Myra Robinson stepped to the stage, seemingly oblivious to the standing ovation resounding in the overflowing hall. The occasion? The 2005 awards ceremony for the Petroleum Hall of Fame in Midland, Texas, on April 14.

The partner and former chief executive officer of Robinson Drilling of Texas doesn’t look like the rough, tough woman one would expect to find in the male-dominated world of drilling rigs and oil wells.

A former Schreiner trustee and steadfast supporter, Myra is a grace-filled portrait of a thoughtful Christian, devoted family member, encouraging friend and generous citizen.

Only the second woman ever to be inducted into the Petroleum Hall of Fame, Myra Robinson successfully managed a demanding drilling business in the tumultuous West Texas “Oil Patch” for more than 30 years. Even at age 85, she still goes to work every day.

When Myra’s father-in-law and husband moved Robinson Drilling to Big Spring in 1948, the young wife and mother became the company bookkeeper and payroll clerk. When her husband was killed in an automobile accident in 1972, most observers predicted that the new widow would sell the company. After all, no one had ever seen a woman take on a task like this. However, the economy was in a slump, and Myra realized that the their valuable drilling rigs would not fetch an adequate price.Then the employees spoke up. They convinced Mrs. Robinson that she knew more than enough about the company to assume its reins. If she would stick with them, they promised that they would stick with her. That loyalty continues to this day and is a well-known company hallmark.

“I just did what I had to do,” she shrugs unpretentiously. “It was either reorganize the company or let the wolves storm down the door! I have had the privilege of working with some of the Oil Patch’s finest men. Bless their hearts, they have kept me in business,” she adds.

Robinson Drilling is one of the few family-run, continuously-operating drilling companies in the country. At the Midland awards ceremony this spring, the company’s work ethic and sound business practices were saluted, as well as its track record of having drilled over 15,000,000 feet in the greater Big Spring area. Robinson Drilling is also known for keeping up with changing technology, going from nitroglycerin shoots to 3-D seismic. “Our business philosophy includes readiness and fiscal responsibility,” Mrs. Robinson explains.

“There were times when no one was drilling, and it would have been easy to let the rigs deteriorate. But we wanted to be ready for whatever inquiry might come our way. If someone called and asked how quickly we could move a rig to a job, we wanted to be able to respond, ‘right now.’ We have always kept our rigs in tip-top shape—even in the bust years when the phone didn’t ring nearly often enough!”

The boom years—such as during the Arab oil embargo of the 1970’s—brought their own sets of challenges. While it was tempting to respond to huge demand by buying more drilling rigs on credit, Myra would not allow the company to take on debt. Such fiscal responsibility has helped them survive the many depressed times that have often afflicted the West Texas oil business.

A well-rounded example of business leader and citizen, Myra is an active Presbyterian church leader and an inspiration as mother and grandmother to a large family. Always quick to give the credit to others and slow to claim much for herself, the Hall of Fame recognition did please this savvy businesswoman.

“I guess the award is an accumulation of 50 years of really hard work in the oil field. This has been my life, and I wouldn’t trade it for any other!”The Robinson family matriarch’s two grown daughters and son lovingly complain that their mother never stops. A woman of formidable energy and drive, Myra’s work ethic inspires hundreds of people throughout Texas who count on her leadership, friendship and encouragement.

At the awards ceremony, a family joke was shared. It seems the children already have her tombstone inscription selected. It reads, “Finally, she’s through!”

Those who know and love Myra Brown Robinson do not want her to be “through” for a long, long time. But when that time someday comes, everyone knows without a doubt that her gracious legacy will continue—in her family, in her church, in her beloved West Texas. And certainly at Schreiner.

Almost 10 years after Myra Brown Robinson suddenly assumed the drilling company’s helm, she began to think she could finally claim some free time for a few activities outside work. As a little child, she had heard of Schreiner Institute and as a youth had often enjoyed staying at the old Westminster Encampment (the Presbyterian campgrounds then located next to campus). “I was just always interested in Schreiner,” she remembers. “I always wanted to know more about its good work.”

In 1981, the pastor of Big Spring’s First Presbyterian Church asked permission to recommend Myra as a trustee. After meeting Schreiner’s president Sam Junkin and board chairman Peter Baldwin a few months later, she enthusiastically agreed to become part of Schreiner’s governing board during a very important time in the college’s evolution.

As a trustee, Myra gently encouraged Schreiner’s decision-makers to think boldly as it shaped its first baccalaureate program. In addition to supporting the college’s work generously herself, this West Texas businesswoman also invited others all over the state
to take an interest in Schreiner’s goals. For more than two decades, dozens of her friends and colleagues have joined her in supporting the college. To this day, Myra Robinson is a walking advertisement for Schreiner University.

When the college decided to establish a formal planned giving initiative (the Schreiner Oaks Society), Myra volunteered to become a charter member.

“I thought it was a really exciting way to start something important for Schreiner’s future, and I wanted to be in on the ground floor. I also knew that we needed to increase endowment, and that planned gifts were a logical strategy to accomplish this growth,” says Myra. A smile lights up her face.

“I thought I’d better not ask others to include the college in their estate plans if I could not endorse that request through my own example.”

While she has a large family whom she cherishes, Myra has created a will that also includes bequests to her favorite charities. She is a powerful role model to her children and grandchildren about the importance of philanthropy, about leaving the world better than one found it.

Mrs. Robinson’s estate plan for Schreiner is also a lesson in trust—in trusting those who will guide the university in the years to come. Myra has purposefully left her future gift to Schreiner as an undesignated bequest. “I served on Schreiner’s board long enough to understand that the school will always, always have a worthwhile way to use my money. And I trust the folks in charge enough to let them decide my gift’s highest and best use,” she says in her gently emphatic way.The Bible contains a passage that might have been written for Schreiner’s good friend and mentor, Myra Robinson: “Many women have done excellently, but you surpass them all.” Proverbs 31:29