University alumnus Art Green speaks on Thursday afternoon about global energy. He recently stepped down from a position at ExxonMobil, where he spent several years in search of oil overseas.
From mapping in the Sahara Desert to drilling for oil off-shore in the North Sea, University alumnus Art Green has spent most of his post-college years overseas.
Green, who graduated with a master’s in Geology in 1962, went to work in the geological research branch for the Humble Company owned by Standard Oil. The company, which later became ExxonMobil, had headquarters in New York, although its research branch was based in Houston.
“After graduating I was just hoping for a job. There weren’t many jobs in geology at the time,” Green said. “I heard about this one from a professor who worked for the company in Peru.”
During his 41 years of service with ExxonMobil, Green spent most of his time traveling. He went to England, Singapore, Libya, Russia, China, Canada, France, Australia and even lived in Norway for a year.
“It was before they had TV and there was only one radio station,” Green said. “It was a quiet town
because we hadn’t discovered oil yet.”
Green spoke fondly about his time in Australia.
“Someone gave me a book about thorn birds and they are the epitome of an Aussie,” Green said. “If I had to go into Thailand I’d go get two Aussies before I went, not Americans,” Green said. “They worked through the day.” He added that Australians are a major part of the ExxonMobil company now.
Green grew up in Washington and lived in the Puget Sound area. He got his bachelor’s degree in geology from Washington State University in 1956. Following his graduation he spent three years in the Air Force, where he said he saved money for graduate school. He added that when he left the Air Force he had planned to go to graduate school in Washington until a professor told him that would be taking the “easy way out” because the University of Oregon taught soft-rock geology while Washington State only taught hard rock geology, which Green had already studied.
During his two years at the University of Oregon, Green spent most of his time doing field work and mapping in the surrounding areas of Eugene.
“I wanted to be where there were no people,” Green said. “After being in the Air Force with a hydrogen bomb on my back, worried I’d have to obliterate Moscow, I thought people were crazy.”
Green said his aspiration toward geology began when he worked in a logging camp in Washington. At age 16, Green said he had the idea that in geology, he could climb mountains.
Since retiring from ExxonMobil, Green has joined the lecture circuit. Last Thursday Green returned to the University to give a free public talk focused on the energy outlook for the next 10 years, according to a University press release. Green will be giving 10 lectures this fall and another 10 in February. Also, as a trustee of the American Geological Institute, he will be involved in a four-part series airing on the Discovery channel about the evolution of planet earth.
While on the lecture circuit, Green has been accompanied by his wife of two years, Ann.
“He was busy traveling and I got another degree,” Ann Green said. “We were both busy with our careers for a long time.”
