engineering. While at OU, he was a member of Phi Gamma Delta and Phi Eta Sigma. After serving as an engineering officer on a destroyer escort in the Pacific Theater in World War II, Bourne began his career in the international mining business with Duval Corp., where he worked in all facets of the mining business: exploration, research, engineering, production, sales and general management. He became president of Duval in 1977 and in 1983 was named Duval’s chairman and CEO. He has served as chairman of the Sulphur Institute and the Potash and Phosphate Institute and as a director of the American Mining Congress, the Fertilizer Institute and the Copper Development Association.
BS Aerospace Engineering 1972
Steven D. Fisher graduated from OU in 1972, where he majored in aerospace engineering. Upon graduation, he joined Space Data Corp. as an aerospace engineer, where he was responsible for the design, development, fabrication, and flight testing of missile and space systems. In 1977, Fisher was named president of Space Data. In 1985, he performed a leveraged buyout of Space Data and took over as CEO and president. In 1988, he merged Space Data with Orbital Sciences Corp. of Fairfax, Va. He continued to serve as president of the Space Data Division of Orbital Sciences until 1991, at which time, having met his goals and objectives in the aerospace industry, he retired from OSC and began a new business venture, Fisher Opportunity Corp., an investment management company.
BS Civil Engineering 1954
Dillard S. Hammett earned a B.S. in civil engineering from OU in 1954 and began working for Shell Oil Co. In 1967, he was named vice president of technology - worldwide drilling for Sedco Inc., a post he held until 1985 when he became vice president of technology and marketing and corporate director of Ensco Inc. With 47 years in the energy industry, he led projects that developed dynamic stationing and floating production technology involving ultra deepwater activities and pioneered techniques to drill and produce in ice and iceberg-covered oceans. He is named on 20 patents on technical methods, has published more than 50 technical papers and has presented more than 200 technical speeches worldwide.
