Today, we welcome Sylvia Sydow Kerrigan, Southwestern, lawyer, thought leader, mentor and one of our three 2025 Women of Achievement. Her impressive career has helped shape the energy industry, influence policy and pave the way for women in law, business and beyond. It’s not every day you meet someone so accomplished and genuinely down to earth! Don’t miss this episode filled with humor, heart and brilliance.
What do the jungles of Brazil, a popcorn popper, maritime law and the United Nations have in common? They’re all part of Sylvia’s incredible (and funny) journey.
In this episode, you’ll hear how Sylvia started as a shy, small-town kid and eventually made her mark in the energy industry, from serving as general counsel to being an international traveler and even spending time at the U.N. Along the way, she shares how Tri Delta helped her find her voice, build lifelong friendships and gain the confidence to chase her big goals.
She’s warm, witty and full of stories you won’t want to miss. You’ll laugh, get inspired and pick up a few gems of wisdom about careers, confidence and giving back.
This transcript was created using automated technologies and may contain errors.
(upbeat music)
Welcome to another episode of our Let's Talk Tri Delta podcast. I'm so glad that
you've joined us today. I'm Mindy Tucker, Tri Delta’s CEO. And each year, Tri Delta
recognizes a few extraordinary women who are exemplifying Tri Delta values and paving
the way for the next generation of women. I am excited to date to introduce you to
one of those women. Sylvia Kerrigan from our Theta Epsilon chapter at Southwestern
University has been named a 2025 Woman of Achievement. She is an accomplished legal
mind, an energy industry leader, and a dedicated mentor to future professionals. She's
a dual citizen of the U.S. and Brazil. We'll get into that a little bit. She She
attended the University of Texas Law School, clerked for Texas Supreme Court Justice
Eugene Cook. After graduating from law school, she joined the firm of Clan Bell and
Murphy. She practiced international corporate law, maritime law, insurance, and complex civil litigation. There's a lot to unpack there. During the next 22 years of her
career, she served as the executive by president and general counsel and corporate
secretary at Marathon Oil Corporation. And while she was there, she was named a top
10 exploration and production executive by the Houston Business Journal. She received
the Ernest E. Smith Lifetime Achievement Award in recognition of her contributions to
the energy industry. She took a leave from there to serve the United Nations
Security Council as on their commission day, (speaks in foreign I'm not going to get
that right. You got it. In Geneva.
2022, this is like the most exemplary bio I get to read through here. In 2022,
she joined OXY as a senior VP and chief legal officer. She serves on the board of
trustees at Southwestern University, currently as a vice chair of the board and as a
chair of the trusteeship committee. She also serves and the executive committee of
the Kay Bailey Hutchison Energy Center at the University of Texas, where she
previously had the privilege to serve as their executive director. I am going to
take a big breath now after all of those accomplishments and that esteemed career
and introduce you to Sylvia Kerrigan. Hi, Sylvia. Thanks for joining me. Well, thanks
for having me. I'm glad to see that my mom was able to provide you with that bio
because only mother would say all that. - I don't know, proud mom, proud Tridelta,
same thing, right? We're very proud to have you in our sisterhood. I'm so excited
for you to get to know our listeners today or them to get to know you. Let's
start off with a little background. I wanna dig into this dual citizenship that you
have with the US and Brazil. So tell us a little bit about yourself and about
that.
- Well, I guess I'm just a small town girl. The twist is that the small town was
in the Amazon in Brazil, and I was a surprise baby.
My brother and sister were 14 and 12 years older than me, and so I don't know. My
parents were fairly sure that they were done having kids, and there must have been
something in the water. So here I am, still a small town girl,
but back in the States. And so, yeah, it was just a twist of fate,
but it was, yeah, I loved it. - That's awesome. What drew you to Southwestern
University? Did you come from Brazil at that time to do that? - Yeah, my dad got
really sick in the Amazon, and so we ended up back in the States,
and He was a small town person growing up. He and my mom grew up in Gittings.
