San Ramon, Ca., USA - September 30, 2009, San Ramon, Ca., USA - Chevron Corporation elected John S. Watson chairman of the board and chief executive officer of the company, effective December 31.
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r. O'Reilly became CEO in 2000. He also led two of the industry's most significant and successful transactions - the 2001 merger with Texaco and the acquisition of Unocal in 2005.
Mr. O'Reilly joined the company as a process engineer in Chevron Research Co. in 1968 after earning his bachelor's degree in chemical engineering from University College in Dublin. Over the course of his 41-year career, Mr. O'Reilly held a range of senior-level positions across the company.
From November 1998 to January 2000, he served as vice chairman of the board, responsible for Chevron's worldwide exploration and production and corporate human resources. He was elected chairman and chief executive officer on Jan. 1, 2000. In 2002, University College granted him an honorary doctor of science degree in recognition of his outstanding career.
Mr. Watson, who is currently vice chairman, succeeds David J. O'Reilly, who will retire from the company and its board after a distinguished 41-year career, including 10 years as chairman and CEO.
Mr. Watson has had a 29-year career with Chevron and was named vice chairman of the corporation on April 1, 2009. In his current role, he oversees a broad portfolio of responsibilities, including strategic planning; business development; policy, government and public affairs; major capital projects support; procurement; and corporate compliance.
Mr. Watson earned a bachelor's degree in agricultural economics from the University of California at Davis in 1978 and a master's degree in business administration from the University of Chicago in 1980.
Mr. Watson joined Chevron in 1980 as a financial analyst. He held financial, analytical and supervisory positions before being elected president of Chevron Canada Ltd. in 1996.
In 1998, he was elected a vice president of the corporation with responsibility for strategic planning and mergers and acquisitions. In 2000, he led the company's integration effort following the Chevron-Texaco merger and then became the corporation's chief financial officer.
In 2005, Mr. Watson was elected president of Chevron International Exploration and Production with responsibility for the company's exploration and production activities outside North America. In 2008, he was elected executive vice president for strategy and development. Watson is a director of the American Petroleum Institute.
The Chevron board also elected George L. Kirkland to be vice chairman of the board, succeeding Mr. Watson in that capacity. As vice chairman and executive vice president of Upstream and Gas, Mr. Kirkland will retain responsibility for overseeing Chevron's global exploration and production activities for crude oil and natural gas.
Mr. Kirkland has served in numerous upstream leadership positions inside and outside the United States over the course of his 35-year career with the company.
He joined Chevron as a construction engineer in New Orleans in 1974 and moved to Caltex Pacific Indonesia in 1978. After returning to the United States and holding positions of increasing responsibility in Chevron operations, Mr. Kirkland became group manager of Upstream Technology for Chevron Research and Technology Co. in 1990.
In 1992, Mr. Kirkland was appointed general manager of production for Chevron Nigeria Ltd. In 1996, he was named managing director for Chevron in Nigeria. He became president of the company's North American Exploration and Production operations in 2001. ■