NDSU doctoral student Clarence Herz has been elected to a three-year term on the Petroleum History Institute’s board of directors. The organization is based in Oil City, Pennsylvania.

Herz, a Marine Corps veteran from Emmons County, attended the Petroleum History Symposium in Casper, Wyoming, July 28-30, where he presented the paper, “North Dakota’s Discovery Period,” and participated in study tours to Teapot Dome and to Salt Creek. The institute subsequently elected Herz to its board.

“I'm very honored and excited to be a board member,” Herz said.” The Petroleum History Institute is a unique organization that will continue to provide a forum for the discussion of North Dakota's petroleum industry history.”

According to Tom Isern, University Distinguished Professor of history, Herz is quickly earning a reputation as a leading researcher in the history of the petroleum industry. "I really think the petroleum industry on the northern plains has found its historian in Clarence Herz,” Isern said. “He has the skills in documentary research, and also the working knowledge of the industry, to do the subject justice."

Herz’s paper presentation was developed from a chapter of his dissertation on the history of the petroleum industry in North Dakota, which he is completing with faculty in the Department of History, Philosophy and Religious Studies.

Herz also serves as manager of special projects for NDSU’s Center for Heritage Renewal.

The Petroleum History Institute’s mission is to pursue the history, heritage and development of the modern oil industry from its 1859 beginnings in Oil Creek Valley, Pennsylvania, to its current global status. The organization produces Oil-Industry History, the only journal devoted exclusively to the topic. It also sponsors symposia of professional presentations and guided field trips through regions steeped in oil history.

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