Cindy Yeilding most recently served as Senior Vice President of Strategic Initiatives, bp America.  Previous roles in bp include VP Gulf of Mexico Exploration & Appraisal, VP of Basin Studies & Access and Global Geoscience Research & Technology Manager. She retired from bp in 2021. Cindy earned her MSc in Geology from UNC after receiving a BS in Geology from SMU. Cindy’s specialties include Upstream and Energy Transition, and she most recently chaired the study team for the U.S. National Petroleum Council report on Carbon Capture, Use and Storage (CCUS) and co-teaches the U of H CCUS Executive Education course.

Cindy joined the Board of Directors of Denbury Inc. in 2021 and is a board member of the Center for Houston’s Future. Cindy is past chair of the Offshore Technology Conference and served on the Board of Directors of BPX&P and the Greater Houston Partnership until 2021.  She was BP’s Executive Sponsor for Princeton University and is a member of the U.T. Jackson School’s Advisory Council. Cindy has served as an AAPG Distinguished Lecturer (2002-2003), delivered the 2022 Halbouty Lecture and was named a “Legend in Exploration” by AAPG.

Cindy has been recognized for her leadership in energy by numerous organizations, including the “Women in Energy Leadership” award from the Houston Business Journal, and has been recognized as one of Houston’s Top 15 Businesswomen by the National Diversity Council, one of Houston’s “50 Most Influential Women” by Houston Woman magazine and one of Hart Energy’s “25 Influential Women in Energy.” Cindy is active in promoting STEM and women’s education and created the OTC High School Energy Challenge and Women in Industry (WISE) programs for OTC. She is also a co-editor and author in the book Deepwater Sedimentary Systems: Science, Discovery and Applications (Elsevier, 2022).