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that Frank Stuart, the Vice President of Fuel and Lubricant Research,
had asked for me to become an Assistant to him. In the organization
structure of Chevron Research each vice president had an “assistant to,”
which job was typically used as a training spot for someone considered
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either engineers or chemists. I was neither. Frank Stuart was considered
to be a very bright scientist and I found him to be an outstanding man-
ager as well. The position provided me a promotion back into Group 1,
which in Chevron meant the job was recognized to be of management
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tive immediately. I quickly recognized that my promotion treatment was
very unusual in its timing. I felt that the unusual nature and timing were
clear indicators to me that opportunities could now lie ahead in Chev-
ron. We decided to stay in the west. A couple of weeks later I received a
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Frank Stuart was a delight to work for. His division had some
labor relations problems. These had resulted from various craft unions
setting sharp limitations on what each employee would do. I worked
with the shop stewards, who were reasonable guys. We worked out an
agreement for much broader latitude in work assignments.
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in the Corporate Headquarters Personnel Department as Coordinator of
Expatriate Personnel. I had pointed out the need for such a position
years ago, but nothing had come of it. I hated leaving Chevron Research
and Frank Stuart. Again, however, unusual things were happening to
me. The voice that spoke to me on the airplane to reassure me at a time
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it was! The truthfulness of what the voice told me was clearly demon-
strated twice within six months.
At my departure, they had a luncheon at a restaurant in town.
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presented me with a briefcase as a gift, which was highly unusual. More
importantly, Jack Merrill, the Vice President of Engineering, was one of

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