Roy M. Huffington

Roy Michael Huffington (October 41917 – July 11 2008)Hanson, Eric, [http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/business/energy/5885856.html Houston oilman, Philanthropist Huffington dies] , Houston Chronicle, July 13, 2008, retrieved 2008-07-13] was an American oilman originally from Tomball in Harris County, Texas, who later served as United States Ambassador to Austria.

Early career

Huffington graduated from Southern Methodist University and earned both M.A. and Ph.D. degrees in geology from Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts.Fact|date=July 2008 After serving as, first ensign and then lieutenant commander in the United States Navy from 1942-1945,Fact|date=July 2008 he returned to Texas in 1946Fact|date=July 2008 and worked as a field geologist for Humble Oil, now known as Exxon, U.S.A.

HUFFCO

In 1956, he set up his own oil and natural gas exploration company known as Roy M. Huffington, Inc. (Huffco). Huffco grew to be a major independent international oil company active around the world. In 1966 HUFFCO signed production sharing contract with Pertamina to explore oil in the Kutai Basin of the Mahakam River delta in East Kalimantan, Indonesia. Initially the exploration object was oil, but finally Huffco discovered a giant natural gas reserve in 1972 at Badak Field. Then Huffco and Pertamina initiated to build an LNG plant in Bontang. First shipping was in August 1977, only five years after discovery.Fact|date=July 2008

Later career

In 1990, all properties of the company were sold to the Chinese Petroleum Corporation of Taiwan and HUFFCO became VICO.Fact|date=July 2008

Huffington served as Ambassador to Austria from 1990 to 1993. He returned to Houston and resumed the position of Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer of Roy M. Huffington, Inc., an independent international oil company.Fact|date=July 2008

Philanthropy

Huffington served as the chairman of the Asia Society for seven years in the 1980s. The Asia Society is a New York-based charity.

He also founded the Huffington Foundation, a Houston-based charity.

He and his wife, the former Phyllis Gough, who died in 2003, created the Huffington Center on Aging at the Baylor College of Medicine in Houston.

Personal life

Roy and Phyllis Huffington had two children: Terry Dittman, whose family lives in Houston, and Michael Huffington (born 1947), who was a Republican U.S. representative from California from 1993-1995. In 1994, Michael Huffington narrowly lost the election for the United States Senate to Democrat Diane Feinstein. He was married to liberal activist Arianna Huffington from 1986-1997, an unsuccessful candidate for governor of California in the 2003 recall election.

Huffington died of natural causes in Venice, Italy.

References