T. Boone Pickens to Speak Thursday
By: Good Morning West Texas staff
Updated: April 28, 2011
ODESSA, TX -- The Shepperd Institute invites you to hear legendary oilman, philanthropist and energy expert T. Boone Pickens.
The Shepperd Distinguished Lecture Series
T. Boone Pickens
Thursday, April 28, 2011
7 PM
UTPB Gymnasium
In July 2008, Boone launched a grass-roots campaign aimed at reducing this country’s crippling dependence on imported oil. In television ads, on his Pickens Plan website and in personal appearances, he has spelled out how our dependence on foreign oil is an addiction that threatens our economy, our environment and our national security, and ties our hands as a nation and a people. He has spent the time since spelling out how this country can drag itself out of this quagmire, if it acts quickly and reasonably. His 2008 New York Times bestseller, The First Billion is the Hardest, also details what this country must do to win back its energy independence. Pickens has not been shy in predicting oil and gas prices. His uncanny accuracy in this area prompted CNBC to dub him the Oracle of Oil.
Pickens is also aggressively pursuing a wide range of other business interests, from water marketing, alternative wind power and ranch development initiatives. Another endeavor, Clean Energy is a clean transportation fuel company advancing the use of natural gas as a cleaner-burning and more cost effective fuel alternative to gas and diesel. Pickens founded Clean Energy and took the company public in May 2008 - the eighth entity he has helped go public during his career.
Throughout
his professional life, Pickens has been a generous philanthropist,
giving away nearly $1 billion. His giving has earned him regular spots
on the Chronicle of Philanthropy’s list
of top U.S. philanthropists. The Pickens Foundation is focused on
improving lives through grants supporting educational programs, medical
research, athletics and corporate wellness, at-risk youths, the
entrepreneurial process and conservation and wildlife initiatives.
Pickens’ $165 million gift to his alma mater, Oklahoma State University,
in 2005, is the single largest gift for athletics in NCAA history.
Pickens
lives in Dallas and is married to Madeleine Ann Pickens. He has five
children, 12 grandchildren and one great-grandchild.