Growing up in Byron, Wyo., Chad Deaton (B.S. ’76) knew he would work in the oil and
gas industry someday. Many members of his family had good careers doing that, including
his father. Deaton says his dad had two years of college but then entered the military
to serve in World War II. Afterward, he married and didn’t continue in college, though
he still worked in the industry. Deaton followed his father’s advice to “go to college
and be a boss one day.” That’s what led him to the University of Wyoming in pursuit
of a geology degree.
His path to UW was not completely direct, however. A high school football player, he pondered a few scholarship offers from small colleges. “I knew football wouldn’t be my career, and I knew kids going to Laramie, and I knew it had a good geology program. It is hard to believe when you are 18 you could have any logic, but I did. I chose UW.”
Like his father, Deaton’s college career might have been interrupted by military service. The Vietnam War was winding down when Deaton’s college career was starting up. His draft lottery number was 31. “Here comes this letter: ‘Greetings, You’ve been drafted,’ ” he recalls. That was enough to take his focus off academics just a bit during his first year at UW. But once he realized he wouldn’t be drafted as the war ended, he focused on his geology studies, joined Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity, got married, finished up school and left Wyoming to start his career. He worked for major companies such as Schlumberger Oilfield Services, both internationally and domestically. From there, he served as CEO of Hanover Compressor Company. Finally, he served as the CEO of Baker Hughes Inc. until 2012, when he retired.
“I’m officially retired in the sense that I have stepped down as chairman and CEO, but I’m still on the board,” Deaton explains. Reducing his workload to about half what it was allows him to focus on UW, where he serves on the UW Foundation board and on the Governor’s Energy, Engineering and STEM Integration Task Force. Deaton jokes that he is its “token geologist” among engineers. He accepted the appointment because he believes in UW. “What all of us on the committee want is to give back. Our Wyoming work ethic is why we have succeeded. It isn’t that we are geniuses or brilliant. It is that we got a great education. Corporations around the world look at that, and that’s why many of us have done well.”
After living internationally for most of his career, Deaton now makes his home in Jackson, Wyo. Although he comes to Laramie often, he has not been to a Homecoming event for many years. He looks forward to that event and to continuing to deepen his relationship with UW.
“I’m making up for lost time.”
