A Midwestern State University alumnus has been named the 2023 recipient of the Norman H. Foster Outstanding Explorer Award, one of the highest awards presented by the American Association of Petroleum Geologists.

Gregg Norman, who earned his Bachelor of Science in Geology from MSU Texas in 1987, received the annual award “in recognition of distinguished and outstanding achievement in exploration for petroleum or mineral resources.” The honor is given to AAPG members who have shown a consistent pattern of exploratory success, with an intended emphasis on recent discovery.

Josh Aaron, president of the North Texas Geological Society, offered this accolade in a message to members: “Norman began his career at Gunn Oil Company as a geotech while still at MSU. He began working several of Gunn’s acreage positions in North Texas where he developed his exploration expertise on the Eastern Shelf. While at Gunn, Norman made a significant discovery in Dickens County. He later began his own company, Norman Browning Exploration, and made another significant field discovery, known as the Flat Top JC Field. He is the only member of the North Texas Geological Society to be awarded the AAPG Explorer Award and the A.I. Levorsen Award, which honors the best paper presented at each AAPG section meeting.”

Jonathan Price, chair and Prothro Distinguished Professor of Geology at MSU Texas, said “Gregg is one of the most respected and highly regarded exploration geologists in North Texas. This recognition by the preeminent international society for petroleum geology is well deserved.”

Read more about the award at the AAPG website.

Photo info: (from left to right) North Texas Geological Society members Chris Gunn, Craig Reynolds, Chad Cummings, Cris Astorga, award recipient Gregg Norman, Aarron Hillard and Matthew Kaspar (partially obscured), NTGS President Josh Aaron, and James Mora and Elizabeth Elkins. (courtesy photo)