Dr. Amir M. “Sam” Sarem (BS ’54; MS ’56) was a proud alumnus of The University of Tulsa’s petroleum engineering program. A world-renowned engineer and scientist, Dr. Sarem’s research resulted in more than 30 patents, and he was the founder of Improved Petroleum Recovery Consultants.

While attending The University of Tulsa, Sam worked for Sinclair Research, Inc. as a research engineer. After receiving his Ph.D. degree from the University of Oklahoma, he enjoyed a long and celebrated career with Unocal in Brea, California, before founding Improved Petroleum Recovery Consultants. He continued to serve as a consultant for Unocal (now a wholly owned subsidiary of Chevron) for many years, and he also taught several graduate and undergraduate classes at the University of Southern California, including Natural Gas Engineering and Well Stimulation, among others. In the late 1990s, he served as program co-chairman for the Society of Petroleum Engineers Western Regional Meeting, he was chairman of SPE Los Angeles Basin Section, and he was president of the Orange County Engineering Council.

Dr. Sarem was a loyal supporter of The University of Tulsa, making several gifts to strengthen an array of programs, beginning in 1984. In 2006, Dr. Sarem chose to provide financial assistance to the graduate students following in his footsteps in TU’s petroleum engineering program by establishing The Dr. Amir M. Sam Sarem Endowed Scholarship in Petroleum Engineering. Dr. Sarem passed away in 2021.

The University of Tulsa remains grateful to this talented petroleum engineer, who provided scholarship assistance to those aspiring to join his profession, thereby sustaining his legacy as a distinguished and loyal TU alumnus.