What Started Here Changed Her World

“What starts here changes the world” is a common phrase around here. For Jillian Jopling, it rang true before her first class on the Forty Acres. 

In the summer of 2000, Jopling was sitting in an advising office at the McKetta Department of Chemical Engineering, waiting to meet an advisor for the first time since transferring to The University of Texas at Austin. Petroleum and geosystems professor Tim Taylor just happened to come out of a meeting and introduced himself.  

He asked what she was interested in, what she was studying and had she ever considered petroleum engineering. 

Then, he said, “Okay, when you’re done here, come talk to me.”  

They took a quick tour around the Hildebrand Department of Petroleum and Geosystems Engineering. No pressure, no rush. Just a professor taking the time to ask questions and show a new student another possibility.  

Why not? She thought. And that’s how it all started here. 

“The fact that this man, who didn’t know me from Susie Q, took the time not just to tell me about this department, but take an interest and ask me questions; it made an impression,” Jopling said. 

Taylor later introduced her to his colleague Steven L. Bryant in Petroleum Engineering, who recommended her to Hilcorp Energy at a time when the company didn’t really “do” summer internships. From there, Jopling was positioned to excel as an “oil finder” with strong managerial skills and rose through the company. 

Jopling is now a senior vice president at Hilcorp Energy, and a distinguished alumna of both the department and the Cockrell School. In her daily work, she supervises Hilcorp’s Lower 48 operations, and she has experience leading both engineering and business operations. 

After that tour and talk with Taylor that got her in the door in petroleum and geosystems engineering, Jopling’s name will now be etched in the department’s future as a donor to the new Autry C. Stephens Engineering Discovery Building.  

This result was far from guaranteed. Before Jopling came to UT, she spent time at other colleges, including Texas State (then Southwest Texas) and UT San Antonio. 

But she always had her eye on Austin. Jopling is a third-generation Longhorn graduate, beginning with her grandmother. Jopling’s mother graduated with a degree in mathematics, while her father majored in architecture. 

“It was always on my mind to get there,” she said. “I just took a different path.”

With Jopling taking a circuitous route to UT, she happened to jump a year behind her sister, also a petroleum engineering major. Taylor helped kick-start the journey, but the foundations for success were laid a long time before the chemistry.

Giving Back

Jopling is looking to build similar foundations for future students. She grew up in a family that believed in tithing and service. Even when there wasn’t much money to give, the family gave their time.  

“It taught me that even when it’s hard, that doesn’t mean you quit being a part of the community. You don’t quit sharing.” 

For Jopling and her husband, Peter McGillivray, giving has focused on three pillars: History, animals, and education. This has taken many forms over the years, including a scholarship fund for engineering students and geology students and most recently, a study room in the new Autry C. Stephens Engineering Discovery Building.  

One former scholarship recipient now works at Hilcorp, a surprise bit of serendipity. Would she have been able to help that student without having met Taylor, or gone to UT? Maybe. But it sure helped.   

“Just knowing that you got to have even the smallest impact on someone’s ability to achieve their dreams makes this so special,” Jopling said. “These kids get to go out, have their careers and make the world a better place, or as we say at UT, change the world.”  

Building relationships with peers and professors is crucial to success, Jopling says. After all, it was critical to her own. Her life was changed because someone helped her see a path she might not have found on her own. 

“That I was able to be a tiny piece of making that happen for anybody is beyond humbling.”