Soni Oyekan

Dr. Soni Olufemi Olubunmi Offiong Oyekan (1946 - ) is a U.S. citizen and chemical engineer. Soni has over 30 years experience in the field of petroleum refining and associated technologies. Soni came to the United States in 1966 from Nigeria and earned his B.S. degree from Yale University in 1970. He subsequently went on to garner M.S. (1972) and Ph.D. degrees (1977) from Carnegie Mellon University in chemical engineering.

Soni is the Reforming and Isomerization Technologist of Marathon Oil Company. Soni's contributions in the chemical engineering profession are notable due to his contributions with respect to the efficient use of reactor engineering and catalysis in the processing of crude oil to meet consumer demands for transportation fuel, heating oil, and propane and butane gases and for his extensive volunteer and leadership roles in the American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE). Soni has held a variety of positions in AIChE. The positions include chair of Fuels and Petrochemicals Division (F&PD), chair of the Minority Affairs Committee (MAC) and served as a director of the AIChE Executive Board. He is a member of the AIChE Foundation Board of Trustees and past chair of several committees. Soni is a Fellow of the AIChE. He has been honored for his academic achievements and research. Soni is a member of Sigma Xi and Phi Kappa Phi honor societies. He was honored by AIChE's Minority Affairs Committee (MAC) with MAC's "Distinguished Service" award in 2000. The Fuels and Petrochemicals Division honored him with its "Distinguished Service" award in 2002. He is listed in the 2000 13th edition of Who's Who Amongst African Americans. Dr. Oyekan has 10 patents and numerous publications on a variety of topics in petroleum refining and catalysis.

Soni is married to Priscilla Ann Parker. They reside in Laplace, Louisiana. They have four children.