December 16, 2019

Texas Tech Remembers Bob L. Herd

Texas Tech University System honored the life of Bob L. Herd, a proud Red Raider and graduate of Texas Tech University whose legacy to the institution included a momentous gift to name the Bob L. Herd Department of Petroleum Engineering as well as numerous gifts to support student scholarships and university priorities.

Herd, who died Dec. 13 at the age of 91, credited his Texas Tech education with launching a career that enabled him to give back to his alma mater and the city of Tyler, Texas, where he lived.

A native Texan and U.S. Air Force veteran, Herd attended Texas Tech University on the GI Bill and graduated in 1957 with a bachelor’s degree in petroleum engineering. Soon after starting his career, he moved to Tyler and founded Herd Producing Company. Early success drove the independent venture’s growth, and the East Texas company would eventually expand to own and operate hundreds of oil and gas wells throughout Texas and Louisiana.

Recognized for his work in the petroleum industry, Herd received the Pioneer Award in the Field of Energy from the Society of Petroleum Engineers in 1993. The following year, the Texas Tech Alumni Association honored him with the Distinguished Alumni Award, and in 1995 he was named a Distinguished Engineer by Texas Tech University’s Edward E. Whitacre Jr. College of Engineering.