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OTTO NEIL MILLER
1 909-1 988
BY S. D. BECHTEL, JR.
O TTO N. MILLER, retired chairman of the board and chief
executive officer of Chevron Corporation (then Standard
Oil of California), died in San Francisco on the morning of
February 4, 198S, following a brief illness. He had retired
from Chevron in 1974, after serving as the chief executive
for seven years (from 1966 to 1974), capping a distinguished
career that spanned two generations during a time of tre-
mendous growth and prosperity for the multinational pe-
troleum company. One of the worId's largest enterprises,
and the largest U.S. corporation west of the Rocky Moun-
tains, San Francisco-based Chevron grew in assets and gIo-
bal stature under the astute guidance of Otto Miller.
During his thirty-nine years with Chevron, Otto Miller
demonstrated a rare combination of qualities: technical
expertise, a visionary's insight into broad industry trends, a
keen sense of when to capitalize on change, and leadership
traits that enabled him to advance meteorically into posi-
tions of increasing responsibility.
Throughout the petroleum industry, Otto Miller was widely
known as a strong executive ahead of his time in recogniz-
ing key issues in the public arena as well as bold opportunities
in the private sector. His career encompassed virtually all
aspects of petroleum operations. When he was named the
company's president in 1961, a business magazine characterized
241
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MEMORIAL TRIBUTES
him as a member of "the new breed of oil executive, expe-
rienced in all facets of the business and charged with coor-
dinating them."
Colleagues described Otto Miller as a rugged individual-
ist, a cliplomat, a risk taker, a tough taskmaster, a brilliant
intellect. Personable and athletic-looking, Otto Miller also
showed bulldog determination, always fortified by mastery
of the facts of any issue uncler consideration. He had little
or no patience for mediocre performance. He often worked
a six-day week, sometimes staying with the job sixteen hours
a day. Since his early days at Chevron, he was described as
knowing only one speed when it came to work: full throttle.
Under Otto Miller's tenure as a chief executive, Chevron's
income and sales more than doubled, and the company's
worldwide crude of] production soared almost two-fold. Also
under his direction, the company consolidated its position
as an industry leader in developing of] and natural gas in
the outer continental shelf of the U.S., expanded direct
operations into Europe for the first time, and became one
of the worId's leading operators of supertankers.
The San Francisco resident and native of Harlan, Iowa,
was educated at Iowa State College and the University of
Michigan, where he received a Ph.D. in chemical engineering
in 1934. He joined Chevron after graduation, and spent
his early years in research and development at the company's
E] Segundo, California, refinery. While there, he became
one of the early authorities on catalytic cracking and directed
a successful technical research program that led to the
construction of the company's first hydrogen sulfide plant,
which made an early contribution to environmental air quality.
At the outset of World War II, Otto Miller was counsel to
the government's aviation gasoline program. In 1940 he
moved to San Francisco where he began his extraordinary
rise through the company's manufacturing organization.
In 1943 he moved to New York to serve as chief process
engineer for the Arabian American Oil Company, a Chevron
affiliate, and was chiefly responsible for the planning and
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OTTO NEIL MILLER
243
construction of the Ras Tanura refinery in Saudi Arabia.
This refinery, which produced 100,000 barrels per day of
aviation gasoline, made a significant contribution to the
ultimate success of the allies in Europe and Asia.
At this point in his career, Otto Miller had clemonstrated
a conscientiousness in improving manufacturing techniques
and in finding more productive uses for personnel and
equipment. His remarkable capabilities and inexhaustible
dedication were quickly recognized and rewarded.
In 1944 he returned to the west coast to serve as assistant
to the general manager of the manufacturing department
and superintendent of the cracking division at E! Segundo.
In 1946 at the age of thirty-seven, Otto Miller became the
youngest man ever to hold the position of general manager
of Chevron's Manufacturing Department.
In 1954 Otto Miller was elected a vice-president of the
company, with responsibility for manufacturing operations
on the west coast. During this period, he developed an
engineering concept that resulted in the construction of a
pipeline from the Rangley Field in Wyoming to Salt Lake
City. Under his general guidance, a new refinery was designed
and constructed at Salt Lake City and refined products were
transported by pipeline to the west coast.
In 1957 he was assigned new and broadening responsibilities
natural gas utilization, crude pricing, and east coast marketing
activities. In 1959 he was elected to the board of directors
and assumed responsibility for eastern hemisphere operations.
Two years later, in 1961, Otto Miller was named Chevron's
eighth president.
One of his primary tasks was to integrate the recently
acquired Standard Oil Company (Kentucky) into then~tandard
of California's corporate family. For a number of years
afterward, that purchase was a vital refining and marketing
part of the company in the southeastern United States. By
now, however, Chevron bore little resemblance to the company
that had hired Otto Miller twenty-seven years earlier. What
had been essentially a west coast company concentrating in
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MEMORIAL TRIBUTES
a rapidly growing area had become an international com-
plex with far-flung interests and wide diversifications.