And so they settled back in a small town in Texas in the shadow of Southwestern
University. And I was extremely shy, all growing up.
And so I had decided that I was going to go off and go to TCU actually for
college and at the last minute that summer I got cold feet and so my hometown Alma
Mater Southwestern University agreed to take me in and that's how I ended up there.
Okay all right and then you joined Tridelta there what was about what was that
journey like? Um you know like being tremendous grace because I was still a very
awkward and shy and uncomfortable small town person. I didn't know any tri -deltas in
advance. I didn't know any alumni. I'm not a legacy. So,
you know, really, it was just experiencing that helping hand and that friendship and
that unconditional And so it was, it's a major gift in my life.
- Yeah. Do you have any standout memories from your tri -delta collegiate experience,
things that you can still look back on today and say, wow, that was just such a
great time? - Oh gosh, you know, I mean, my whole experience was transformational.
I really learned to be myself at Southwestern. and I got a voice from being with
my sisters, really kind of learned who I was. I had some wonderful sisters and
roommates and I had a sister, Sally Shuford,
who could make anything in a popcorn popper. In an old fashioned popcorn popper, she
could make a queso, but I mean, that's easy, but she could make a budge and a
popcorn popper. I mean, you know, we weren't allowed a kitchen, but it's amazing
what she could, what she could make. We called driving around in a small town,
we called it rolling. So we spent a lot of time driving, even a lot more time
trying to figure out like the meaning of life. And, you know,
just that feeling that you out of inclusion where you know that none of you will
be left behind that you have that network. Yeah, so funny. I think about my
experience a lot and it really it was belonging. I don't think we knew that word
back then to call it that. That's what we had and the experiences. So how did you
end up going to law school? Is that something you knew you always wanted to do? Oh
gosh, my father said I could be anything I wanted to be grow up when I grew up
as long as it was a doctor or a lawyer and I was afraid of blood.
You were what? Afraid of blood. There you go. That makes a choice.
So that was that on you know and despite Sally's best efforts I wasn't particularly
good at biology in college so I came out with a philosophy degree which meant that
I was eminently qualified to be a waitress when I graduated from college but I
turned out to not be a very good waitress either and that's why I'm a lawyer.
Okay I think there's a lot more to it than that but I love it. So tell me about
your early career then you get out of law school and what happens how do you get
on that sort of career path? - Well, I decided that I really wanted to,
I really enjoyed maritime law, which is international shipping and whatever happens in
the ocean. So I became a maritime lawyer and that led me to Houston and that led
me to the energy industry because so much of the energy industry at the time was
offshore. And so I fell in love with energy and the rest kind of history,
that's how I sort of lucked into my career. Were there particular people or mentors
along the way that supported you and helped you? Yeah, I mean, Andy,
I'm afraid that that's going to be like an Academy Award acceptance speech where I
never stopped and then I've still forgotten people, so I hesitate.
But, you know, I did have, you know, I had a couple of great mentors,
my first bosses in maritime law, and, you know, people who took a chance on me,
and who just kind of, in spite of all appearances, to the contrary, told me that I
was to be able to do this. - Did you have a question that you could look to?
I mean, it's 'cause I would think energy in particular, that maritime law, that's
probably not at that time, very heavily populated by women. So how were you able to
kind of see yourself in that world?
- I really didn't see myself in that world, but I had such a great support system,
you know, and that included, you know, one of my older sisters at Tridelta,
Jean, at the time her name was Jean Jansen, and she, you know,
she was a lawyer. She came to Houston, she helped me get a clerkship,
and I just kind of leaned on people like that and decided that this was my dumb
idea that I wanted to pursue this this maritime law and now I actually I work for
a female CEO. First time I've ever worked for a woman and she's just like setting
the world on fire doing all sorts of exciting things on the energy transition and
so I guess we just kind of all grew up discovering it together.
