News :: Ronny Platt Honored as Engineer of Distinction

C. Ronald (Ronny) Platt, petroleum engineering graduate class of ’62, was recognized with the highest honor that the School of Engineering gives to its graduates, the Engineer of Distinction award. This award is given to recognize graduates who not only have an outstanding record of professional achievements, but who are also active in promoting education and public service. This award was given out at the fall commencement ceremony in December.

After graduating from the University, Ronny worked for Chevron Oil Company for over thirteen years, before he opened a private consulting office in 1967. In 1980, he founded a petroleum engineering firm, Platt, Sparks and Associates Consulting Petroleum Engineers, Inc. of which he currently serves as chairman. Active in the industry, Ronny has served as an expert witness in more than 150 lawsuits, and has been the Texas governor’s appointee to the Energy Resources Committee of the Interstate Oil Compact Commission for 12 years.

Ronny and his partners at Platt, Sparks, & Associates recently established an Endowed Presidential Scholarship for PGE. The donors are Ronny Platt, Don L. Sparks, Robert C. MacDonald, and Terry D. Payne, and as you’d expect, all of them graduated from the University of Texas in petroleum engineering.

Ronny is married to Kathie Platt, and they have four children and ten grandchildren. In addition to serving on the External Advisory Committee for PGE, Ronny is also a member of the advisory board of My Healing Place, a non-profit agency that provides grief and loss counseling in Austin.

For more about the ceremony and our Engineer of Distinction you can find the complete story at the School of Engineering website.