B ill Reed wants to be sure that students preparing for a career in oil and gas exploration have the same opportunities that he had a half-century ago as a young OU graduate.

For that reason, he and his wife have established the Bill K. and Doann Reed Fellowship in Geology and Geophysics through a $250,000 gift, which since has been matched by OU alumnus Curtis W. Mewbourne for a total endowed fellowship of $500,000.

Reed, BS ’54 and MS ’56 in geology, is president of Viola Inc., an independent oil and gas exploration company in Norman. Reed began his career with Standard Oil of California and later became part-owner of Holden Energy Inc.

But Reed said he got his real start in the classroom of the late OU Professor Victor Monnett, who served as head of the School of Geology, and during an internship program with Samedan Oil Corp. of Ardmore.

“Professor Monnett knew every student. He was an inspiration to all of us,” Reed said. “That was the key to the success that I have had – it prepared me for everything that I was able to accomplish.”

As a Samedan intern for two years, Reed worked summers in Ardmore and was sponsored by the company while he finished his master’s thesis during the academic year. Reed also remembers that being named the outstanding senior in geology/geophysics and receiving a $1,000 scholarship from the Socony-Vacuum Corp. made an enormous difference in his life.

“Our state has been very fortunate to be blessed by the oil industry,” said Reed, who returned to OU in the early 1980s to teach an introductory course in petroleum geology at a time when the University’s resources were stretched thin.

Reed is a proud native of Altus, and has established his fellowship to benefit an Oklahoma student who also comes from a small town. “That was important to me,” he said.

OU’s ConocoPhillips School of Geology and Geophysics is part of the Mewbourne College of Earth and Energy and is recognized as among the best schools of its kind in the United States.