Keynote Speaker
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Alex Epstein
President and Founder
Center for Industrial Progress
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Alex Epstein is a philosopher who argues that “human flourishing” should be the guiding principle of industrial and environmental progress.
He founded Center for Industrial Progress (CIP) in 2011 to offer a positive, pro-human alternative to the Green movement.
Epstein is the author of The Moral Case for Fossil Fuels (Penguin, 2014), a New York Times bestseller arguing that if we look at the whole picture, human flourishing requires that humanity use more fossil fuels not less. (WSJ review here.) The book has been widely praised as the most persuasive argument ever made for our continuing use of fossil fuels, winning Epstein the “Most Original Thinker of 2014” award from The McLaughlin Group.
Epstein, known for his willingness to debate anyone, anytime, has publicly debated leading environmentalist organizations such Greenpeace, the Sierra Club, and 350.org over the morality of fossil fuel use.
He has made his moral case for fossil fuels at dozens of campuses, including Harvard, Yale, Stanford, and Duke (his alma mater). He has also spoken to employees and leaders at dozens of Fortune 500 energy companies, including ExxonMobil, Chevron, Phillips 66, Valero, Enbridge, and TransCanada.
In his speeches and consulting work he helps companies take his pro-human messaging and use it to neutralize attackers, turn non-supporters into supporters, and turn supporters into champions. One of his major goals is to teach millions of employees in the fossil fuel industry to understand the value of what they do and how to communicate it.
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Harold Hamm
Executive Chairman
Continental Resources
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Harold Hamm founded Continental Resources in 1967 and is Chairman of the Board of Directors.
Growing up in rural Oklahoma, Mr. Hamm went to work in the oil fields as a teenager and established Continental Resources at the age of 21. He built a grassroots startup into a Top-10 oil producer and the largest privately held oil company in the United States. As a voice for America’s oil and natural gas industry, he has helped to make America energy independent.
Mr. Hamm also co-founded and serves as Executive Chairman of the Domestic Energy Producers Alliance, which aims to preserve the millions of jobs and billions of dollars in economic activity and tax revenues generated by onshore drilling and production activities within the United States. Through his work with DEPA, Mr. Hamm is widely recognized as the person who led the charge to lift America’s 40-year-old ban on U.S. crude oil exports.
In December 2021, Mr. Hamm joined Continental Resources to create the Hamm Institute for American Energy at Oklahoma State University. The combined $50 million gift established the Hamm Institute as the center for all things American energy with the goal of solving humanity’s greatest energy challenges.
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Panelists
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Scott Baum
RLEI Board Member
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Scott Baum with decades of experience as an executive in both public and private sectors guides companies and organizations in navigating the global defense and security sensitive markets.
Most recently Scott was Vice President of Strategy & Growth for Elbit America where he led strategic planning, enterprise transformation, managed critical issues, and helped navigate the government acquisition system for both the Defense and Life Science businesses. Prior to that, Scott served as the Principal Director, Office of Industrial Policy for the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition & Sustainment where he led multiple initiatives to expand industrial capacity, secure critical technology, improve CFIUS screening and enforcement, and promote competition. Scott worked closely with U.S. partners and allies as the Senior Defense Official for Industrial Base coordination and cooperation. At the outset of COVID Scott was detailed as a Senior Defense Executive to Health and Human Services where he played a critical role in scaling the US Industrial Base in response to the pandemic. Scott founded the Office of Commercial & Economic Analysis, the leading defense activity focused on the role Economics plays in great power competition. Committed to building the next generation of leaders he is an advisor to DARPA’s Commercial Strategy Office, an independent director on Rice University’s Security Advisory Board, and a visiting lecturer and board member on Texas Christian University’s Energy Institute. He is honored to be a retired soldier with multiple commands, combat tours, and deployments. He has numerous awards that include the Bronze Star, Defense Meritorious Service Medal, and Ranger Tab. Scott holds a MS in Strategy and National Resourcing from the National Defense University, an MBA from Texas Christian University, and a BA in Economics from The University of Texas, Austin.
