During his career, he served as director of drilling and production for the EuropeAfrica division, operations manager of the Ivory Coast region, regional manager for the United Kingdom, general manager of the Western division, vice president of international exploration and production, and executive vice president of worldwide exploration and production. Wayne was elected to the Phillips board of directors in 1989 and named president and chief operating officer in 1992. He was promoted to chairman of the board and chief executive officer in 1994. He retired in 1999 after a 38-year career with the company. Throughout his career, he had many notable accomplishments and showed commitments to education, social and humanitarian efforts. According to Wayne, “My major interest when I was working in Oklahoma was to support and improve the state economic development and to provide top educational opportunities at the local and university level.” He served as president of the Oklahoma Chamber of Commerce, a member of the Kansas City District Federal Reserve Board, chairman of National Engineering Week, and multiple positions with the Boys and Girls Club for 18 years, including being a member of the national board of governors. He has been recognized for his efforts by induction into the Oklahoma Hall of Fame; the OSU College of Engineering, Architecture and Technology Hall of Fame; and the OSU Alumni Hall of Fame. He also received the Henry G. Bennett Distinguished Service Award from OSU and the Medal of Honor by the Ivory Coast for his help in that country. His partner of 55 years in this adventure has been his wife, Judith (Hillier), also of Stillwater. Judith is the daughter of the late OSU professor J. C. Hillier, who was head of the animal science department for many years. She graduated from Stillwater High School as a valedictorian in 1955 and
went on to engage in many activities while a student at OSU, including Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority, Mortar Board and Phi Kappa Phi, ultimately earning a humanities degree in 1958. In August of that year she married her high school sweetheart, Wayne, and they began what became a pattern of travel and moving around the world. Their move to Houston following Wayne’s retirement was the 20th of their marriage. “My first time to live outside Oklahoma was when we moved to New Jersey during Wayne’s time in the Army,” Judith says. “I found the experience very interesting and enjoyed the couple of years we lived there. In fact, I’d have to say I’ve found something to enjoy about all the
However, this exposure is just one piece of the puzzle. Wayne and Judith were both raised with high personal standards and a strong work ethic. That attitude is evident in Wayne’s philosophy, “Be prepared technically and professionally; be highly focused on the job at hand; don’t worry about who gets credit; stay optimistic and when you detect a problem, seek a solution.” “If what you’ve seen is people who have always worked and always produced that is what you think the norm is,” Judith says. “This has not always been a walk in the park. We have all worked hard. It has taken mental discipline, physical stamina and lots of persistence. We’ve been aided by the fact that the four of us were always very close and quick to help each other.” When asked about their many accomplishments, Wayne and Judith immediately point out that what they are most proud of is the two fine sons they raised. After being an outstanding student at College High School in Bartlesville, Okla., where he was named a National Merit Scholar, David Allen followed in his father’s footsteps in studying engineering at OSU. However, he chose to focus on chemical engineering “because I liked chemistry.” One week after graduating from OSU in 1983, he was in Scotland working in the North Sea for Southeast Drilling Co. From there, he worked for Schlumberger in Paris, then returned to Aberdeen to work for Phillips Petroleum and to marry Andrea Reid, a lawyer. After a number of years in Scotland, he joined Occidental Petroleum and moved to Doha, Qatar, followed by his present assignment in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. He is now vice president of drilling and production operations for the Middle East and North Africa. “It has been 30 years I’ve lived outside the U.S.,” David says. “It just seems normal now.”
A truly successful person
is someone who has found
something more important than themselves, and that ’s what my hope is for each student.”
— WA Y N E A L L E N —
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places we have lived and would have been happy to have stayed longer in most of them. I like to meet new people, and I’ve discovered that people worldwide share common desires and aspirations.” Judith spent these years making a home for Wayne and their two sons, David and Robert, while at times teaching English and history. “We often had guests in our home who were from different countries,” Judith says. “We were interested in where Wayne was and what he was experiencing. He helped us keep track of what was going on in the world. I think this gave our sons an outlook that is useful in today’s global environment.”