Chevron Executive Joins Texas A&M Foundation Board Of Trustees

John E. Bethancourt, a 1974 petroleum engineering graduate of Texas A&M University and executive vice president for Chevron Corporation, has been appointed to the Texas A&M Foundation Board of Trustees for a seven-year term.

The Dallas native brings to the board a long association with Texas A&M and has been an active volunteer and benefactor of the university since his graduation in 1974. With his wife, Deborah, a 1976 Texas A&M graduate, Bethancourt funds two scholarships in petroleum engineering through the Texas A&M Foundation, including a President’s Endowed Scholarship and a professorship in petroleum engineering. The couple also created the C.O. Smith ’50 Endowed Scholarship in Horticulture, in honor of Deborah’s father, to assist deserving students studying floriculture.

Bethancourt also supports the 12th Man Foundation and The Association of Former Students with gifts that benefit a variety of academic, athletic and leadership programs, such as teaching excellence, the Corps of Cadets and the Memorial Student Center.

He was named a 2007 Dwight Look College of Engineering Outstanding Alumnus and serves on the advisory board of Texas A&M’s Harold Vance Department of Petroleum Engineering and the university’s International Programs Board. He was regional co-chair for Texas A&M’s successful seven-year One Spirit One Vision Campaign and is a member of the university’s Vision 2020 strategic planning committee and the Foundation’s A&M Legacy Society, which includes donors who have given more than $100,000 to benefit Texas A&M.

“I’m excited to be joining such a distinguished group of trustees,” says Bethancourt. “The Texas A&M Foundation is a conduit through which private funds from our former students and friends flow. The support it provides is critical to the students, faculty and programs that distinguish Texas A&M. I’m ready for the responsibility and look forward to expanding the Foundation’s endowment portfolio.”

In 1974 Bethancourt joined Getty Oil Co. — which later merged with Texaco — as a field engineer. He later became area manager of South Texas in Texaco USA’s production operation and since then has held a series of engineering and management positions, from regional director of China operations, to vice president of business development for Texaco’s international refining and marketing business. In 2000 he was named vice president of Texaco Inc. and president of Texaco’s worldwide production operations.

With the formation of ChevronTexaco Corp., he was named vice president for human resources and since July 2003 has served as executive vice president of technology and service.

“Bethancourt’s management expertise at the highest levels of U.S. industry and his philanthropic background will be valuable assets to the Texas A&M Foundation,” says John R. Stropp ’66, current president of the Texas A&M Foundation.

He serves on the board of directors for the National Action Council for Minorities in Engineering Inc. and is a former director of the Society of Petroleum Engineers.

The Bethancourts, who met as students at Texas A&M, have passed the Aggie legacy to their four children: Justin ’98; Kyle ’00; Phillip ’04; and Christina ’06.

His term on the board begins July 1, when he will replace outgoing trustee Roderick D. Stepp ’59, whose term ends June 30.

Founded in 1953, the Texas A&M Foundation is a separately governed, nonprofit corporation whose mission is to provide private financial support for the benefit of Texas A&M University. The foundation’s fundraising team helps former students, friends, corporations and other nonprofit organizations direct contributions to specific academic and leadership programs. The foundation’s asset managers ensure that endowments retain or grow in value over time.