May 27, 2025 – University of Houston Law Center alumnus J.W. “Bill” Stewart (J.D. ’73) didn’t follow a conventional career path — he created his own.
“I do what interests me and makes me feel good,” said Stewart, former chairman, president, and chief executive officer of BJ Services Company during a recent fireside chat with UHLC’s Dean Leonard M. Baynes. “There was never a grand plan.”
Despite not having a plan, Stewart built a career where he has successfully served as engineer, soldier, lawyer and CEO at different times.
“I was aware that the pursuit of new and different responsibilities had an elevated risk of failure,” he shared. “[But] with hard and relentless work and some luck, failure was minimized.”
The Beginning
His journey began with numbers and blueprints. Stewart earned a degree in electrical engineering from the University of Texas at Austin in 1966. Engineering was a natural continuation of his childhood interest in math and mechanics
“In order to be effective in the world, you need to know how things work, how they are designed and what the potential for improvement is – and that’s what engineering is all about,” Stewart said. “It’s a really good base that you can expand on and that’s what I did.”
In 1967, Stewart attended graduate business classes at UT before being drafted into the U.S. Army. After basic training in Louisiana, he served as part of a group of engineers testing military equipment and munitions for cold weather use at Fort Greely, Alaska, before being honorably discharged in 1969.
Following military service, Stewart began working for Hughes Tool Co. in Houston (then owned by the legendary Howard Hughes – an American aviator, engineer, business magnate, filmmaker and philanthropist) as an electrical engineer at the Houston manufacturing facility.
The Road to Law School
The need to follow a new interest and broaden his perspective brought him to the UH Law Center, which offered night classes and was close to his work. This made it a perfect fit for Stewart, who continued working full-time as an engineer. His days started early at the office and ended late in the classroom.
“It was a pretty grueling routine,” he recalled. “You work eight hours, and then you go to law school. The only problem I had was I didn’t have enough time to study.”
The grind and commitment paid off. Stewart earned his Juris Doctor in 1973, opening a new door in his career. He started working as a lawyer in the finance department of his company and went on to build an in-house legal department.
The law expanded his thinking and more.
“It [legal training] gave me knowledge about things that I will never get other than the fact that I went to law school,” Stewart said. “It broadened my perspective, broadened my conversations and my ability to deal with others.”
But the road wasn’t always quick or smooth. Stewart admits that the most challenging part of his career — as an engineer, a lawyer, and a businessman — was the perceived slow pace of advancement.
“I always felt I could do well with more responsibility,” he said. “Rather than becoming too restless and moving on, I waited for opportunities to develop.”
Climbing the Corporate Ladder
Stewart’s patience paid off. After leading the legal department for 12 years, he was asked to move into operations and become the vice president of the BJ Services Division of Hughes Tool in 1985. A year later, he became the president of the division.
Also in 1986, Hughes Tool Co. combined with Baker Oil Tools Inc. and the name of the company changed to Baker Hughes Inc. BJ Services became a division of Baker Hughes Inc.
In 1990, BJ Services went public. Stewart served as chairman of the board, president and CEO of BJ Services Co., by then a S&P 500 company. Over the next 20 years, he and his management team led the company through significant growth, with revenues skyrocketing from $350 million to $5.5 billion. By 2010 BJ Services was reacquired by Baker Hughes and Stewart stepped down. He then served as a director on the Baker Hughes board until 2017.
“The most rewarding aspect of my career was the growth and success our management team was able to achieve,” Stewart said. “We achieved extraordinary growth through active acquisition and consolidation among other related growth strategies.”
Today
Now retired, Stewart spends his days on personal projects and philanthropy. Stewart, who lives in Houston, is deeply involved in the community. He served as president of the Alley Theatre’s board, and he was also on the advisory board of the Children’s Museum of Houston and the board of the Houston Botanic Garden.
Currently, Stewart is a trustee of the Menil Collection and chairs its investment committee. He also donates to charities focused on education, health and the arts.
And he makes time for revisiting his alma mater and sharing his insights with students.
Looking back, Stewart is grateful for how his education and career transitions unfolded. “I am glad the sequence of my formal education was engineering, business school, U.S. Military and finally UH Law,” he said. “I believe law school has been the most influential in my career as a businessman and in understanding the implications of national and world events.”
During his fireside chat, Stewart emphasized the weight and value of a law degree. “With a law degree, you get a heightened level of respect and recognition not associated with some other degrees,” he said.
The three constants in Stewart’s career and life are: curiosity, hard work and a love of learning. These are good traits for one to have he advised UHLC students.
“The training you get here is the starting point ‒ it’s a lot, it’s good, and it’s thorough. But it’s one step towards a future of continuous education,” Stewart said. “You have to learn every day. Never assume that you have learned enough for what you do.”
