F.E. "Tut" Ellis is from Thermopolis, Wyoming. He graduated in 1955 with a general engineering degree with a petroleum option. In addition, he earned a masters degree in management from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1969. He spent his entire professional career with Conoco Inc - retiring as Executive Vice President for Exploration and Production International and Group Vice President for Exploration and Production International and Group Vice President of E.I. Dupont de Nemours and Company (the parent company). Among his many innovative projects, one of the most outstanding was the development of the Hutton tension-leg platforms in the Gulf of Mexico and the first oil field automation systems in North America. Tut has been a member of a wide variety of civic and preprofessional associations including chairing a number of high-profile committees for both the American Petroleum Institute and the Society of Petroleum Engineers.