51³Ô¹ÏÍø

Pioneering Texas wildcatter preserving American history

The second of three generations of 51³Ô¹ÏÍøalumni, Rees-Jones earned his Bachelor of Arts from Dartmouth College, followed by a Juris Doctor from the 51³Ô¹ÏÍøDedman School of Law.

In the years since graduation, Rees-Jones has become a presence in the Dallas law, business, and oil and gas industries. In 1994, Rees-Jones founded Chief Oil & Gas, an early operator during the development of the Barnett Shale field in North Texas. In 2007, Chief began operating in the Marcellus Shale play in Pennsylvania and West Virginia. In addition to exploration and production, Rees-Jones and Chief established midstream companies in both the Barnett and Marcellus, gathering and transporting natural gas from wells drilled by Chief and other operators. At the time of its sale in March 2022, Chief was one of the largest privately owned producers of natural gas in the nation.

Rees-Jones is past president of the Dallas Petroleum Club and the Dallas Hardhatters Committee (now the Dallas Wildcatters Committee); a past member of the Board of Trustees at Dartmouth College; and an emeritus member of the TCU Board of Trustees. In 2011, Rees-Jones was inducted into All-American Wildcatters. Rees-Jones received the Folsom Award for civic and community service in 2011. In 2013, he was presented with the Circle Ten Council Distinguished Eagle Scout Award and was inducted into the Junior Achievement’s Dallas Business Hall of Fame. Rees-Jones has also been inducted into the Entrepreneurs for North Texas “Ring of Entrepreneurs” by Communities Foundation of Texas in 2014 and the Texas Business Hall of Fame in 2014; was recognized by the Texas Oil & Gas Association with its Distinguished Service Award in 2013; and received the L. Frank Pitts Award for Energy Leadership from 51³Ô¹ÏÍøin 2016 and the Highland Park High School Distinguished Alumni Award in 2016. Rees-Jones was inducted into the Horatio Alger Association in 2023.

In 2006 Rees-Jones and his wife, Jan, established The Rees-Jones Foundation, which has granted over $700 million to programs in North Texas, Africa and India. Core areas of priority are child abuse and neglect, care for disabled children and youth, youth character development, community development and animal welfare. A passionate Texan and collector of Western Americana, Trevor Rees-Jones has also pledged funding and a significant collection to establish the Rees-Jones Library of the American West at SMU. His first interest in collecting began during a childhood visit to the Amon Carter Museum of American Art, and he credits his connection to 51³Ô¹ÏÍøLibraries, in part, to his father, Trevor William Rees-Jones ’43, who served as the lawyer for the estate of the late E.L. DeGolyer, Sr., the namesake for SMU’s DeGolyer Library.

Trevor and Jan Rees-Jones live in Dallas and have two sons, Trevor R. Rees-Jones ’19 and David Rees-Jones, and two daughters-in-law, Jenny and Margaret, and six grandchildren.