George V. Chilingarian (he uses both Chilingar and Chilingarian as his last name) is an American-Armenian Professor of Civil and Petroleum Engineering at the

University of Southern California , mottoeng = "Let whoever earns the palm bear it" , religious_affiliation = Nonsectarian—historically Methodist , established = , accreditation = WSCUC , type = Private research university , academic_affiliations = , endowment = $8.1 ...

(USC). He is one of the best-known

petroleum geologist A petroleum geologist is an earth scientist who works in the field of petroleum geology, which involves all aspects of oil discovery and production. Petroleum geologists are usually linked to the actual discovery of oil and the identification of ...

s in the world and the founder of several prestigious journals in the oil and gas industry. Chilingar has published 72 books and over 500 of articles on geology, petroleum engineering and

environmental engineering Environmental engineering is a professional engineering discipline that encompasses broad scientific topics like chemistry, biology, ecology, geology, hydraulics, hydrology, microbiology, and mathematics to create solutions that will protect and ...

. He serves as president of the U.S. branch of the

Russian Academy of Natural Sciences The Russian Academy of Natural Sciences ( Russian: Российская академия естественных наук) is a Russian non-governmental organization founded on August 31 1990 in Moscow in the former Soviet Union, following a de ...

and 17 of his books have been translated into Russian. In recognition of these contributions, the Russian Academy of Natural Sciences has honored him as a Knight of Arts and Sciences. He received his bachelor's and master's degrees in petroleum engineering and a Ph.D. in geology (with a minor in petroleum engineering), all at USC. His greatest contribution to the

petroleum industry The petroleum industry, also known as the oil industry or the oil patch, includes the global processes of exploration, extraction, refining, transportation (often by oil tankers and pipelines), and marketing of petroleum products. The large ...

may be a means of identifying oil-rich rock by analyzing the ratio of calcium to magnesium in core samples. This method was used in discovering one of

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

's largest oil fields, which was then named after Chilingar. '' Scientia Iranica'' has published a special issue in "Transactions C: Chemistry and Chemical Engineering" dedicated to the lifelong achievements of Chilingar. He also played a key role in the development of

Thailand Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is b ...

's offshore

oil reserves An oil is any nonpolar chemical substance that is composed primarily of hydrocarbons and is hydrophobic (does not mix with water) & lipophilic (mixes with other oils). Oils are usually flammable and surface active. Most oils are unsaturate ...

. Chilingar saw natural gas bubbles in the Gulf of Siam and redirected exploratory efforts, thus saving the nascent Thai oil industry. In 2001,

King Fahd Fahd bin Abdulaziz Al Saud ( ar, فهد بن عبد العزيز آل سعود ''Fahd ibn ʿAbd al ʿAzīz Āl Suʿūd'', ; 1920, 1921 or 1923 – 1 August 2005) was a Saudi Arabian politician who was King and Prime Minister of Saudi Arabia fro ...

Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in Western Asia. It covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and has a land area of about , making it the fifth-largest country in Asia, the second-largest in the A ...

acknowledged Chilingar's significant contributions to the success of Saudi Aramco as well as the discovery and extraction of oil reserves around the world. The Saudi consul general in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...

, Ambassador Mohammed A. Al-Salloum, presented the award. He served as senior petroleum engineering adviser to the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harmoniz ...

from 1967 to 1969, and then again from 1978 to 1987. He was also an energy policy adviser to

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

Governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

Ronald Reagan in 1973. His recent research work concentrated on: * Environmental aspects of oil and gas production * Petrophysical properties of rocks and drilling fluids * Surface and subsurface operations in petroleum production * Subsidence due to the fluid withdrawal, testing and storage of petroleum products

Selected honors and awards

* Distinguished Achievement Award for Petroleum Engineering Faculty (The

Society of Petroleum Engineers The Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE) is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit professional organization whose stated mission is "to collect, disseminate, and exchange technical knowledge concerning the exploration, development and production of oil an ...

) in recognition for outstanding contributions in the field of petroleum engineering education, 1984 * Society of Petroleum Engineers Distinguished Membership, 2020 * Editor of ''Sedimentary Geology'' (one of the founders) * Special Issue of ''Energy Sources Journal'', Vol. 21, Nov. 1-2, 1999, A Tribute to Professor George V. Chilingarian * Crown and Eagle Medal of Honor from the Russian Academy of Natural Sciences, 2000 * Gold Medals of Honor from Iran, Thailand, Taiwan, Honduras, El Salvador, Armenia and Russia * Honorary Professor of

Gubkin Russian State University of Oil and Gas The Gubkin Russian State University of Oil and Gas (russian: Российский государственный университет нефти и газа имени И. М. Губкина) is a public university in Moscow, Russia. The univer ...

References

External links

George V. Chilingar home page at USC

* [https://web.archive.org/web/20061222162604/http://schwinger.harvard.edu/~motl/usc-rebuttal.html Rebuttal of “On global forces of nature driving the Earth's climate. Are humans involved?” by L. F. Khilyuk and G. V. Chilingar] {{DEFAULTSORT:Chilingar, George V. American geologists USC Viterbi School of Engineering alumni University of Southern California faculty Foreign Members of the Russian Academy of Sciences Living people Year of birth missing (living people)