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UH Law Center students King and Ngunjiri receive Association of International Petroleum Negotiators scholarships

John Ngunjiri studies in the University of Houston Law Center's part-time program.

Dylan King is entering his 3L year at the University of Houston Law Center.

Aug. 9, 2021 - The Association of International Petroleum Negotiators (AIPN) Board of Directors and Scholarship Committee has recently provided awards to two University of Houston Law Center students.

Dylan King, a rising 3L, and John Ngunjiri, a member of the part-time program, were among 10 law students to receive the nationwide scholarship.

“Our students continue to excel in many areas of the energy space,” Professor of Practice Denney Wright said. “John Ngunjiri and Dylan King winning two of the 10 annual AIPN academic scholarships awarded worldwide this coming year is a notable accomplishment.”

A premier professional organization for international petroleum negotiators, AIPN is an independent non-profit serving the needs of global energy negotiators, and the scholarship program created in 2009 aims to fiscally support students that show potential in fields of international oil and gas negotiations.

“I feel like the AIPN scholarship gives me greater credibility when reaching out to professionals within the industry,” King stated. “As someone with no prior oil and gas experience, the scholarship, as well as AIPN membership, demonstrates real interest in the subject area.”  

The scholarship was created in honor of AIPN founder and recipient of a special lifetime achievement award for his contribution to the industry, Gordon Barrows. Each scholarship is $2,000, divided into two payments of $1,000 for each semester, paid directly to the winner's university.

“Professor Wright is really very active with AIPN and got us involved,” Ngunjiri said. “Through the student chapter and its link to the parent organization, I discovered the scholarship, and people are noticing the things I have been taught. There is a more practical approach to the classes offered at UH that is applicable to today’s market of research, and I hope the differences at UH continue to be noticed.”

To initially qualify, students must be pursuing a degree focused on energy, commercial or law and attend one of the 28 universities that support AIPN by having a professor on AIPN’s Education Advisory Board. The Scholarship Committee completes an evaluation and review of applications before selecting the winners.

“This is just another example of the active partnership UHLC has fostered through the years with AIPN through our active UHLC AIPN Student Chapter and continued interface with the EENR program and faculty,” Wright said. “The AIPN network is beneficial to UHLC students and faculty in offering exposure to professionals in international energy across the globe.”

Involved with the Houston Journal of Internal Law, King is working toward a J.D. and will be training hands-on this summer at a boutique oil and gas firm.

AIPN chapter president, managing editor of the Houston Journal of Health Law & Policy and former contracting intelligence lead for the contracts and execution planning division of ExxonMobil’s Global Projects Company, Ngunjiri has a summer internship with Norton Rose Fulbright and is pursuing a J.D. and LL.M. degree in energy, environment and natural resources.

“I am glad to see two of our great students succeed once again,” Research Assistant Professor Julian Cardenas Garcia said. “AIPN scholarship is known for identifying talent within the energy sector, and this time is no exception; I am positive that John and Dylan will confirm it.”

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