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Larry Brogdon
Partner
Four Sevens Operating Co, Ltd.
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Larry Brogdon has been a practicing geologist since 1974. Most of that time involved in petroleum exploration and production. Most recently he was a partner with Four Sevens Oil Company located in Fort Worth, Texas. Four Sevens sold their Barnett Shale properties in 2004 to XTO Energy. In 2006 they sold their newly acquired Barnett acreage and production to Chesapeake Energy and did the same again in 2007. For the last several years, Larry has taught the “Prospect to Production” class through the TCU Energy Institute. He presently serves as Chairman of the Board of Advisors to the Energy Institute
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Brad Cunningham
Partner
Four Sevens Operating Co, Ltd.
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Hunter Enis
President
Four Sevens Operating Co, Ltd.
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Dean Foreman
Chief Economist & Sr. Financial Executive
TXOGA
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Dr. Dean Foreman, who joined TXOGA in May 2023, is an innovative chief economist and senior financial executive, specializing in the oil and gas industry, with global and domestic expertise in policy analysis, communications, strategic planning, and forecasting.
With a PhD degree in economics from the University of Florida and over twenty years of industry experience – including the American Petroleum Institute, Exxon Mobil, Talisman Energy and Saudi Aramco – he leads analyses that drive industry planning and influence government regulation and legislation, while also advancing risk management that supports multibillion-dollar commodity and capital project investments.
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Craig Goldman
State Representative
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Craig Goldman won election to serve his first term as Texas State Representative in November of 2012. He represents District 97, which encompasses southwest Tarrant County. Before taking office, Representative Goldman experienced a career in both business and political fields. For nearly a decade, he and his father ran a retail gourmet food and fine wine store in Fort Worth, and he has worked on campaigns helping to elect officeholders at the local, state, and national levels.
Representative Goldman's extremely proud of his Texas roots as a 5th-generation Texan and a 4th-generation native of Fort Worth. He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Texas in Austin and is a partner in several real estate investment companies.
In December of 2019, he was appointed to serve on the Sunset Advisory Commission. The appointment is two terms, or four years, and will expire in 2023. Representative Goldman currently serves as Chairman of the House Committee on Energy Resources and is a member of the House Committees on Licensing and Administrative Procedures and Redistricting.
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Megan Hays
Managing Director
Kimmeridge Energy
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Megan Hays is a Managing Director on Kimmeridge’s public investment team. She has 15 years of experience working in various roles in investor relations, strategic communications, M&A, capital markets and ESG within publicly and privately held E&P companies. Prior to joining Kimmeridge, Megan served as the Vice President of Investor Relations at Cimarex Energy Co., where she led ESG engagement and reporting efforts and helped the company navigate its $19 billion merger with Cabot Oil & Gas Corporation. Previously, she was Vice President of Investor Relations and Public Affairs at Concho Resources, Inc., where she led investor relations in addition to developing and driving the company’s ESG strategy. During Megan’s tenure at Concho, she supported the company’s capital markets and A&D/M&A activities, including Concho's $9.5 billion acquisition of RSP Permian in 2018 and Concho's ultimate sale to ConocoPhillips for $10 billion in January 2021.
Megan holds a certificate for the Executive Education for Sustainability Leadership Program from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. She received a B.A. in Political Science (International Relations) from Texas Christian University, where she currently serves on the advisory board of the Ralph Lowe Energy Institute at the Neeley School of Business.
