Oral Histories

Roland is the current Vice President of Finance for the Society of Petroleum Engineers International (SPEi) Board of Directors. From 2011-2014, he also served as the Health, Safety, Security, Environment & Social Responsibility (HSSE-SR) Technical Director on the SPEi Board. He retired from ExxonMobil in August 2014 with 34 years of service, where he held the position of Safety, Security, Health and Environment (SSH&E) Manager for ExxonMobil’s Upstream Research, Gas & Power Marketing, and Upstream Ventures business units. He began his career with Exxon Company, U.S.A. as a Project Engineer at the Bayway Refinery in New Jersey in 1981. Since that time, he has held various technical, supervisory and managerial assignments for Exxon, and then ExxonMobil, in the Upstream production, development, and research organizations. Prior to ExxonMobil, Roland also worked for five years in the naval nuclear industry. Roland received his BS degree in Mechanical Engineering from Worcester Polytechnic Institute in 1975, followed by an MBA in Finance from Fairleigh Dickinson University in 1984. Roland also completed the Certified Financial Planner program at Rice University in 2015.

He remains active on various SPE initiatives in the areas of sustainable development and safety. He also serves as the chair of the HSE Now editorial advisory board, and represents SPE on the Advisory Committee for the Ocean Energy Safety Institute (OESI). Regarding upcoming events, Roland is co-chairing a proposed Near Miss summit with the U.S. Bureau of Safety and Environmental Engineering, and he is also on the program committee for SPE’s HSSE Mexico Symposium planned for March 2016.