C. Drew Stahl Distinguished Achievement Award in Petroleum and Natural Gas Engineering

C. Drew Stahl

August 28, 1923 - July 2, 2011

Teaching. It wasn’t something C. Drew Stahl did – it was who he was. A teacher, mentor and friend to more than a thousand students who entered the Petroleum and Natural Gas Engineering Program at Penn State, Drew Stahl was the textbook that educated and inspired a generation of students.

He came to Penn State from his hometown of Altoona in 1942. In 1947 he received his bachelor’s degree in petroleum and natural gas engineering at the commencement exercises held on Saturday. Two days later, Drew Stahl began his teaching career – a career that spanned more than five decades and touched the lives of innumerable PNGE students. That same year he began graduate studies in petroleum and natural gas engineering, eventually earning both Master’s and Doctoral degrees from Penn State.

Although Dr. Stahl officially retired in 1984 he continued to teach – without pay – for thirteen years. In 1997, faculty, staff, students and alumni from the College of Earth and Mineral Sciences joined together in celebrating a remarkable milestone: fifty years of teaching. During those fifty years, Stahl taught 95 percent of the PNGE students who had ever passed through the program. Inspired by his outstanding teaching, encouraged by his belief in their abilities, and tutored by countless references to well-worn notebooks carefully scribed during his 8:00 a.m. lecture periods, today many of them are top executives in the oil industry. Others own companies or followed the example of their mentor and became teachers themselves. Many of them work overseas – their excellent qualifications enhancing the reputation of Penn State’s petroleum program around the world. Many will tell you they would not be where they are today without the dedication and leadership of Dr. Stahl.

Not only did Dr. Stahl excel as a teacher, for 35 of the fifty years he taught, he was head of the Petroleum and Natural Gas Engineering Program. Although the energy crisis of the 1970s and the Arab Oil Embargo in the 1980s forced many schools to dismantle their petroleum and natural gas engineering programs, Dr. Stahl was able to build and maintain a strong and vibrant program. In fact, during his tenure he managed to double the number of courses offered by the department and increased student numbers tenfold.

Dr. Stahl was honored three times for his outstanding teaching and mentoring activities. In 1956 the Association of Oil Well Drilling Contractors recognized his efforts to interest engineering students in the techniques of drilling oil. In 1982 he received the Wilson Award for Outstanding Teaching from the College of Earth and Mineral Sciences at Penn State. And in 1987 the Society of Petroleum Engineers bestowed on him the prestigious Distinguished Achievement Award for Petroleum Engineering Faculty recognizing excellence in classroom teaching and contributions to petroleum engineering.

But for Stahl it wasn’t about awards or money or recognition. It wasn’t even just a job. For Drew Stahl it was all about the kids and teaching them what he knew. In an interview with Lisa Rosellini marking his fifty years of teaching Stahl said, “It’s magic when you see the lights come on and a student solves a problem. It’s magic when they suddenly get it and it all makes sense.” For the students, the magic was a man who elevated teaching to an art form through his caring and concern for the education of each and every one of them who passed though his door.

Award Recipients