Ken Fagan (1961) 

Esteemed and beloved alumnus, Ken Fagan, found his way to New Mexico Tech rather circuitously. Ken is a New Jersey native and left his hometown of Orange to join the Air Force during the Korean War. After four years overseas he found himself at Lowry Air Force Base in Denver, CO. This is where he met Margaret (affectionately known as “Marge”), his wife of more than 60 years. The two married in 1955 and lived all over the world. After stops in England and Japan, Ken was stationed in Shreveport, LA, and began taking night classes at the local junior college. He wanted to get back into the routine of school before transferring to a larger institution. After Shreveport, Ken and Marge moved back to her home state of Colorado where Ken earned his Associate’s Degree in Engineering from Colorado Mesa University (then, Mesa State College) in 1959. During the summer semesters, he took classes in Surveying, and Intro to Mining and Mine Design at Colorado School of Mines with the hopes of becoming a mining engineer.

After HS graduation he joined the Air Force. During 4 year enlistment he was temporarily stationed. Married in 1955. Together for 66 years. Moved to Shreveport and was permanently stationed there. Took night classes at Centenary College (now C. U.)

About halfway through his time at Mesa, however, Ken decided he preferred the field of petroleum engineering. “I went to visit an oil field out in northeast Colorado and I really liked the work they were doing. I also visited several oil companies and decided I would rather work in petroleum.” Ken and Marge eventually traveled to Socorro where Ken met with Dr. William Hume, Director of NMT, and Art Stanton, Registrar and Personnel Manager. 

After the meeting, they introduced him to Langdon Taylor, Head of PE department. 

They agreed to admit him into the program. They even found Marge a job in the university library and also got the young couple set up in the on-campus Veterans housing.

Ken enjoyed his time at Tech, stating that he got along well with his professors and seven other classmates, received a great education, and had some wonderful experiences. During his time at Tech, Ken worked for John M. Kelly over the summers in Hobbs, NM as a relief pumper in the oil fields. During his semesters Ken worked part-time shifts at the perlite mine south of Socorro. 

Everyone seemed to get along. We liked that the classes were small and had plenty of time to talk to professors in and out of class.

After graduating with his Bachelor of Science Degree in Petroleum Engineering in 1961, Ken got a job with Kerr-McGee Oil Company drilling offshore in the Gulf of Mexico. He, Marge, and their infant daughter stayed in Louisiana for a year before moving to Kansas where Ken worked as a reservoir engineer for Sinclair Oil. 

Ken and his family eventually found their way back to New Mexico where Ken worked for the state as a gas engineer. From there, he worked for Charter Oil Company as a Vice President of Foreign and Domestic Operations, a position that took him to both South and Central America frequently. Ken’s impressive career also includes serving as the Senior Vice President of Convest Energy Corporation in Houston, TX. the Senior Vice President of Forcenergy Gas Exploration in Miami, FL, and Senior Vice President of W&T Offshore, Inc. 

Ken retired about 10 years ago, and he spent much of his time traveling with Marge to places like Ireland, Scotland, Venezuela, Peru, Curaçao, The Virgin Islands, and Canada. He currently lives in Houston and enjoys walking, birdwatching, and being outdoors. 

His contributions to New Mexico Tech have been great. He was named Philanthropist of the Year in 2019 for being such a generous supporter of the school’s Petroleum Engineering program. Ken and Marge established the Fagan Scholarship to enhance a student's financial award package. Ken also established The Marge Women’s Fund in honor and memory of Marge, who passed away in October 2021. When asked why he and Marge chose to establish these scholarships and give back to Tech in such a profound way, he said, “Nobody in the world treated us better than the people at Tech when we first arrived. There were so many people who came out of Tech before me that we could lean on. We didn’t have much when we arrived in Socorro, and my education got me where I wanted to go.”

Ken was awarded the President’s Medal in April, an honor conferred to individuals who have profoundly enhanced the university by significantly supporting the university through donations or gifts, appreciably advancing STEM in higher education, enhancing the professional growth of the sciences and engineering in the service of humankind, and significantly enhancing the reputation of New Mexico Tech nationally or globally.

Ken is a proud Techie and is committed to helping keep NMT a great STEM school for all, we are honored to call him one of our alumni.