President of major oil company, K-State alum to present first Landon Lecture of school year

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Source: Charles Reagan, 785-532-6221
http://www.k-state.edu/landon
News release prepared by: Beth Bohn, 785-532-6415

Sunday, August 13, 2006

PRESIDENT OF MAJOR OIL COMPANY, K-STATE ALUM TO PRESENT FIRST LANDON LECTURE OF SCHOOL YEAR

MANHATTAN -- John Hofmeister, president of Shell Oil Company and a Kansas State University alumnus, will deliver the first Landon Lecture of the 2006-2007 school year.

Hofmeister's lecture, the 145th in the series, will be at 10:30 a.m. Friday, Sept. 8, in McCain Auditorium.

"K-State's Landon Lecture Series strives to bring to campus the people involved with some of the most pressing issues in the world today, which is why we have invited John Hofmeister to speak," said Charles Reagan, chair of the lecture series. "As president of one of the leading oil and natural gas companies in the nation, he knows well the challenges facing today's energy market."

Hofmeister, who earned both a bachelor's and a master's in political science from K-State, has served as president of Shell Oil Company since March 2005. The Houston-based company is an affiliate of the Shell Group, a global group of energy and petrochemical companies with 109,000 employees and operations in more than 140 countries and territories. Shell has 22,000 employees based in the U.S.

Hofmeister joined Shell in 1997 as director of human resources, based in The Hague, The Netherlands, and in London. He previously served as vice president, international human resources, for Allied Signal Inc., based in Hong Kong, and was responsible for developing and implementing the company's Asian and European human resources strategy and infrastructure for its aerospace, automotive and engineered materials businesses. He joined AlliedSignal in 1992.

He also worked for Northern Telecom Inc. from 1988-1992, where he became vice president of human resources in 1990. Hofmeister began his career in 1973 with General Electric in its international sales and marketing department for the company's lighting business. During his 15 years with General Electric, he served in a variety of marketing, manufacturing and human resources positions, including as general manager of the company's motor relations operations.

A Fellow of the National Academy of Human Resources, Hofmeister serves on the boards of the American Petroleum Institute, National Urban League and the Greater Houston Partnership.