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Maynard Holt
Founder and CEO
Veriten
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Maynard Holt is the founder & CEO of Veriten. Built off the momentum created by the "Close of Business Tuesday" podcast, Veriten in an energy-focused knowledge platform that brings diverse perspectives to the energy transition discussion, improving the ability of industry leaders, policy makers, and investors to make investment and strategic choices. Maynard previously served as Chief Executive Officer of Tudor, Pickering, Holt & Co. from 2016 to 2021 and has over 27 years of experience in energy investment banking and strategic advice. A co-founder of TPH, Maynard functioned as Co-President from 2007 to 2016 and prior to joining TPH, Maynard worked at Goldman Sachs & Co. At Goldman from 1994 to 2007, Maynard worked in Leveraged/Structured Finance and was last a Managing Director in Energy & Power/Natural Resources.
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Francisco Leon
President & CEO
California Resources Corporation
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Francisco J. Leon is President and Chief Executive Officer of California Resources Corporation (CRC), an independent energy and carbon management company committed to energy transition.
Mr. Leon previously served as Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of CRC, a position he held since August 2020. He originally joined CRC in 2014 during the spin-off from Occidental Petroleum as Vice President of Portfolio Management and Strategic Planning. In 2018, Mr. Leon was named Vice President of Corporate Development, where he oversaw all acquisition and divestiture activities for the company.
Prior to joining CRC, Mr. Leon worked at Occidental Petroleum Corporation, where he held various roles in Finance, Planning and U.S. and International Business Development. Mr. Leon started his career with Petrie Parkman & Co., Inc., an energy-focused boutique investment banking firm.
Mr. Leon currently serves on the American Red Cross Los Angeles Region Board and the BBA Advisory Board of the University of Texas McCombs School of Business. From 2019 to 2022, he served on the Board of the Union Rescue Mission of Los Angeles, which is one of the largest privately run homeless shelters in the U.S.
Mr. Leon holds an M.B.A. from the University of Texas, Austin, and a Bachelor of Arts in International Business from San Diego State University and CETYS Universidad in Mexico.
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Dave Leopold
Chief Executive Officer
TotalEnergies E&P Barnett
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Dave Leopold has 32 years of oil and gas industry experience with 22 of those years in Fort Worth. He is currently President and CEO of Total E&P-Barnett, an affiliate of Total SA. Prior to this, he served as COO for Atlas Energy, Operations Manager for Chesapeake Energy, and held various management positions with Anadarko Petroleum Corporation and Union Pacific Resources. Leopold began his career in the industry with Plains Petroleum in Denver, Colorado.
Mr. Leopold holds a Bachelor of Science in Petroleum Engineering from the Colorado School of Mines and a Master of Business Administration from the Neeley School of Business at Texas Christian University. In addition to serving as co-chairman of the Energy MBA Advisory Board at TCU Neeley School of Business, he also serves on the following Boards: Total E&P Barnett, the Texas Oil and Gas Association, and Polyskope Labs.
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Nikki Morris
VP Business Development
TotalEnergies EP Suriname B.V. Branch
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Skylar Brogdon O'Neal
Principal
Summit Cove Investments, L.P.
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Skylar Brogdon O'Neal is a principal of Summit Cove Investments, L.P., where she manages the day-to-day operations and collaborates with executive management of the organization’s partners and affiliates in order to maximize value for all stakeholders. Prior to joining Summit Cove Investments, Ms. O’Neal worked with Omni Hotels & Resorts and ClubCorp.
A proud graduate of Texas Christian University, Ms. O’Neal continues to serve in numerous capacities around campus, including Host Committee for the TCU Sesquicentennial and Recruitment Advisor for the Gamma Psi chapter of Kappa Alpha Theta.
Philanthropically, Ms. O’Neal is involved with Cristo Rey Fort Worth Prep, serves on the board for the Fort Worth Opera, and serves on the vestry as treasurer at Christ the Redeemer Anglican Church. She sits on the Junior Activities Committee for the Fort Worth Club and is a principal of the Brogdon Foundation, a 501(c)(3) organization with a focus on education.
Ms. O’Neal is from Fort Worth, Texas, where she currently resides with her husband, Stephen, and children, Brannon and Parrish.
