UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Penn State honored oilfield services leader Schlumberger as its 2017 Corporate Partner of the Year at an event on October 20. Penn State President Eric J. Barron presented the award, which recognizes Schlumberger as a corporation that has demonstrated extraordinary generosity in promotion and support of Penn State, consistency of giving and support to areas of greatest needs, and impact across the University.
“Schlumberger has achieved its preeminence in the energy services industry through the ingenuity, innovation and integrity of its people, the very same qualities that Penn State seeks to nurture in its faculty and cultivate in its students,” said Barron. “The comprehensive partnership that Schlumberger has forged with Penn State will help to keep the University on the leading edge of innovation. As Penn State becomes a more prominent leader in tackling the global issue of energy security, our collaboration with Schlumberger will play an even more vital role in our achievements.”
Schlumberger is the world's leading provider of technology for reservoir characterization, drilling, production and processing to the oil and gas industry. Schlumberger works in more than 85 countries, employing approximately 100,000 employees who represent over 140 nationalities. Through broad philanthropic support, research investments and software donations, Schlumberger has become a significant supporter of Penn State, which further advances President Barron’s vision of Penn State becoming “the” energy university.
Schlumberger has provided support for a number of programs at Penn State, but the company’s most generous contribution has been to the College of Earth and Mineral Sciences. Through a major gift of software in 2014, Schlumberger equipped Penn State researchers and students with a suite of sophisticated analytical tools to optimize the efficiency of petroleum and natural gas recovery. The gift helps to prepare students to graduate with proficiency in the most advanced technologies currently in use.
Schlumberger has also supported efforts to increase diversity and inclusion within the STEM fields. The company has sponsored such University initiatives as the Women in Engineering Program, which provides incoming first-year female engineering students with a three-day interactive orientation, and Africa Array, a program for geosciences students from under-represented groups that includes a summer research experience in South Africa.
Lee Kump, dean of the College of Earth and Mineral Sciences, lauded Schlumberger’s wide-ranging impact on the college.
“As the world’s leading oilfield services company, Schlumberger has allowed us to prepare students on industry-leading software, which gives students an advantage as candidates for highly competitive jobs in the oil and gas industry,” Kump said. “Through their investment in Africa Array, we’ve been able to have a measurable impact on building diversity, not only in the oil and gas industry, but in other industries and in academia as well. Schlumberger will continue to be a big part of the college’s future, and I thank them for that and for all they do for Penn State.”
Steve Schwin, a 1984 graduate of the College of Earth and Mineral Sciences, Schlumberger’s director of sales operations and ambassador to Penn State, accepted the award on the company’s behalf.
“Our University Ambassador Program, which started nearly 20 years ago, aims to provide focus from our senior management on a select group of world-class technical universities and colleges. Penn State is one of those universities. With the development of Dr. Barron’s vision for Penn State to become ‘the’ energy university, the alignment of Schlumberger and Penn State has been a natural fit. Thank you to President Barron, Dean Kump and the University for this distinguished award and recognition. Schlumberger is very proud to be your 2017 Corporate Partner of the Year.”
Former Penn State Corporate Partners of the Year include AB Volvo, United Technologies Corp., General Electric, Chevron, Toshiba/Westinghouse, Dow Chemical, Boeing, Highmark, PNC, Barnes and Noble, Lockheed Martin and Bank of America.
These corporations and others have been essential to the success of the University’s historic land-grant mission to serve the public good. To fulfill that mission for a new era of rapid change and global connections, the University has begun "A Greater Penn State for 21stCentury Excellence," a fast-paced campaign focused on the three key imperatives of a public university. Private support will keep the door to higher education open and enable students to graduate on time and on track to success; create transformative experiences on Penn State campuses and around the globe that tap the full potential of Penn Staters to make a difference; and impact the world through discovery, innovation and entrepreneurship. To learn more, please visit greaterpennstate.psu.edu.