Legends Dinner
November 7 @ 5:30 pm - 9:00 pm CST
$60.00
Celebrating the past, present, and future
Our annual Legends Dinner honors individuals who have made a lasting impact on the field of geology, the petroleum industry, or their community. This event celebrates their accomplishments and the past, present, and future of Earth sciences in Oklahoma.
About the event
Typically held in early November, this event honors individuals in three categories: Pioneer Legend, Historical Legend, and Living Legend. Honorees are nominated and selected by the OGF board and volunteers, and the event presents an opportunity to celebrate these individuals and their impact on their industry and community.
Since starting the Legends Dinner in 2007, we have honored 53 legends who have made an impact in Oklahoma.
Join us for our next Legends Dinner – November 7, 2024
2024 Legends Dinner
November 7, 2024 at the Petroleum Club Event Center
4040 N. Lincoln Blvd., Oklahoma City
2024 Honorees:
Pioneer Legend William G. Skelly (1878-1957)
Bill Skelly grew up working in the Pennsylvania oilfields. He eventually made his way to Oklahoma, where he incorporated the Skelly Oil Company in 1919 with its headquarters in Tulsa. His good relationship with the Osage facilitated his involvement in developing the Burbank Field in Osage County. Skelly became one of the largest independent oil producers in the country, and by 1930 owned 471 service stations and had more than 4,000 franchise dealers. In 1955 the Oklahoma legislature passed a resolution praising William G. Skelly as Tulsa’s greatest asset due to his involvement in numerous civic, educational and charitable causes in Tulsa.
Pioneer Legend Arville I. Levorsen (1894-1965)
Arville Levorsen is recognized as one of the most outstanding and innovative petroleum geologists of his time. His Mining Engineering degree from the University of Minnesota in 1917 led him to oil and gas exploration in Oklahoma, where he eventually became Chief Geologist for Tidewater Oil Co. Arville was one of the first Geologists to recognize and emphasize the importance of stratigraphic traps in oil and gas exploration. That unorthodox thinking led to the discovery of the 190mmbo Fitts Field in 1931. A. I. Levorsen won the Sydney Powers Award in 1948 and the Outstanding Oklahoma Oilman Award in 1963, and he had numerous publications including the classic “Geology of Petroleum”.
Living Legend J. Larry Nichols
Born and raised in Oklahoma City, Larry Nichols received his B.A. in Geology from Princeton in 1964 and his JD from the University of Michigan Law School in 1967. In 1970 he co-founded Devon Energy with his father John Nichols. Under and as a result of Larry’s leadership throughout the years, Devon has remained one of the most successful oil and gas producers in the country. Larry received the Dean A. McGee Award in 1997, the Independent Petroleum Association’s Leadership Award in 1997, and was inducted into the Oklahoma Hall of Fame in 2001. Larry has served on various professional boards as well as many community and philanthropic boards over the years
