George V. Chilingar ( Chilingarian; July 22, 1929 – March 9, 2023) was an Armenian-American geologist and academic. He was Professor of Civil and

Petroleum Engineering Petroleum engineering is a field of engineering concerned with the activities related to the production of hydrocarbons, which can be either crude oil or natural gas or both. Exploration and production are deemed to fall within the ''upstrea ...

at the

University of Southern California The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in ...

(USC).

Early years

Chilingarian was born in

Tbilisi Tbilisi ( ; ka, თბილისი, ), in some languages still known by its pre-1936 name Tiflis ( ), ( ka, ტფილისი, tr ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Georgia (country), largest city of Georgia ( ...

, Georgia in 1929. He finished high school with honors in

Tehran Tehran (; , ''Tehrân'') is the capital and largest city of Iran. It is the capital of Tehran province, and the administrative center for Tehran County and its Central District (Tehran County), Central District. With a population of around 9. ...

. In the mid-1940s, he emigrated with his family to the United States.

Career

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 ...

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

environmental engineering Environmental engineering is a professional engineering Academic discipline, discipline related to environmental science. It encompasses broad Science, scientific topics like chemistry, biology, ecology, geology, hydraulics, hydrology, microbiolo ...

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

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

and 17 of his books have been translated into Russian. In recognition of these contributions, the Russian Academy of Natural Sciences 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 USC may refer to: Education United States * Universidad del Sagrado Corazón, Santurce, Puerto Rico * University of South Carolina, Columbia, South Carolina ** University of South Carolina System, a state university system of South Carolina * ...

. '' Scientia Iranica'' published a special issue in "Transactions C: Chemistry and Chemical Engineering" dedicated to the lifelong achievements of Chilingar. He served as senior petroleum engineering adviser to the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...

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

Governor of California The governor of California is the head of government of the U.S. state of California. The Governor (United States), governor is the commander-in-chief of the California National Guard and the California State Guard. Established in the Constit ...

Ronald Reagan Ronald Wilson Reagan (February 6, 1911 – June 5, 2004) was an American politician and actor who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He was a member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party a ...

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. SPE provides a worldwide forum for oil and natural gas exploration and production (E&P) professionals to exchange technical knowledge and best prac ...

) 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 () is a public university in Moscow, Russia. The university was founded in 1930 and is named after the geologist Ivan Gubkin. The university is colloquially known as Kerosinka (), meaning 'keros ...

Death

Chilingar died on March 9, 2023 in

Culver City, California Culver City is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 40,779. It is mostly surrounded by Los Angeles, but also shares a border with the unincorporated area of Ladera Heights, Californi ...

, aged 93.Obituary
legacy.com. Accessed April 6, 2024.

References

External links

* [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] via archive.org. Accessed April 6, 2024. {{DEFAULTSORT:Chilingar, George V. American people of Armenian descent American geologists USC Viterbi School of Engineering alumni University of Southern California faculty Foreign members of the Russian Academy of Sciences 1929 births 2023 deaths Naturalized citizens of the United States Academics from Los Angeles