Marlan Downey, former president of Pecten (Shell) International and former president of ARCO International, was awarded the Hollis D. Hedberg Medal on Wednesday, April 23, 2003 at the Dallas Country Club, which was attended by 175 of Downey's friends and associates.

Downey was recognized for his extraordinary contributions to the energy industry worldwide and for his commitment to education and student research. A native of Nebraska, Downey graduated from Peru State College with a degree in chemistry. He later returned to the University of Nebraska after military service in Korea and simultaneously completed a B.S. and M.S. in geology. After graduating from the University of Nebraska, he went to work for Shell Oil Company in Tulsa. His career at Shell spanned 30 years in research and operations. After a brief retirement, Downey became president of ARCO International.

Downey is immediate past president of the American Association of Petroleum Geologists, and also was Chief Scientist of the Sarkeys Energy Center and Bartell Professor of Geoscience at the University of Oklahoma. In 2001, Downey organized and chaired the Conference on a National Energy Policy in Washington, D.C. Previous to the April award dinner, Shell Oil Company sponsored an October luncheon in Houston recognizing Downey's achievements. And shortly before that, he was also honored in Houston as "A Living Legend in the Oil Business."

Simon Winchester was the featured speaker for the award dinner. Author of The Map That Changed the World, The Professor and the Madman, and his latest book, Krakatoa: the Day the World Exploded, Winchester is a worldwide adventurer and great storyteller. He studied geology at Oxford University and has written for such publications as Condé Nast, Smithsonian, and National Geographic.

Winchester's entertaining talk featured his book, The Map That Changed the World: William Smith and the Birth of Modern Geology. Smith, an orphpaned son of an English country blacksmith, single-handedly created the first geological map in the face of class prejudice, homelessness, prison and plagiarism. The map became the foundation for the world's coal and oil industry.