G. Paul Willhite

Anson Marston Medal
College of Engineering
Established in 1938 in recognition of outstanding achievement in advancing engineering science, technology, or policy having national and international impact in academics, industry, public service, government, or other venues

G. Paul Willhite

BS Chemical Engineering ’59
Lawrence, Kan.

G. Paul Willhite is the Ross H. Forney Distinguished Professor of Chemical and Petroleum Engineering at the University of Kansas, where he has been a member of the faculty since 1969. Willhite served as chair of the chemical and petroleum engineering department from 1988-1996 and as interim chair from 2003-2004.  

In 1974, Willhite co-founded the Tertiary Oil Recovery Project and served as the program’s co-director from 1974-2009.  From 1962-1969, he worked in the production research division of Continental Oil Company in Ponca City, Okla. A distinguished member of the Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE), Willhite is the author of the 1986 SPE textbook, Waterflooding, and co-author of the SPE textbook, Enhanced Oil Recovery, published in 1998.  

Among the awards Willhite has received are the Distinguished Achievement Award for Petroleum Engineering Faculty in 1981, the Lester C. Uren Award in 1986, the John Franklin Carll Award from the Society of Petroleum Engineers in 2001, the Professional Achievement Citation in Engineering from the Iowa State University College of Engineering in 1995,  and the IOR Pioneer Award from the SPE/DOE Improved Oil Recovery Symposium in 2004. He was elected to the National Academy of Engineering in 2006.

In addition to his Iowa State degree, Willhite has a Ph.D. in chemical engineering from Northwestern University. Willhite and his wife, Jewell (’58 home ec ed), are life members of the ISU Alumni Association.