R.C. “Chuck” Earlougher ’36

PE Hall of Fame Class of 2022

Young headshot

R.C. “Chuck” Earlougher, an entrepreneur and engineer, is credited with keeping Long Beach, Calif. from sinking by designing a water injection system to compensate for oil extraction.

He graduated from Mines with a professional degree in petroleum engineering in 1936. He joined the Sloan & Zook Company to manage the company’s core and water analysis library. Two years later he started his own consultancy and laboratory in Tulsa, Okla., where he developed his expertise in using fluid injection for enhanced recovery from hydrocarbon reservoirs. He sold the company in 1970 and served as chairman of the renamed entity until his retirement.

Earlougher was an ardent Mines volunteer. He served as a member of the President’s Council, as chair of his class reunion committee, on the Petroleum Engineering Visiting Committee and the Resource Fund Engineering Committee. He and his wife Jeanne also established a scholarship to support non-resident petroleum engineering students: The Jeanne Storer and R.C. Earlougher Scholarship Fund. He died in 2007.

Professional Societies

  • Board of Directors, Independent Petroleum Association of America
  • Board of Directors, chairman of the mid-continent section, director and vice president, Association of International Mining, Metallurgical, and Petroleum Engineers (AIME)

Awards

  • Distinguished Achievement Medal, Colorado School of Mines
  • Melville F. Coolbaugh Memorial Award, Colorado School of Mines Alumni Association
  • DeGloyer Distinguished Service Award, Society of Petroleum Engineers-AIME
  • Honorary Member, Society of Petroleum Engineers (awarded to 0.1 percent of members)
  • Anthony F. Lucas Gold Medal, Society of Petroleum Engineers

Enhanced Oil Recovery Pioneer, Society of Petroleum Engineers