The recipient of the second Rex Young Legend Award is T. Jay Collins, a 1964 graduate. Focusing on math and sciences, he finished seventh in his class at Permian. In addition to his scholastic achievements, he served as captain of the football team, where he won all-state honors, and was a starting member of Permian’s bi-district champion basketball team. Jay met his future wife at Permian, the former Maxann Simpson Collins.
Jay attended Rice University where he would later be selected ALL-SWC and elected a captain of the football team. He was awarded the Bob Quinn Award for being the outstanding scholar- athlete covering all sports at Rice. He earned his Master’s Degree in Chemical Engineering.
After working for Shell Oil Company for two years, Jay continued his education at Harvard earning an MBA. After graduating, Jay accepted a job at Sonat Inc., where he stayed for twenty years, travelling across the world running several operational divisions. He then accepted a position at Oceaneering Inc., a publicly traded company, where he completed his career after 30 years of service. He served as CEO for six years, served on the Board for nearly twenty years, and as Chairman of the Board for the last three years of his tenure. His humble yet passionate leadership style won him the respect of not only those he led at Oceaneering but also the industry.
At Oceaneering Inc., Jay ran a company of over 8000 people across the globe focusing on under-water robotics for oil and gas producers. When the British Petroleum well blew in the Gulf of Mexico, Oceaneering provided 90% of the underwater support that was required to mitigate the problem. When a hurricane flooded Houston leaving Rice University without water, Jay was instrumental in putting in place the Oceaneering resources to get the water back on-line and keep students in school.
Jay has served on the Board of Trustees at Rice University, was named a Distinguished Rice Alumni, and selected as a member of the Rice Athletic Hall of Fame.