Ganesh C. Thakur is vice president, global advisor and fellow of Chevron Energy Technology Company.  Ganesh Thakur is a world-recognized leader in reservoir engineering & simulation, secondary recovery, reservoir and well productivity improvement, heavy oil, horizontal well technology and EOR.  He is also known for the emergence of reservoir management (RM) —in particular waterflooding—as a key interdisciplinary practice. Thakur has an impressive list of publications and teaching engagements conducted around the world.  His skills and expertise are called upon widely in the design and operation of RM programs, mentoring technical professionals, and serving as an ambassador of technical capabilities to National Oil Companies and Government Ministries. He is an SPE Distinguished Member and has served as Technical Director – Reservoir for the Board of Directors, and an SPE Distinguished Lecturer.  Thakur has authored over 60 technical articles and presidential columns, three books, edited two SPE reprint series, and presented over 200 lectures/short courses around the world. He has been elected to represent the SPE on the National Petroleum Council (NPC), and he serves as a Board member of AIME.  

A past chairperson of the SPE Reprint Series, Thakur has served on the SPE Editorial Review, Forum Series, Annual Meetings and IPTC committees and as short-course instructor on Integrated Reservoir Management and Waterflood Management. He received SPE’s 2005 Reservoir Description and Dynamics award, 2006 Penn State University’s outstanding alumni achievement award, and 1994 Orange County, California’s outstanding engineer of the year award.  Thakur earned a B.S. degree in petroleum engineering from Indian School of Mines and M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in petroleum and natural gas engineering plus an M.A. degree in mathematics, all from Pennsylvania State University. In addition, he earned an executive MBA degree from Houston Baptist University.  He has served as an adjunct professor at USC, University of Texas (Permian Basin), University of Houston, Houston Baptist University, and serving King Saud University in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.