Flanery to deliver commencement address

Sharon Flanery

A 1978 graduate of West Virginia University's Department of Petroleum and Natural Gas Engineering will deliver the address and receive an honorary doctoral degree at the Statler College's 2019 Commencement, scheduled for Saturday, May 11, at 12:30 p.m., in the Coliseum.

By Olivia Miller
Communications Specialist

Benjamin M. Statler College of Engineering and Mineral Resources

Sharon Flanery is a member of Steptoe & Johnson PLLC in its Charlestonoffice, where she chairs the Energy and Natural Resources Department and is a member of the executive committee.She concentrates her practice in energy and mineral law and has represented major oil and gas, coal, pipeline and hydroelectric companies.As a petroleum engineer with both an operating and legal background in the energy industry, she brings real-world experience to her law practice.Her experience includes acquisitions and divestitures, mineral leases, joint ventures, contract mining agreements, joint operating agreementsand sales and marketing agreements, as well as gathering, transportationand processing agreements.In addition, she has substantial experience in land and legal due diligence associated with energy transactions and in the legislative and regulatory arenas.

Flanery is recognized by The Best Lawyers in Americain the fields of energy, energy regulatory, mining, natural resources and oil and gas law.She is also recognized by Chambers USA as a leading lawyer in the natural resources field.

Fl anery is a recipient of the Energy Mineral Law Foundation’s John L. McClaugherty Award for Dedication and Service and is a past president of the Foundation.She is also a member of the advisory committees for the WVU's StatlerCollege of Engineering and Mineral Resources and its Department of Petroleum and Natural Gas Engineering.She was an inaugural inductee into the Department's Academy of Distinguished Alumni,and she was selected as a guest lecturer of the Statler College's Distinguished Lecture Series.

Prior to joining Steptoe Johnson, Flanery served as vice president of exploration for Columbia Natural Resources Inc., where she was responsible for the Geoscience, Reservoir Engineering, Marketing and Land departments.Before obtaining her law degree, she worked as a reservoir engineer in Appalachia and also at Aramco in Saudi Arabia.

Flanery received a Juris Doctor degree from Duquesne University in 1991, where she was a member of the Law Review. She is a member of the West Virginia, Pennsylvania and Ohio bars and holds a United States Patent and Trademark License.

Read more about WVU’s May Commencement, including schedules, additional speakers and locations.

---