Roll Call Tribute

William T. "Tom" Carpenter 

July 22, 1928 - September 22, 2023 

William T. (Tom) Carpenter, born on July 22, 1928, in Dallas, Texas, died September 22, 2023, at the age of 95. 

W.T. (Tom) Carpenter graduated from Texas A&M University in 1949 with a degree in Petroleum Engineering. He served in the U.S. Army Field Artillery and Corp of Engineers in Korea and was honorably discharged with the rank of First Lieutenant. He began his career in the petroleum industry with Atlantic Richfield in 1953 and directed their extensive drilling operations in Venezuela. In 1955 he formed Well Service Engineering C.A. and Caribbean Drilling C.A. that operated through out Venezuela and Columbia.

During this period, he played a key role in the discovery and development of several important additions to Venezuela’s petroleum reserves. In 1960, he initiated a joint venture with Texaco and Ultramar Co. Ltd. and developed the important Santa Maria de lpire field in Venezuela. In the early 1960’s his companies were acquired by the Venezuelan government.

During the period 1960’s - 1980’s, Tom turned his attention toward consulting and exploration, and conducted numerous international oil and gas ventures in Venezuela, Columbia, Ecuador, Trinidad, Surinam, Angola, Southwest Africa, Nigeria, Indonesia, and Portuguese Timor. Working with Austral Oil in Houston during the early days of fracking, Tom participated in the testing and development of new methods for this growing new technology. In the latter 1970’s, Tom assisted the Indonesian government with the discovery and early developmental stages of compressing and shipping natural gas from their massive discoveries in Kalimantan, Borneo.

Tom had a passion for sailing and flying. He spent countless hours flying his Bonanza airplane and sailing his boat, Larkspur, from Maine to Bermuda, throughout the Bahamas, and among the islands of the Caribbean to Venezuela.

Tom also served as the first Chairman of the Board of the Texas A&M School of Medicine.

Most importantly, Tom loved Texas A&M University and made countless anonymous contributions and scholarships which hopefully provided many other students the opportunities he believed TAMU afforded him.