The University of Tulsa's Petroleum Engineering Department

This month’s alumnus is James Bobo.  James was born and raised in Muskogee, Oklahoma.  He graduated from Muskogee High School in 1973, and joined TU in the same year.  After graduating from The University of Tulsa in 1977 with a B.S. in Petroleum Engineering, James lived in several oilfield towns including New Orleans, Lafayette, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Amarillo, Billings, Fort Worth and Midland.  Over that period, he worked for Chevron, Superior Oil, Mobil, Meridian Oil/Burlington Resources, and ConocoPhillips.  He is currently serving as Drilling/Completion Manager for Piceance Basin for ConocoPhillips, based in Midland, Texas.  James is married to Cindy, who also graduated from TU School of Nursing.  He has one son, Joshua, who is a pharmacist and a daughter, Sarah, who is a teacher. 

James in his own words:

Why did you choose TU?

Dr. John Day made a presentation to a high school chemistry class in the spring of 1973 that resulted in five petroleum engineering graduates from The University of Tulsa.  Probably the most successful high school recruiting presentation on record. 

How did TU prepare you for your career? 

The total educational experience including classroom, involvement in the SPE student chapter, summer internships and part-time work for the TU Drilling Research Project and the personal relationships with fellow students and professors laid a foundation that I've benefited from to this day.

Do you have any fond memories?

There are many fond memories, especially the friendships of six petroleum engineering students that lived one of the suites in Twin Towers and formed the Cat Frat, the example of professors, such as Dr. Kermit Brown and the relationships at the Wesley Foundation campus ministry.