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Ben Ratner
Executive Director in Corporate Sustainability
JPMorgan Chase
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As Executive Director in Corporate Sustainability at JPMorgan Chase, Ben Ratner leads external stakeholder engagement on climate and energy issues, across a spectrum of investors, NGOs, think tanks, and select corporates. Ben also drives thought leadership initiatives, represents the Firm with media, and engages on climate and energy related public policy.
Previously, Ben served at Environmental Defense Fund for ten years, where he led the organization’s efforts to collaborate with energy companies, institutional investors, and banks to advance the low-carbon transition.
A graduate of Stanford Law School and Rice University, Ben is an environmental lawyer and management consultant by training, with roots in the Washington DC area.
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Vanessa Ryan
Manager, Methane Reduction
Chevron
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Vanessa T. Ryan is Manager, Methane Reduction. Previously she served as Manager Carbon and Climate Policy responsible for enterprise policy positions, and Manger, Carbon Reduction, responsible for supporting business unit carbon reduction initiatives, including methane strategy. She also serves as Chair of the Steering Committee of The Environmental Partnership, an industry group committed to continuously improving the industry’s environmental performance. Previously, she was Senior Advisor for Shale Issues. She also served as Chevron Asia-Pacific Exploration and Production, responsible for providing advice to Chevron’s Asia-Pacific business on government and public affairs issues. She has served as Coordinator for Policy, Government, and Public Affairs for Chevron Vietnam in Ho Chi Minh City. Ms. Ryan joined Chevron as a Public Policy Adviser at Chevron Corporation, where she was responsible for the corporate responsibility report and advised on environmental, social, and geopolitical issues. Prior to joining Chevron she worked in social marketing firm focused on health and environment issues. She holds a Masters of Public Policy from the University of Southern California and a B.A. in Political Economy from UC Berkeley.
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TCU Moderators
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Ann Bluntzer
Executive Director, Ralph Lowe Energy Institute
Associate Professor of Professional Practice, Management and Leadership
TCU Neeley School of Business
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Dr. Ann Bluntzer teaches in the management and leadership department at the TCU Neeley School of Business, primarily focusing on curriculum in transformational leadership, business ethics and the nonprofit management space. In addition, she teaches and advises for the TCU Energy MBA program. Bluntzer holds a PhD in Higher Education Administration and Organizational Leadership Management from the University of South Carolina, a Master of Education in Leadership and International Studies, and a Bachelor of Science in Agricultural Development from Texas A&M University.
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Daniel Pullin
President
TCU
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Daniel W. Pullin begins his tenure as Texas Christian University President during a season of historic moments as TCU celebrates its sesquicentennial and looks ahead to the next 150 years of educating students, developing leaders and enhancing TCU’s national reputation as a world-class, values-centered university.
Working closely with Chancellor Victor J. Boschini, Jr. and other senior leadership at TCU, President Pullin infuses operational expertise and strategic planning with innovation to support the university’s growth, academic mission, vision and values. In addition to operational management, his executive leadership and experience will support and expand TCU’s focus on key goals including academic excellence and reputation, student engagement and culture of belonging. President Pullin is an energetic leader committed to TCU’s community of students, faculty, staff, donors and alumni. In addition to serving as President, Pullin will remain in the classroom as professor of entrepreneurship and innovation.
He earned his undergraduate degree from the University of Oklahoma and MBA from Harvard Business School before returning to Oklahoma to earn a Juris Doctor.
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Hettie Richardson
Interim Dean
TCU Neeley School of Business
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Hettie A. Richardson is the Interim Dean of the TCU Neeley School of Business, as well as a Professor of Management and Leadership. Richardson also will continue to serve as the Associate Dean of Undergraduate Programs for TCU Neeley. In her role as Associate Dean, Richardson leads the Neeley School’s undergraduate programs and services, including the business core curriculum, academic advising, Alcon Career Center, Professional Development Center, and Pathways of Distinction programs.
