Cocktail party trivia: quick! Name the North Dakota geologist who went on to become the CEO of Saudi Aramco back in the day. The amazing things that I find out from my readers. Clues (and spoiler alert, answer):
- born in Minneapolis, MN, 1909 (about the time my grandfather emigrated from Norway)
- grew up in Linton, ND
- graduated from UND
- degree in mining and metallurgy, 1931
- accepted a job as a surveyor in Saudi Arabia for Standard Oil; interviewed with the company's chief geologist, 1937
- three years, explored potential oil sites in Saudi Arabia
- Ghawar field discovered by: this gentleman from ND; Ernie Berg; Max Steineke, along with Bedouin trackers
- 32-year career with Aramco
- fluent in Arabic; key "element" in the company's relationship with the Saudi government
- 1961: appointed Saudi Aramco's CEO
- 1969: retired
- 1986: age 77; died, San Diego
- Answer: Thomas Barger
- he wrote a book, available on Amazon, c. 2014
- the title of the book: The Caravan Goes On
- spend three decades in Saudi Arabia: 1947 - 1978
- tenure coincided with the Arab-Israeli war; the dramatic oil price increases of the 1970s, the Arab oil embargo and the OPEC hostage incident of 1975
- joined Aramco in 1947;
- hired out of college from the University of Washington where Aramco was hiring for Arabia
- degree in Mechanical Engineering, 1947
- recipient of the University of Washington's Diamond Awards of the Deans Awards, 2016
- for answer, see video below
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