Randy velarde biography

Randy Velarde grew up in Albuquerque and followed in the footsteps of his older brother, choosing the University of New Mexico to study chemical engineering. But rather than begin his career as an engineer, Velarde chose a different – and less obvious – route.

“It was a high time for the petroleum industry when I graduated in the spring of 1981,” Velarde said. “I had many job offers, most for an engineering position and one working on the commercial side; I chose the commercial job offer from Shell Chemical in Houston.”

For the first few years, he worked for Shell in Cleveland, where he held a position in sales. After earning an MBA from Baldwin-Wallace College in Berea, Ohio, he was transferred to Houston by Shell and held various positions in marketing, business planning, and product management of what are known as the “downstream” products of oil — petrochemicals that are made from petroleum and natural gas. Such petrochemicals are used to make a wide variety of products used in the housing, automotive

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