At the University of Oklahoma’s 133rd Commencement, the university awarded honorary degrees to Thomas H. McCasland, Jr. and Dr. Gladys B. West in recognition of their extraordinary achievements and generous service.
Learn more about these remarkable individuals in the videos below.
From an early age, Thomas H. McCasland, Jr., accompanied his father to the oilfield on weekends, learning about drilling and producing operations. From age 15 through college, he worked summer oilfield-related jobs. Knowing he wanted a life in the energy business, he focused his studies toward that goal.
Born in Duncan, Oklahoma, McCasland graduated with a Bachelor of Science in petroleum engineering from the University of Oklahoma. While there, he was a member of Beta Theta Pi fraternity and was selected to membership in Tau Beta Pi, Sigma Tau, and Pi Epsilon Tau scholastic fraternities. He was active in many university and engineering school activities, including the Loyal Knights of Old Trusty, Athletic Council, Student Senate, and was Student CEO of the Naval ROTC Unit.
After graduation, McCasland spent two years active duty with the U.S. Navy Civil Engineering Corps in California and Guam as an assistant public works officer, attaining the rank of lieutenant, junior grade. Upon release from the Navy, he joined Mack Oil Co., the family’s oil business, and spent 10 years supervising various areas of oilfield work. In 1968, he activated and led Thomas Drilling Co., a drilling contracting firm, growing it to nine operating rigs during the oil boom of the late 1970s and 1980s.
During the oil boom, he also formed and operated Oil Country Trucking Co. and Apache Mud Co. He formed and led Mack Energy Co., the family’s lead oil and gas enterprise and, in 1985, assumed the leadership of all the McCasland family enterprises – oil and gas exploration, oilfield services, farming and cattle ranching, and banking.
At the time of his retirement, McCasland was leading Mack Energy Co., Mack Oil Co., M&M Supply Co., Thomas Drilling Co., EnerWest Trading Co., Southern Gas Co., Jath Oil Co., Investors Trust Co., McCasland Farms, and AmQuest Financial Inc., which subsequently merged into BancFirst Corp. In addition, he was Chairman and Trustee of the McCasland Foundation.
McCasland’s past and present leadership roles include service on the boards of BancFirst Corp.; the Oklahoma Independent Petroleum Association, which in 2006 inducted him into its Wildcatter Hall of Honor; the Oklahoma Heritage Association (now the Oklahoma Hall of Fame), which inducted him in 2014; OU’s Mewbourne College of Earth and Energy, which recognized him with its Trailblazer Award; OU’s Gallogly College of Engineering, which honored him with membership in its Distinguished Graduates Society; and the Oklahoma Chamber of Commerce; among countless others.
McCasland and his wife, Phyllis, split their time between his hometown of Duncan, Oklahoma, and Dallas where they retired, and are active in the social and civic activities in both states. In Duncan, McCasland’s service to the community includes the Chamber of Commerce, the Boy Scouts, Duncan Regional Hospital, Rotary Club (President), and the Duncan Area Economic Development Foundation. Local honors include the Duncan Jaycees Outstanding Citizen Award and the Duncan Chamber’s Man of the Year Award. With other Duncan business leaders, he conceived and organized the Communities Foundation of Oklahoma to serve the needs of smaller communities.
In Dallas, he is on the board and executive committee of the Dallas Arboretum and Botanical Garden and the Dallas Opera, the latter along with Phyllis, and he has served on the board of the Dallas Center for the Performing Arts.
McCasland’s contributions to OU have played a vital role in the university’s ongoing success. His far-reaching impact includes involvement with the OU Alumni Association and support for key institutions, including Bizzell Memorial Library and Sarkeys Energy Center. As a member of the OU Foundation Board of Trustees, McCasland helped guide the university’s financial and strategic growth. Beyond campus, he extended his leadership to Beta Theta Pi, serving locally and nationally. A true role model, he established a matching scholarship program and offered crucial support and guidance in the creation of the Jerry Holmes Leadership Program for Engineers and Scientists.
Born in Sutherland, Virginia, in 1930, Gladys West’s 42-year career as a civilian mathematician for the U.S. Navy profoundly influenced modern technology and shaped the way we navigate and understand the world, perhaps most notably through her contributions to the development of GPS.
West earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in mathematics from Virginia State University before launching her career in 1956 at the Naval Proving Ground, now called the Naval Support Facility Dahlgren. She was only the second African American woman hired – one of four African American employees in total at that time. She later earned a Master of Public Administration from the University of Oklahoma and a doctoral degree in public administration from Virginia Tech, the latter after she retired.
During her more than four decades of service, West gained the admiration of her colleagues for her skill in calculating complex mathematical equations and in programming computers. She rose through the ranks at the Naval Surface Warfare Center Dahlgren Division while continuing to work on satellite geodesy and other satellite measurements that contributed to the accuracy of GPS. Today, almost everyone is impacted by her work, as GPS is a ubiquitous feature on smartphones, vehicles, and numerous other applications.
West later became project manager for the radar altimetry data processing project of Seasat, the first satellite designed for remote sensing of the Earth’s oceans. She published numerous papers and gave presentations on her work at national and international conferences before retiring in 1998.
In recent years, West has been hailed as one of the so-called “hidden figures” who did computing for the U.S. military in the era before electronic systems. As a result of her many contributions, she has earned numerous honors, including induction into the Air Force Space and Missile Pioneers Hall of Fame – the institution’s only female Black inductee, the National Black College Alumni Hall of Fame, and the Surface Navy Association’s Surface Warfare Hall of Fame. She is also the first woman to receive the Prince Philip Medal from the United Kingdom’s Royal Academy of Engineering, the organization’s highest individual honor. Other recognitions include being named one of the top 100 Women by the British Broadcasting Corp., selection as a Dominion Energy Strong Men & Women honoree, and a Senate Resolution.
West is recently widowed, following a 67-year marriage to Ira West, also a retired mathematician from Dahlgren. At age 94, she continues to exercise virtually at the YMCA, is a member of Gideons International and of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Inc., and, until recently, regularly mentored youth along with her husband. She released her memoir, “It Began with A Dream,” in 2020.