- Yeah. How did the opportunity at the United Nations come about?
- Honestly, I kind of accidentally got a job while I was on vacation. I was in
Geneva and I was meeting with one of my friends there from law school,
actually. And he introduced me to the folks who are running this this indemnization
committee which in English is the indemnification you know committee so it's the
folks who were hurt when Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait they put together a fund and
we administered you know we basically did arbitrations to determine how much they
needed to be paid back for their losses and some of the really big losses were
energy companies and I came from an energy company,
so I Started talking to them about that and the next thing you knew they they they
offered me a job Wow, wow And you lived in Geneva for that lived in Geneva,
but spent most of the time in the Middle East So another place where there weren't
a lot of female role models, right? went an amazing experience I thought. Yeah,
really blessed. And so then you were gonna retire. You had this crazy idea to
retire and then you didn't. Oh I retired I retired five years.
I went off and ran an energy center at the University of Texas as their executive
director just like your executive director and so you know Matt,
my husband laughs and he says, "You know, I didn't really retire. I was just under
new management." And I guess that's true. They don't sound like retirement to me.
Technically, I was no longer a lawyer. I was doing this, you know, just for love
of the university and an interest in seeing, you know, new people come into the
industry that had done so much for me and meant so much, in my opinion, for the
world. So that's what I was doing and I met this fabulous woman,
Vicky Hallib, and got to know her a little bit and then she talked me out of
retirement. So that's why I'm back at work. And here we are. Here we are. I love
that.
So you, everything feels very busy. There are lots of things that you've juggled
over the years. How do you find balance in your life, especially as a woman in
business leadership and other pursuits?
I meditate. I do yoga. I walk dogs. I drink the occasional wine.
But honestly, my, You know, like the wind beneath my wings and the touchstone that
keeps everything together is my husband, Matt. Well,
what's that? And that may be a similar answer to this next question, but you know,
I know myself in a leadership position, running a business. Not everything goes as
planned. Not everything is shiny and happy roses all the time. How do you handle
setbacks and keep moving forward? You know, I guess that I have never believed that
there is just one way to get from point A to point B, and kind of my career has
been helping other people get from point A to point B, even though they can't do
it in the way that they maybe think that they want to. So it's a little bit
ingrained in me. I think it's also kind of, as I'm talking to you, I'm realizing
it's also kind of my personal story, right, which is just, I didn't,
I didn't do this. This was done for me and I at best co -created it.
I have a friend who Um, we are in control of nothing,
but we influence everything and I, I do believe that.
I mean, if we're in control, just, you know, if you want to hear God laugh, tell
her your dreams. And, you know, but yeah, they're, you influence how you,
how you show up influences everything. Um, and that difference in control and
influence and what those words mean. I think it's really important there.
So here we are. The reason we're talking is you've been named a 2025 Woman of
Achievement for Tridelta, which is just so lovely to be able to share with you and
recognize you in this way. How does it feel to receive this honor from an
organization you care about? What does that recognition mean to you? I mean, it's
just as improbable to me today as it was the day that Tridelta first opened its
arms for me, right? So it's just a feeling of surprise
and just gratitude for the organization's graciousness.
I mean, it's me who should honor you, not the other way around. Well,
we're happy to honor you and recognize you. I think one of the things we learn and
try to do and it's talked about a lot in this sort of how we serve others, this
passion for service that is sort of ingrained in us. And you've, You've carried that
out. You've been on several boards. You've continued your philanthropic work. What are
some of the organizations you've been involved in? How have you sort of carried that
passion for service out in your life? So you've already been kind enough to mention
a couple of higher ed education initiatives that I'm on boards for,
both by Alma Mater, Southwestern and UT, who along with Tri -Delta transformed my
life. So I'm happy to be able to give back to that.
Where Matt and I are in terms of just giving our personal time, we're passionate
about animal assisted therapy, which is basically a long way of saying our dogs are
certified to go into Texas Children's Hospital and visit kids and do that every
couple of weeks.
