Benjamin Rummerfield
 | |
| Latest company | Century Geophysical Corporation |
|---|---|
| Membership |
SEG, AAPG, American Geophysical Union, Geophical Society of Tulsa, Tulsa Geological Society, Association Mexicana de Geologos Petroleros |
| BSc | Engineering Geology (Geophysics major) |
| BSc university | Colorado Schools of Mine |
Obituary
Mr. Rummerfield began his professional career at Seismograph Service Corp. in Tulsa and worked with PEMEX to discover Mexico's largest-producing oil field. In 1950, he joined Century Geophysical Corp. as seismic operations manager, later advancing to executive vice president. He was instrumental in the design and manufacture of newly miniaturized and portable seismic recording equipment in the 1950s. His instruments were used in Rome for the detection and discovery of St. Peter's tomb in the Vatican.Rummerfield founded GeoData Corp., an oil and gas seismic brokerage company, in Tulsa in 1960. GeoData records, maps and stores hydrocarbon and minerals exploration data and now has offices in Houston; Midland, Texas; and Denver. Rummerfield received the Distinguished Achievement Medal from the Colorado School of Mines in 1978. He founded the Harvard Club of Tulsa in 1959 and in 1966 he was elected president of the Metropolitan Tulsa YMCA. He also received the Outstanding Service Award from the YMCA in 1958 and 1963. He was president of the Geophysical Society of Tulsa in 1964-65. Mr. Rummerfield married former WASP pilot Betty Whitlow. Together, they raised two sons and two daughters. The Rummerfields parted after 30 years of marriage. The former Mrs. Rummerfield remarried (Dan Smith of Tulsa). Mary Whitlow Smith passed away in 2011.[1][2][3] Mr. Rummerfield was survived by two daughters, Ann Sartain of Tulsa and Suzie Rummerfield of Guillaumes, France; two sons, Biff Rummerfield of Houston and Mike Rummerfield of Seattle; one brother, Larry Rummerfield; two stepchildren; and three grandchildren.[4]
Biography
Ben F. Rummerfield was graduated from the Colorado School of Mines in 1940 with a degree of Geological Engineer, having majored in geophysics. He was employed by Seismograph Services Corporation and advanced to seismic party chief, working in a major portion of the geologic provinces of the United States.[5] In 1944 Mr. Rummerfield went to Venezuela in the capacity of seismic supervisor. He returned to the United States in the fall of 1947 and completed the Advanced Management Program at the Harvard Graduate Business School in 1947. He was then transferred to Mexico, where he worked for three years as Assistant Manager and seismic supervisor. A native of Denver, Rummerfield is the co-developer of uranium loging instrumentation and radiometric analysis used in evaluating U.S. reserves and attended a series of United Nations conferences on worldwide geothermal exploration and production. Mr. Rummerfield joined Century Geophysical Corporation in July, 1950, as manager of seismic operations in the United States and Canada. In October, 1951, he was appointed Vice-President and a member of the Board of Directors of the Century Geophysical Corporation, which positions he now holds. He is also Executive Vice-President of the Century Geophysical Corporation Century of Canada and Century Drilling Corporation. He is a Member of SEG, AAPG, American Geophysical Union, Geophical Society of Tulsa, Tulsa Geological Society, Association Mexicana de Geologos Petroleros, Sigma Gamma Epsilon and Blue Key. He has served as the SEG Vice-President (1958), chairman of several committees, and a member of numerous other SEG and AAPG committees
Awards
- Ben F. Rummerfield, was awarded the Distinguished Achievement Medal by the Colorado School of Mines during commencement activities in May 1940. [6]
- Rummerfield has authored numerous scientific papers and in 1954 received the Best Paper in Geophysics Award for his paper Reflection quality, a fourth dimension. [7]
- Rummerfield received the Distinguished Achievement Medal from the Colorado School of Mines in 1978.
- He was honored with Life Membership in 1981 for his extraordinary service to the SEG.
References
- ↑ WASP Final Flight: Betty Whitlow Smith http://waspfinalflight.blogspot.com/2011/06/wasp-elizabeth-betty-whitlow-smith-43-w.html
- ↑ Obituary, Tulsa World http://www.tulsaworld.com/archives/elizabeth-whitlow-smith/article_3c37c6d0-a9ff-5a6d-9f99-7dc9bc068578.html
- ↑ Betty Whitlow Smith on the WASPs Youtube video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1C0zpUys5B0
- ↑ Obituary, Tulsa World. Quoted with permission 4 Sept 2005.
- ↑ Contributors, Geophysics 1954, v. XIX, n. 4, p. 848.
- ↑ Geophysics 1978, v.43 n.4
- ↑ Rummerfield, B. (1954). ”REFLECTION QUALITY, A FOURTH DIMENSION.” GEOPHYSICS, 19(4), 684–694. doi: 10.1190/1.1438038[1]