Charles Rapier “Rap” Dawson Jr., SPE, passed away 27 July. He was 81. Dawson began his 37-year career at Esso Production Research, now ExxonMobil, in 1967, where he contributed to technological advances in the fields of drilling fluids, torque-and-drag and pipe‑buckling calculations for directional drilling, and drilling automation.
An SPE member since 1967, he received the SPE A Peer Apart award in 2007 in recognition of his dedication to the peer review of 100 or more papers. He was also the author and coauthor of four technical papers.
Dawson served as a Technical Information Service volunteer (1987–1988) and a member of several committees, including the Drilling Committee (1987–1990), the Drilling Conference Program Committee (1988–1991), and the Drilling Engineering Award Committee (1997–2000). He also served as chairperson of the Drilling Engineering Award Committee (1999–2000) and as a technical editor for the Editorial Review Committee of SPE Drilling and Completions (1995–2012).
Dawson held a BS, a master’s degree, and a PhD, all in chemical engineering, from Rice University.