We do pro bono work, which is just providing free legal services to people who
otherwise are unable to pay for access to the legal system. So that is an expensive
system to try to access. We care about cultural missions like we're members of the
Asia Society, interfaith ministries, Woods Hole Research Institution up in and New
England where we were retired to. So those are some of the some but again I want
to do into a get into an academy awards and they're running because that's just
that's just you know that's just today. And we're grateful for every
opportunity we have to pay it back and to pay it forward. But leaving that aside,
you know, every day provides us with unscripted moments to reach out and help.
And so ask me again in a year and I'll probably have a different list. Yeah, I
love that. What do you think are some other lessons that Tridelta taught you that
you still see in your life today? - Well, you know, I think that I use, it's so
funny. I'm ostensibly the chair of our trusteeship committee at Southwestern
University, but my sister, Jean Jansen, who I've referred to before is on my
committee. And so I may not have ever like been a great student and I may not
have ever, you know, technically learned Robert's roles Robert's rules of order, but
I can assure you that Jean did and Jean was a good student. And so, I'll be doing
something like leading a meeting and I'll say, well, will somebody make a motion?
And Jean will be like, well, Sylvia, there's already a motion on the floor. It has
to be withdrawn before you can make it to the motion. And so to this day, I mean,
I've learned how to run meetings, how to work with people from all sorts of
different backgrounds. You know, I've learned how to extend and receive trust and
grace, but to this day, I still learn from sisters, you know,
about important things such as how to conduct meetings. - Yeah, it sounds like you
have a good cadre of Treadelta women that you're still close to,
at least Jean and maybe some others and that's what it looks like in your life
today. Yeah very much so and it's impressive the when we go back to Southwestern
and we get together with the current you know with the current chapter members they
are so awesome and so amazing. I had to give a speech at Southwestern about a year
ago and like 20 members of the sorority showed up to cheer me on.
Nice. How is that? Because I still am pretty shy and don't really,
you know, like doing stuff like that. And so they just all showed up and made me
feel welcome and like it was all going to be okay. That's what we do. We show up
for our sisters, right? That's right. So what comes next for you?
Staying in this current position? Anything else on the horizon?
I don't know. I think as long as I'm useful to my current team,
I'm super grateful to help them. They're an amazing team.
I'm trying to develop them as well, so I don't want to be in their way. I want
to, you know, give them whatever they need for me, and then I want to get out of
their way and watch them thrive. So I'm at the age where I'm lucky enough to be
able to retire again. As soon as they tell me to get the heck out of the way,
they've got it from here, and maybe Matt and I'll do some traveling. But in the
meantime, I guess they're not quite done with me yet. Well, I don't know that
anyone ever going to want to be done with you. You're a delight and I love hearing
your story and all the little facets that sort of fit around it and how you ended
up in the spaces you ended up with. Thanks for sharing everything with us today.
Well, Mindy, thank you for offering to let me to share this with you Because,
you know, you and what you're doing is so important to making sure that there are
a lot of other better Sylvia's out there. We are training up a ton of Sylvia's out
there. I love that.
Well, tell them not to be so scared.
We'll let them listen to the podcast and you can talk.
Well, thank you so much for your time. I'm So glad for our listeners that you got
to hear from Sylvia and get to know her a little bit. We're so excited to honor
her as a 2025 Woman of Achievement. We'll be continuing our discussions with Women
of Achievement and look forward to honoring them in person next year at our
convention next summer. So looking forward to that. Do you know a Distinguished Delta
like Sylvia? If you do, we'd love to learn about her. You can go to trydelta .org
and under our story, there's a distinguished Delta's page and you can click into
there and recommend somebody to be recognized in this way. So take a minute to do
that. We hope you'll like, subscribe, and rate our podcast. We love those five star
ratings, even though we only have three stars in our crescent. Thanks for joining us
today everybody and until next time, Delta Love.