Distinguished Engineer Citations

                 

Terry Fuller

Distinguished Engineer

2011

Degree

B.S., Petroleum Engineering – 1977

 

Citation

At Time of Nomination in 2011

Terry Fuller is president and founder of Phoenix PetroCorp, Inc., an independent oil and gas production company with operations in Texas, Oklahoma, and Kansas.

Fuller was born and raised in Amarillo, Texas and graduated from Palo Duro High School in 1973. Planning to major in engineering, he took a tour of the Texas Tech campus hosted by the Departments of Civil and Mechanical Engineering. During the tour, he happened to meet Dr. Harold Winkler, Chairman of the Bob L. Herd Department of Petroleum Engineering. Winkler was enthusiastic about the future of the oil and gas industry and convinced Fuller to give the field a closer look. A scholarship offer sealed the deal and he became a petroleum engineering student. Within months, the Arab oil embargo sent the price of oil from $3 to $10 a barrel, boosting the demand for engineers in the petroleum industry. As they say, timing is everything! Fuller was an active member of Sigma Chi Fraternity and Saddle Tramps while a student at Texas Tech. He graduated with a bachelor of science in petroleum engineering in May 1977.

He went to work for Arco Oil and Gas in Midland before transferring to Denver in 1978. He worked as a drilling engineer and spent considerable time onsite, supervising drilling operations throughout the Rocky Mountain region. Following a short assignment in Dallas as a staff drilling engineer, Fuller transferred to Arco Alaska in 1983. He progressed through increasingly responsible field supervisory positions at Prudhoe Bay from 1983 to 1990. In 1990, he was promoted to operations superintendent in Denver City, Texas where he was responsible for CO2 enhanced oil recovery operations in West Texas.

While on a golf trip to Arizona in early 1993, Fuller had discussions with several engineers about utilizing their expertise and experience to start an independent oil and gas production company. Upon his return from the trip, he contacted a former oil and gas law professor at Texas Tech, Jerome Schutzberg, and began the process of establishing a corporate entity in the state of Texas, Phoenix PetroCorp, Inc. His partner in this venture is a colleague from Arco, Jim Williams. Today, Phoenix PetroCorp, Inc. owns and operates oil and gas properties in Texas, Oklahoma and Kansas with a particular focus on secondary recovery projects.

Fuller is a member of the Academy of Petroleum Engineers of the Bob L. Herd Department of Petroleum Engineering. He is currently national president for the Red Raider Club. He also serves on the Executive Committee and is a Board member of the Texas Tech Foundation.

He is married to Linda Schlinkman Fuller who also graduated from Texas Tech with a bachelor of arts in English.

Linda is a National Board member of the Texas Tech Alumni Association and serves on the Equal Access Scholarship Selection Committee and on the Texas Tech Club Board of Governors. The Fullers live in Frisco, Texas. Their son Clint also graduated from Texas Tech.

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