On December 29, 1966, Otto Miller became the company's
chief executive officer and chairman of the board of directors.
He wasted no time in putting his imprint on the company.
He foresaw accelerating demand for petroleum energy
throughout the world and the company's need to sustain
its momentum of expansion and growth. Within months
plans were executed to expand the company's majority-
owned and -operated refinery at Pernis, The Netherlands.
Later, an entirely new refining facility was erected at Feluy
in Belgium.
The company also participated in the construction of a
new refinery in The Bahamas a facility primarily to
manufacture fuel oil for the northeastern U.S. As clean air
laws were enacted and other sources of energy were restricted
in their use, demand for petroleum products soared. Chevron
responded by redoubling its efforts to locate new sources
of oil, often in remote areas of the world.
In order to effect greater economies and safety in the
worldwide transportation of crude oil, Otto Miller launched
the company on a ten-year marine expansion program, which
more than tripled the capacity of the company's international
tanker fleet. Terminal facilities were enlarged or adapted
to accommodate the new generation of ships.
During Otto Miller's tenure as chief executive, Chevron
extended its role as an innovator of petroleum processes.
New hydro-cracking and reforming methods were developed
and patented by the company and incorporated into refin-
ery expansion projects. Otto Miller also was strongly con-
scious of the company's marketing image. He directed the
revitalization of corporate identity, which included new service
station architecture, a remodeling and rebuilding program
for existing units, and a redesigned Chevron hallmark.
Otto Miller knew the true meaning of involvement and
participation. His contributions to Chevron and the entire
petroleum industry are manifold and well known. In addition
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OTTO NEIL MILLER
245
to being active in numerous petroleum- and transporta-
tion-related councils ant} associations, Otto Miller served
two consecutive one-year terms as chairman of the board of
directors of the American Petroleum Institute, the industry's
principal trade association.
During that time, he spoke forcefully on the need for
the petroleum industry to communicate with the public on
issues of vital concern, especially on the environment. He
urged both government and industry to work together to
create reasonable solutions to pollution problems by relying
heavily on technological advancements. He hac! also been
a member of the National Petroleum Council and the Business
Council.
As a director on several company boards and an active
leader in civic and trade groups, Otto Miller also was a
well-rounded, full-time citizen, dedicated to America and
to his family. On the occasion of a commencement address
at the University of Southern California (USC), Otto Miller
received an honorary doctor of laws degree. The chairman
of USC's board of trustees, in presenting Otto Miller for
the degree, stated: "Otto Miller has earned the hearty respect
of his peers, and he has served in numerous esteemed pro-
fessional positions. He has earned the respect of his com-
munity and nation for invaluable civic and philanthropic
efforts. And he holds the respect of the worIc! for service
on many significant international commissions. Above Standard
Oil's familiar double Chevron is an invisible but unmistak-
able arc the Otto Miller brand of success."
Otto Miller server! on the company boards of Crocker
National Corporation, The Weyerhaeuser Company, ant!
Equitable Life Assurance Society. He was also a director of
the California State Chamber of Commerce, National Cen-
ter for Voluntary Action, the San Francisco Opera Associa-
tion, ant! the United Nations Association of the Uniter}
States of America. He was chairman of the United Nations'
twenty-fifth anniversary observance in 1970.
In adclition, Otto Miller served on the board of trustees
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MEMORIAL TRIBUTES
of the National Review Board of The East-West Center, and
the council of the Americas and Grace Cathedral. He was
also a member of the board of governors of the San Francisco
Symphony Association, the Business Committee for the Arts,
the management council for Bay Area Employment Oppor-
tunity, and the advisory council of the Stanford Graduate
School of Business.
In 1980 an Otto N. Miller professorship in earth sciences
was created at Stanford University. He received a distinguished
achievement citation from his undergraduate alma mater,
Iowa State University, in 1982, and in 1983 was awarded
the Anson Marston Medal at Iowa State. Earlier, he was
honored with a distinguished alumnus citation from the
University of Michigan, as well as a number of other recog-
nitions from the University of Michigan and Iowa State
University.
Despite his strong dedication to hard work, Otto Miller
never lost his passion for "hard play" in the rugged out-of-
cloors, which began with his boyhood on a farm in Iowa.
In retirement, he was afforded the luxury of channeling
his massive energies into these pursuits. He especially enjoyed
bird hunting and trout fishing. Throughout his career Otto
Miller had a rich family life, and spent much of retirement
time enjoying the companionship of his wife, son, daughter,
daughter-in-law, three sisters, one brother, and five grand-
children.
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Representative terms from entire chapter:
neil miller
