Ray Irani, PhD

Trustee emeritus since 2013, trustee since 1986, and an AUB graduate (BS chemistry ’53), Irani received an honorary doctorate from AUB in 2013. He is the former chairman and chief executive of Occidental Petroleum Corporation, which he joined in 1983. As chief executive officer from 1990-2011, he built Occidental Petroleum to be the fourth largest oil and gas company in the United States, based on capitalization, with operations in North America, the Middle East/North Africa region, and Latin America. Prior to working for Occidental, he was the president, chief operating officer, and a director of Olin Corporation. Irani serves on the boards of Wynn Resorts, Limited, and is a trustee of the University of Southern California. Irani is chairman and CEO, Ray Investments, LLC, vice chairman of the American Task Force for Lebanon and an Advisory Board member of the Rand Center for Middle East Public Policy. He has been a member of the Los Angeles Town Hall, the Los Angeles World Affairs Council, the Lebanese American Foundation, and the House of Lebanon. He is a member of the National Academy of Engineering and an honorary fellow of the American Institute of Chemists. In 1996, Irani was awarded the National Order of the Cedar Medal by the President of the Republic of Lebanon Elias Hrawi; in 2011, he was appointed Chevalier of the French National Order of the Legion of Honor. He is a graduate of the University of Southern California (PhD physical chemistry ’57). ​