Richardson places a high value on her role as an educator and teaches courses in leadership and international management. In the past, she has taught human resource management and organizational behavior at both the graduate and undergraduate levels. Richardson’s teaching practice extends beyond the traditional classroom. She has also provided executive training and consulting for organizations and industry groups on topics of leadership, motivation, and reward and compensation design.
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Thomas Bates, Jr.
Chairman of the Board of Directors
Vantage Drilling International
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Jonathan Benjamin-Alvarado
TCU Senior Advisor to the Chancellor/Chief Inclusion Officer
Ralph Lowe Energy Institute Faculty Fellow
TCU
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Dr. Jonathan Benjamin-Alvarado was named Senior Advisor to the Chancellor and the Chief Inclusion Officer at Texas Christian University in June 2022.
He was formerly the Associate Vice Chancellor of Student Success at the University of Nebraska Omaha (UNO), and was recently awarded the title of Emeritus Professor of Political Science, with an emphasis on U.S. Foreign Policy, National Security and Intelligence.
His research has focused on energy policy in Latin America, with a special focus on Cuba. He has published numerous books, chapters, articles, reports and commentaries on international cooperation and non-proliferation policy, energy security, nuclear energy development and related matters. He has held research positions with the James Martin Center For Nonproliferation Studies (Middlebury Institute), the Center for International Trade and Security (University of Georgia), the American Security Project (Washington, D.C.), and GIVE Global Energy (New. York), and is a regular contributor to the Latin American Energy Advisor at the Interamerican Dialogue in Washington, D.C..
He is the author of Power to the People: Energy and the Cuban Nuclear Program (Routledge, 2000), and the editor of Cuba’s Energy Future: Strategic Approaches to Cooperation (Brookings Institution Press, 2010). His research has been supported by the Ford Foundation, the MacArthur Foundation, the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, and the U.S. Department of Defense.
He is the former Treasurer and a past Executive Council member of the American Political Science Association. He is also Past President of the Latino Caucus in Political Science of the American Political Science Association, served as the founding Director for the UNO Office of Latino and Latin American Studies (OLLAS). He was the past Director of the UNO Intelligence Community Center for Academic Excellence Program under the auspices of the U.S. Office of the Director of National Intelligence. Dr. Benjamin-Alvarado also served as Chair of the Nebraska Advisory Committee to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights.
A native of California, he received his Ph.D. in Political Science from the University of Georgia in 1998, and M.A. from the Middlebury Institute of International Studies (MIIS) at Monterey in International Policy Studies in 1992. He also attended the University of California Santa Barbara, UCLA, and Harvard University. He and his wife Beth have been married for 31 years, and the have a daughter Isabel.
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Vassil Mihov
Associate Professor of Finance
TCU Neeley School of Business
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Mihov is an associate professor of finance and the Theodore and Beulah Beasley Faculty Fellow at the TCU Neeley School of Business. He also serves as a Faculty Fellow for the Ralph Lowe Energy Institute.
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Michael Slattery
Chair, Environmental Sciences
Director, Institute for Environmental Studies
TCU College of Science & Engineering
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Dr. Mike Slattery is chair of the department of environmental sciences and director of the Institute for Environmental Studies at TCU. Originally from South Africa, Slattery is an internationally trained geographer and environmental scientist. He holds a BA from the University of Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, an M.S. from the University of Toronto, Canada, and a D.Phil. from the University of Oxford, England. He has written more than 100 scientific articles on a range of environmental issues, from human impacts on river systems to the socio-economic and environmental impacts of utility-scale wind farms. Slattery has testified before the United States Congress on mercury contamination from coal-fired power plants.
Slattery has worked in diverse landscapes across the world and has led several conservation programs in Costa Rica, including establishing a research station in the cloud forest and a program to protect the Green Macaw. In 2014, he launched the TCU Rhino Initiative, a collaboration with several nonprofit organizations and rhino conservationists in the Eastern Cape of South Africa, focused on saving this species in wild. The initiative was awarded the Senator Paul Simon Award by the Association of International Educators.
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