University of Wyoming Announces $1.5 Million Gift and New Partnership with Anadarko Petroleum Corporation

The University of Wyoming today announced a $1.5 million gift from the Anadarko Foundation creating the Anadarko Petroleum Corporation Energy Resource Recovery Program Endowment.

The gift will be matched by the state of Wyoming to create a $3 million endowment to support and sustain UW's education and research activities focused on the recovery of oil and natural gas resources.

"We are extremely grateful for this gift from Anadarko," says UW President Tom Buchanan. "It provides UW faculty and students a unique opportunity to partner with industry leaders to explore together the many facets of oil and natural gas development, particularly responsible resource recovery. This is an excellent example of how university research and industry application can work together."

The endowment will power a new partnership between UW and Anadarko, one of the world's largest independent oil and natural gas exploration and production companies, to create valuable opportunities for Anadarko employees to interact and engage with UW students and faculty through UW's School of Energy Resources, College of Engineering and Applied Science, and departments of Geology and Geophysics and Chemistry.

"We are excited to have this opportunity to partner with UW and support and enhance higher education through the creation of this endowment," Anadarko Vice President of Operations Jim Kleckner says. "This endowment will help ensure the university continues to provide the outstanding training and education that have made the School of Energy Resources a tremendous resource for the state and our industry.

"With its vast natural resources, the state of Wyoming is extremely important to our nation's energy future, and Anadarko is delighted to be in a position to support UW's efforts," Kleckner adds. "We look forward to a long-lasting and rewarding partnership."

The endowment will fund investments in unique graduate student fellowships, experiential learning internships and faculty fellowships. It also will connect faculty and students from UW units actively involved in significant aspects of the partnership areas including petroleum and chemical engineering, geology and geophysics, environmental science and engineering, chemistry and other areas of expertise.

"Anadarko's gift will enable UW to acknowledge and support the excellent contributions of undergraduates, graduate students and faculty members who have focused their career aspirations in energy-related fields," says Mark Northam, director of the UW School of Energy Resources.

Graduate fellowships, a key component of the partnership, will be awarded on a competitive basis to UW graduate students conducting research on aspects of the partnership areas. UW will provide the intellectual capital needed to power the research with the significant investment from Anadarko.

"The Anadarko Energy Resource Recovery Program substantially facilitates a concerted long-term set of education and research activities aimed at drawing engineering students and young engineering faculty to career opportunities associated with the sound development of oil and natural gas energy resources, " says Robert Ettema, dean of the College of Engineering and Applied Science.

Additional research will be conducted through the experiential learning internships where outstanding junior or senior undergraduate students in UW research projects will have the opportunity to engage in areas vital to the research in the recovery of oil and natural gas.

"The Anadarko Program provides important, new opportunities at the University of Wyoming to support cutting-edge, basic research in a variety of energy-related topics," says Professor Art Snoke, department head of Geology and Geophysics.

The faculty fellowship will provide important support for faculty conducting research into aspects of the partnership areas. Moreover, the fellowships will serve to attract young, energetic and talented young faculty to the area of energy and energy-related research, further promoting and sustaining this area of distinction for UW.

"The gift will give UW yet another tool to attract the most talented students and teachers to contribute to UW's energy programs," Northam added.

"UW has become a center where industry partners can directly interact with campus-wide interdisciplinary expertise," says Ben Blalock, UW Foundation CEO and president. "Anadarko's gift greatly strengthens UW's exciting partnerships with the energy industry. It is a privilege and a pleasure to work with our Anadarko colleagues."

Representatives from Anadarko are scheduled to present the university with the gift during a brief ceremony on Jonah Field at War Memorial Stadium between the first and second quarters of the UW football game Saturday, Sept. 13.