Gregory A. Bird, president and owner of Jetta Operating Co. Inc. in Fort Worth, has endowed a $60,000 scholarship for petroleum engineering students at Texas A&M University.

His gift creates the Gregory A. Bird '82 Scholarship, funded through the Texas A&M Foundation, in the Nelson Scholars Program. Named for oilman James K.B. Nelson, the program was established in 1987 to attract exceptional freshmen to the petroleum engineering profession.

"The petroleum industry is doing well, and our graduates are in high demand. As such, we have a surging undergraduate enrollment. Gifts from our successful graduates, like Greg Bird, will let us provide needed scholarships to worthy students. These scholarships allow our department to recruit and retain the talented students we need to produce qualified engineers for the oil and gas industry," said Dr. Stephen A. Holditch, department head and holder of the Samuel Roberts Noble Foundation Endowed Chair in Petroleum Engineering.

"Talented, focused and hard working students are truly the future of this industry. I am delighted to be able to help them, in a small way, achieve their goals and to give a little something back to Texas A&M." said Bird.

Bird, Class of 1982, graduated magna cum laude with a B.S. degree in petroleum engineering from Texas A&M, where he was named outstanding senior petroleum engineering student and received the Robert L. Whiting Award.

He began his career with Hunt Energy Corp. working in Houma, La., and Dallas. In 1983 he joined Cawley, Gillespie & Associates Inc. in Fort Worth, advancing to partner.
Bird then co-founded Jetta Production Co. Inc., now Jetta Operating Co. Inc., in December 1991. Jetta Operating Co. Inc. is a privately held oil and gas company operating properties in the onshore Gulf Coast, Permian Basin, Mid-Continent and Rocky Mountain producing regions.

Bird is also co-founder of Houston-based Journey Oil & Gas LLC, with principal operations in the Appalachian region.

He is a registered professional engineer in Texas and past board member of the Fort Worth chapter of the Society of Petroleum Engineers. He has served on the executive committee of the Longhorn Council for Boy Scouts of America, is a member of numerous professional organizations and is involved in several community and philanthropic efforts through the Gregory A. and Laura E. Bird Foundation.

Bird's gift upgrades a $25,000 petroleum engineering scholarship he established in 1999 and counts in the One Spirit One Vision Campaign, a $1 billion multiyear fund-raising effort with the goal of helping Texas A&M attain national top 10 status among public universities while sustaining the distinctive Texas A&M spirit.

The volunteer-led campaign, which concluded Dec. 31, encompassed all private gifts benefiting Texas A&M and was coordinated by the Texas A&M Foundation. The foundation accomplishes its mission through fund-raising and managing assets that benefit Texas A&M.

For more information, contact

Reporter: Megan D. Ehrhardt
meganehrhardt@tees.tamus.edu

News Story 1483, June 4, 2007

Direct page link:
http://engineeringnews.tamu.edu/news/1483

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