Eugene Holman

Eugene Holman (May 2, 1895 – August 12, 1962) was an American geologist and oilman. Holman's career began in 1917 when he worked briefly for Texaco. After serving in the United States Army in World War I, Holman joined the United States Geological Survey. In early 1919, he was hired by Humble Oil and by 1926 had become the company's head geologist. Humble's majority shareholder, the Standard Oil Company (New Jersey), transferred Holman to its headquarters in New York in 1929. Holman spent the 1930s as an executive with Standard affiliate companies in South America. In 1940 he was elected a director of Standard, in 1942 was appointed a vice-president, and in 1944 became president of the company. Holman served as president for a decade, and then in 1954 was elected chairman of the board. During his time as head of Jersey, he negotiated its purchase of 30 per cent of the Arabian-American Oil Company and its outright acquisition of Humble. He remained chairman until his retirement in 1960. During his career, Holman earned the reputation as "the world's outstanding oilman." Provided by Wikipedia