Governance

Howard C. Pyle, President of The American Institute of Mining, Metallurgical, and Petroleum Engineers for 1959, obtained his first practical knowledge of the oil industry thirty-five years ago while working as a roustabout in the oil fields during .summer vacations from college.

Mr. Pyle was born in Williams, Arizona, April 8, 1904, moved to Pasadena, California, with his parents the following year, and has continued to make his home in the Golden State. A graduate of the Pasadena elementary and high schools, he attended the University of California, receiving a Bachelor of Science degree in petroleum engineering and geology in 1926. Subsequently, he earned his master's degree in petroleum engineering and the professional degree of petroleum engineer from the University of Southern California in 1939 and 1941 respectively.

From 1927 through 1942, Mr. Pyle was employed by the Union Oil Company of California as an exploration geologist and petroleum engineer with the positiou of chief production engineer during the latter part of that period. As a geologist he worked in Venezuela and California with occasional assignments in Oregon, Washington and Canada.

During this period, Mr. Pyle presented technical papers before the AIME and the American Association of Petroleum Geologists, and served as chairman of the American Petroleum Institute Production Division in California in 1937-38. He was a member of the Conservation Committee of California Oil Producers Committee and a member of its Allocation Committee, heading it in 1942.

During World War II, Mr. Pyle served with the United States Army Corps of Engineers, first in Washington, D.C., and then as petroleum officer on General Eisenhower's staff in the European Theater, advancing to the rank of lieutenant colonel. During the early invasion period when Field Marshal Montgomery commanded the allied troops, Mr. Pyle served on his staff, returning to his former post when General Eisenhower assumed direct command in August 1944.

From September 1945 to November 1947, he was vice president of the Bank of America in California in charge of the bank's oil industry loans, and for the next three years was president of Continental Consolidated Corporation, oil producers. Following a short period as an independent petroleum engineer, Mr. Pyle was elected president, director and chairman of the executive committee of Monterey Oil Company in November 1951, positions which he holds today.

The new AIME President was elected to membership in the Institute in 1941 and since has been active in its affairs. In 1947 he served as Chairman of the Petroleum Branch, now the Society of Petroleum Engineers of AIME. He was elected to the AIME Board of Directors in 1955 and has continued as a member of the governing group.

Mr. Pyle also is a director of the American Petroleum Institute, the Western Oil and Gas Association, and is a member of the American Association of Petroleum Geologists, Theta Tau, Sigma Xi and an honorary member of Pi Epsilon Tau.

As President of the Institute, Mr. Pyle feels the objective of mineral industry unity is best served by identifying him as a representative of the Institute as a whole rather than as a member of one of its constituent Societies. This attitude is a significant omen that the affairs of AIME In 1959 will he handled judiciously and efficiently under his control.