Collins ’68 named distinguished alumnus

T. Jay Collins ’68 has received a Rice University Distinguished Alumni Award, presented to alumni whose professional or volunteer activities reflect and forward the high standards and ideals of the university. He was one of three recipients.

Collins, who received his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in chemical engineering from Rice, serves as president, CEO and director of the board of Houston-based Oceaneering, a global oilfield provider of engineered services and products primarily for the offshore oil and gas industry. Oceaneering also serves the defense and aerospace industries. The company, which has more than 7,900 employees working out of 66 locations in 18 countries, earned a net income of almost $200 million on revenues of nearly $2 billion in 2008.

In 1993, Collins joined Oceaneering as senior vice president and chief financial officer. He became president and chief operating officer in 1998 and was promoted to CEO in 2006.

“Jay is a strong example of a public company CEO,” said Osmar Abib ’81, managing director of Credit Suisse in the Global Energy group. “He works to further Oceaneering’s standing in the Houston business community and among its employees, customers and other constituencies.”

At Rice, Collins captained the varsity football team. He earned an MBA from Harvard Business School in 1972. He currently serves as chairman of the National Ocean Industries Association and is on the board of the American Productivity and Quality Center, Petroleum Equipment Suppliers Association and CanCare of Houston. He is also a member of the National Petroleum Council and was on the Rice Class of 1968 reunion committee.

Collins became an early member and active supporter of the Jones Partners, a group of business professionals who work to open doors and increase collaboration between Rice’s Jesse H. Jones Graduate School of Management and the Houston business community. He was president of the Jones Partners board for two years beginning in 2004.

Other recipients of the award were Rachelle Smith Doody ’78, ’92 and Robert S. Martin ’71.

Jenny West Rozelle, Rice News