The SPE Distinguished Lecturer (DL) Program is one of the longest running and most successful initiatives in the history of SPE, now in its 63rd year having begun in 1961 with just three lecturers.
It offers an opportunity to share valuable insights on industry trends, challenges, and technical applications with more than 170 participating professional SPE sections globally. Nowadays, SPE International dispatches around 30 DLs annually to share their knowledge on numerous tours to every region of the world, each lasting approximately 2 weeks. For some smaller sections, the DLs provided by SPE are their sole source of technical presentations each year. Also, DL talks often attract members that don’t ordinarily attend monthly technical meetings.
Who Are We Seeking?
The pure concept of being “distinguished” makes some people, particularly from certain cultures, slightly apprehensive. Rest assured that SPE is not necessarily looking for rocket scientists or PhDs with 30 years in the industry. If you have at least 10 or more years’ experience in a subject of widespread interest, then you are a viable candidate.
Being a confident public speaker with a willingness to share knowledge, along with having a supportive employer, are key contributing factors to success. Typically, nominees from North America, Europe, MENA, and Australia are well represented, so we are extremely keen to encourage a greater geographic variety through more nominations from Asia, Africa, and Latin America, as well as increasing gender diversity through the nomination of more female candidates.
Distinguished Lecturer Committee
The immensely important task of judging nominees falls to the Distinguished Lecturer Committee (DLC). The DLC has 51 members currently: 36 standing members specializing in SPE’s eight technical disciplines and 15 regional members, usually appointed by the SPE regional directors.
Typically, DLC members specializing in Reservoir will judge all of the reservoir submissions, but of course many DLC members are generalists with experience spanning several disciplines. Each DLC member normally serves a 3-year term while the DLC chair alternates between Western Hemisphere and Eastern Hemisphere to provide a degree of geographic balance.
Novel DL Initiatives
Ordinarily DLs primarily deliver their talks at SPE sections around the world, although occasionally an SPE student chapter might arrange a presentation by a locally based DL.
In April 2024, SPE Western Australia coordinated a “DL Extravaganza” for 600 undergraduate students in Dili, the capital of Timor-Leste. This featured three DLs from Australia (namely Santos in Adelaide and Woodside and Eni in Perth), representing a significant commitment in time and expense. As a bonus, Simon Seaton, SPE CEO, also delivered a keynote speech. Not only was it a memorable day for the Timorese students, but this event helped to enhance regional and global promotion of this flagship SPE program and the concept of DLs.
A second edition is now being planned for Q1 2025 in Timor-Leste. Additionally, for the first time ever, dedicated DL technical sessions have been convened for IPTC 2025 in Kuala Lumpur in February.
DL Program Feedback
Last year represented the best year on record with more than 1,600 respondents providing feedback after attending DL talks globally: 83% rated the program as “excellent” while 99% rated it as “excellent or good,” indicating that overall, the DLC, composed entirely of volunteers, is doing a stellar job.
However, not to rest on our laurels, the DLC still strives to improve and is now developing more probing feedback questions.
How To Be Nominated
The nomination window for the 2026–2027 DL Season is now open until 15 March 2025.
Please seek a friend, acquaintance, or colleague to nominate you online, a straightforward process that should take a maximum of 15–20 minutes. Aside from basic contact details, this only requires the proposed title of the lecture as well as a short summary of the nominee (maximum 100 words).
One of the most common mistakes is that candidates nominate themselves. It is important to note that self-nominations are not permitted.
Once nominated, the SPE online system will issue a confirmation email to the nominator, as well as a separate email to the nominee describing what must be provided by 31 March 2025 via online submission.
The critical requirements are as follows:
- A PDF of the presentation (expected to be 30 minutes in duration)
- An abstract and bio (1-page maximum, combined)
- Two letters of recommendation supporting the proficiency of the nominee
- A 1-minute selfie video to promote the talk to the DLC and prospective audiences
Any historical records from SPE, such as participation on committees, will be provided to the DLC automatically.
Timeline and Costs
Once submissions close at the end of March 2025, the DLC almost immediately commences judging of the materials submitted during the month of April, each DLC member assessing from 15 to 20 nominees of typically more than 100 entries. In May, the DLC convenes a meeting in person and virtually (bordering the Offshore Technology Conference in Houston) to review the judging outcomes and discuss any anomalies (e.g., cases with an abnormally high standard deviation).
Subsequently, at the end of May, around 60 nominees will be invited as Potential Lecturers (PLs) to present in person at one of two final selection sessions called Presentation Review (PR) meetings in September/October. During the interim period, two DLC members are assigned to each PL as point-of-contacts (POCs) to help fine-tune their submission, taking into consideration feedback received during the first round of judging. The POCs will also arrange practice runs for the PLs and provide additional feedback to help them be prepared as optimally as possible.
A PR meeting consists of an opening reception followed by 2 days of judging the PLs’ presentations. A 1-hour segment for each PL consists of a 30-minute presentation, 20-minute Q&A, and 5 to 10 minutes of feedback. The 2024 PR meetings were held in Milan, Italy (thanks to Saipem, Eni, and SLB), and New Orleans, Louisiana, USA.
Varying the regional location helps contribute to our objective of enhancing the globalization of nominees. Next year the Eastern Hemisphere PR meeting will be staged in Bangkok, thanks to the support of PTTEP and Chevron Thailand, most likely from 17–19 September 2025, which will help boost nominees from Thailand and Southeast Asia countries in the immediate vicinity. The Western Hemisphere PR meeting will be held immediately after the 2025 SPE Annual Technical Conference and Exhibition in Dallas, Texas, USA, from 8–10 October 2025.
In-person attendance at one of these meetings is mandatory, and the associated cost represents the only financial expense for a PL during the entire process.
Benefits
Ultimately 30 successful PLs will be sent on global tours as SPE DLs from approximately September 2026 through May 2027, each tour comprising approximately seven to eight cities in a specific region. Many past DLs describe their participation as probably the most memorable experience of their professional careers, gaining widespread recognition, worldwide exposure, and an enhanced network of contacts globally.
As SPE Ambassadors, all associated costs whilst on tour are covered by SPE. The only sacrifice to a DL and their organization is the commitment of time.
If you believe that you are qualified and have an attractive topic, please consider being nominated now.
