Marathon-Noble- and Texas A&M Partnership
"We
were determined to bring five Equatorial
Guinea students to the best university
in the United States, and that was Texas
A&M"
Mr. Chaouch
On August 3,
executives from Marathon Oil Company and
Noble Energy met at Texas A&M to announce
the dedication of their Alba Field/
Marathon/ Noble Partners Scholarship program
to the Jolly family.
It was almost like an Aggie reunion for
Adel Chaouch (‘91 and ‘94), director of
Marathon Corporate Social Responsibility;
and Bryce Cook (‘78), Noble Energy
Operations Manager for the West Africa
International Division along with Dan Jolly
(‘82)
representing the Jolly family. Roger
Holliday, Marathon Manager of Sustainable
Development in the Central Africa Business
Unit, was the only non-Aggie in the crowd.
But one thing drew them all together, and
that was offering the best possible
education to students from the Alba Gas
Field in Equatorial Guinea. “We were
determined to bring five Equatorial Guinea
students to the best University in the
United States,” Chaouch said, “and that was
Texas A&M”.
Back row
left to right: Bryce Cook, Chaouch and
Holiday. Front row: Violetta
cook, Dan
Jolly and Alfonso Esend Nzang, a sponsored
student from Equatorial Guinea.
Chaouch said that they looked at more than just academics. The
scholarship committee was looking for the
right climate, the right language choices
(most Equatorial Guineas speak Spanish) as
well as a world class University for
geosciences, engineering, IT, business
administration, and finance and accounting.
“The selection process was tough,” Cook
said. “More than 450 students applied for
five openings. They were tested in math,
science and English, although English is not
a requirement up front”. Sponsored students
who come to Texas A&M are guided by Violetta
Cook and the staff of the Sponsored Student
Programs Office. “These students came here
not speaking a word of English,” Violetta
said. “We put them into an intensive
language program for the first six months to
a year and they are so bright, many of them
are into their course work sooner rather
than later.”
Dan Jolly, who earned his mechanical
engineering degree in 1982, has agreed to
mentor the students during their time at
Texas A&M, helping them to understand
corporate and A&M culture, and providing
them with a sense of family. “My father
isn’t an Aggie, he graduated from the
University of Arkansas,” Jolly said, “but he
is very pleased to know that this
scholarship in her family name is dedicated
to educating young men and women from the
Alba Gas Field which he was involved in
developing.”
Chaouch, Cook, and Holliday are all
looking forward to the success of the
students. The contract is long-term; as soon
as this first group of students completes
their degrees, another group will come. “We
hope they will come to work for us or their
government when they return,” Chaouch said.
“We are all looking forward to a bright
future with these young men and women”.
