Lew O. Ward, III is Chairman of the Board of Ward Petroleum Corporation located in Enid, Oklahoma. The company operates primarily in Oklahoma, exploring the Anadarko and Arkoma basins. Over the years, he also formed and operated Ward Drilling Company, Rambler Well Service, Ward Gas Marketing, Geronimo Trucking, Caprock Supply and, with his son, Gale Force Compression Services. Ward Petroleum was listed in Inc. magazine in 1991, 1992 and 1993 as one of America’s fastest growing private companies.

He received his Bachelor of Science degree in petroleum engineering from The University of Oklahoma in 1953. In 1996, he was inducted in The University of Oklahoma College of Engineering Distinguished Graduates Society. He is a Registered Professional Engineer in the State of Oklahoma. He is a graduate of the Owner/President Management Program at Harvard University.

He is a past president of the Enid Rotary Club, American Business Club and the Enid Chamber of Commerce. The Enid Chamber of Commerce named him Businessman of the Year and in 2007, Citizen of the Year. In 1999, Ward Petroleum Corporation was awarded the Governor’s Earl Sneed Memorial Business in the Arts Award. 

Mr. Ward serves on the National Petroleum Council, is a Founder and board member of Sarkey’s Energy Center, the Board of Visitors of the College of Engineering at O.U., the University Board at Pepperdine University, and the Institute of Nautical Archaeology. He serves on the board of trustees of The Nature Conservancy and is a member of the International Society of Energy Advocates.

In 1996-97, Ward was elected to serve as Chairman of the Independent Petroleum Association of America.   In 1996, he was named Energy Leader of the Year by the National Association of Royalty Owners. In 1999, he was honored to receive the Lone Star Steel Chief Roughneck Award for lifetime achievement in the oil and gas industry.

He is currently serving on the President’s Advisory Committee on the Arts of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and was instrumental in bringing to Enid “Partners in Education”, a Kennedy Center outreach program for local schools, and a performance of the Kennedy Center’s traveling children’s theater.

In 2006. he received the Governor’s Arts Award, and in 2007 was inducted into the Enid Public School Foundation Hall of Fame.

He is presently leading an $8 million dollar campaign to expand Enid’s Cherokee Strip Museum into the Cherokee Strip Regional Heritage Center opening in September, 2009. In 2007, the American Oil & Gas Historical Society presented him with the Oil Patch Preservationist Award and he was the recipient of the City of Enid Pillar of the Plains Award.