Taking the 'reigns': Marilyn Crockett, an oil veteran, heads AOGA.

• Author: Campbell, Blythe

Marilyn Crockett was named AOGA's third executive director in July 2007, after a 37-year career with the organization.

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Crockett went to high school in Anchorage, but her father was transferred to New Hampshire at the end of her junior year. Crockett completed high school in New Hampshire, then flew back to Alaska to look for work.

Bill Hopkins, AOGA's executive director from 1972 to 1993, remembers Crockett as an impressive candidate.

"She wasn't even 18 years old, but she had won a national Olivetti typing contest and was very good at shorthand," said Hopkins. The interview didn't go too well, however, and Crockett almost didn't take the job. well, however, and Crockett almost didn't take the job.

"Mr. Hopkins was smoking a huge cigar, and he was really grouchy," said Crockett. Hopkins, who had just had oral surgery and figured the cigar would cover the hole in his mouth, was lucky that Crockett was staying with a family who knew him. "They convinced her that I wasn't such a bad person," says Hopkins.

Crockett started July 1, 1970. It was a three-person office, but the organization grew over time along with the oil industry, and Crockett had the opportunity to build her expertise. "It was like working for 20 companies instead of one," said Crockett. "They all had different cultures and operations."

Crockett was a secretary, then an administrative assistant, but in the early 1980s AOGA needed to expand its staff and was looking for an exploration and production affairs representative. Crockett was helping identify people who would be...