C. Ronald "Ronny" Platt
C. Ronald "Ronny" Platt is a highly respected member of the petroleum industry and one of the leading petroleum engineering experts in regulatory hearings and litigation. He has served as an expert witness in more than 150 lawsuits and 500 administrative hearings and was the governor's appointee to the State of Texas Membership on the Energy Resources Committee of the Interstate Oil Compact Commission for 12 years.
A native of Austin, Texas, Platt received his bachelor's degree in petroleum engineering from The University of Texas at Austin in 1962. After graduation, he worked for Chevron for more than 13 years in various petroleum engineering and management positions before opening a private consulting office in 1976. In 1980, he co-founded Platt, Sparks & Associates with fellow 2015 Petroleum Engineering Distinguished Alumnus Don Sparks. Their petroleum engineering consulting firm evaluates properties, performs reservoir studies and provides expert testimony for hearings and litigations in Midland and Austin. Platt served as chairman until the firm was acquired by FTI Consulting in October of 2014.
Platt is a dedicated supporter of the Cockrell School of Engineering and the university. He has served on the advisory board for the Department of Petroleum and Geosystems Engineering and was a founding advisory committee member for the department's Distinguished Alumni Awards. In 2009, he received the Cockrell School's Distinguished Graduate Award. Additionally, Platt is a supporter of the Cockrell School's Friends of Alec Annual Giving Program and a member of UT Austin's Littlefield Society and UT System's Chancellor's Council. Platt and Sparks generously fund the Platt, Sparks & Associates Endowed Presidential Scholarship in Petroleum Engineering, which is awarded to top students in the Department of Petroleum and Geosystems Engineering.
Platt currently resides in the Austin area with his wife, Kathie. They have four children and 10 grandchildren.
