Family and Friends of Kermit E. Brown - Chapman Legacy Society
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Gifts Established:

  • Kermit Brown Petroleum Engineering Scholarship | Est. 1989
brick engraved with name Family and Friends of Kermit E. Brown

Family and Friends of Kermit E. Brown

Previously known as the Petroleum Engineering Honors Scholarship, this endowed scholarship fund was renamed in 1989 in honor of its founder, Dr. Kermit E. Brown, and family and friends of Dr. Brown fortified the fund through their generous giving.

Throughout his distinguished tenure at The University of Tulsa, Dr. Brown held the positions of Chairman of the Petroleum Engineering Department (now known as the McDougall School of Petroleum Engineering), Chairman of the Resources Engineering Division, Associate Dean of the College of Engineering and Physical Sciences (now known as the College of Engineering and Natural Sciences), Vice President for Research, and he was the first TU faculty member to hold the F.M. Stevenson Chair of Petroleum Engineering.

Kermit Earl Brown was born November 2, 1923, in Haskell, Texas, to John Wesley Brown and Mary Grosman Brown. He was married to R. Katherine Bunkley on Thanksgiving Day 1945 after serving honorably as a reconnaissance pilot in Europe during World War II. Kermit and Katherine were married for 64 years and had four children together, Stephen, Sandra Kay, Mike, and David. Dr. Brown passed away on December 10, 2009, in Tulsa.

Kermit Brown was first and foremost a scholar and a teacher. After graduation from Paint Creek High School in Texas, he attended John Tarleton Junior College (now known as Tarleton State University) in Stephenvillle, Texas, before joining the U. S. Army Air Corps. After the end of World War II, he completed his Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering and a second Bachelor of Science in Petroleum Engineering, both at Texas A&M University in College Station, Texas. After his graduation, he worked professionally with Stanolind Oil and Gas and Garret Oil Tool Company. He then returned to school at the University of Texas in Austin, where he earned M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in engineering in 1962. Dr. Brown remained on faculty at the University of Texas until 1966 when he joined the faculty of The University of Tulsa.

Dr. Brown was a groundbreaking researcher and scholar in the field of gas-lift technology. One of the world’s most widely traveled engineering educators, Dr. Brown taught courses in 34 different countries, and he wrote seven books and numerous articles about petroleum engineering.

During his career, he received many honors and awards for his teaching and research, including the John Franklin Carll Lifetime Achievement Award from the Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE) in 1983, being named a Fulbright Lecturer in 1971, being inducted into the United States National Academy of Engineering in 1987, being honored as an Outstanding Alumnus of the Texas A&M College of Engineering in 2001, and being inducted into the Oklahoma Higher Education Hall of Fame in 2004. In fall 2009, the Society of Petroleum Engineers named Dr. Brown as one of SPE’s “Legends of Production and Operations” in the Journal of Petroleum Technology.