George M. Keller, former chairman and chief executive officer of Chevron Corp., San Ramon, Calif., (NYSE: CVX) has died at the age of 84. In 1984, as chairman of Standard Oil Co. of California, he helped execute the $13.3-billion takeover of Gulf Oil that formed Chevron.


Keller, who lived in San Mateo, Calif., died of complications from orthopedic surgery on Oct. 17. The family held a private service, and a public memorial is being planned for sometime before the end of the year, according to his daughter-in-law Emma Keller. The family asked that, in lieu of flowers, donations be sent to the Keller Center for Family Violence Intervention through the San Mateo County Health Foundation.


“George was a true leader and visionary, and he was deeply respected by all those who had the fortune to work with him. His tireless efforts in leading the acquisition of Gulf Oil created the foundation for the Chevron we know today. On behalf of our board of directors and 59,000 employees around the globe, we are truly saddened by his passing,” says Chevron chairman and chief executive officer David J. O’Reilly.


Keller joined Chevron in 1948 after serving in the U.S. Army Air Force during World War II and graduating as a chemical engineer from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He served in positions of increasing responsibility, starting as a design and construction engineer on refinery and chemical facilities.


In 1967, Keller was named assistant vice president of foreign operations. The following year he was promoted to assistant to the president. He was named vice president of the corporation in July 1969; a director in August 1970; vice chairman in February 1974; and chairman of the board in May 1981. He retired from the company on Dec. 31, 1988.


At his first board meeting, he approved a $600-million bid for offshore leases that led to the discovery in 1982 of an oil field in the Santa Maria Basin off southern California that yielded hundreds of millions of oil barrels.


In the 1980s, Keller recommended that the federal government set the price of oil high to encourage drilling, going against the sentiments of many in the oil industry who were opposed to government intervention. In interviews at the time, Keller argued unsuccessfully that without subsidies, domestic oil companies could not afford to invest in oil and gas exploration, leaving the country overly dependent on foreign sources of oil and natural gas.


Keller was a director of SRI International (chairman 1989-1993). He was also a member of The Business Council, World Affairs Council, Commonwealth Club of California and the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company's Directors' Advisory Council. He served on the board of trustees of Notre Dame de Namur University (Belmont, Calif.—chairman 1982-1994), the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (1981-1986) and the Coyote Point Museum. He was a director of the Bay Area Council (chairman 1985-1988) and chair emeritus of Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research (1987-1988). He was president of the George M. and Adelaide M. Keller Foundation.


Keller was former chairman of the American Petroleum Institute and chairman of the United Way of the Bay Area. He has also served as a director for the Boeing Co., First Interstate Bancorp, First Interstate Bank of California, McKesson Corp., the Chronicle Publishing Co. and Metropolitan Life Insurance Co.


He is survived by three sons, Bill of New York, Bob of Denver and Barry of Granite Bay, Calif.; and six grandchildren. His wife of 60 years died in 2007.