KU Benefactor Robert Beren Passes Away at 97

Robert Beren, 97, a pioneer and longtime leader in the oil and gas industry in Kansas and benefactor of the School of Engineering, died Tuesday, Aug. 8, 2023, at his home in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida.

At the University of Kansas, Beren’s legacy lives on inside Slawson Hall, where the Beren Petroleum Conference Center regularly hosts industry and educational events. A company he co-founded is part of the U.S. Department of Energy’s South-Central Kansas CO2 Project through the Kansas Geological Survey, and he endowed the Robert M. Beren Distinguished Professorship in Modern Jewish Studies.

“Robert Beren was a tremendous supporter and friend of the KU School of Engineering. His generosity toward the university – and the Petroleum Engineering program in particular – will benefit our students for generations,” said Dean of Engineering Arvin Agah. “He helped KU prosper as an institution. The Beren Conference Center that bears his name in Slawson Hall is an integral space for the university community. We mourn his loss.”

Beren’s career started with the family oil and gas business in Ohio, before he moved to Wichita to expand. He and his brother launched Beren Corp. and then Berexco, which Beren grew to become the largest independent oil and gas company in Kansas and Nebraska.

His big strike: primary responsibility for the discovery of oil and gas in the 1990s under the Hugoton Gas Field in southwest Kansas, still among the state’s most prolific basins. The achievement earned him the Oil and Gas Appreciation Award from the Southwest Kansas Royalty Owners Association.

Beren served as co-chairman of the Council of Active Independent Oil and Gas Producers, and on the board of directors for the Kansas Independent Oil & Gas Association. In 1994, he was inducted into the Kansas Oil & Gas Hall of Fame.

Beren is survived by his four children, Nancy (Larry Jefferson) Beren, Amy (Robert) Bressman, Julie (Marc) Platt and Adam (Ellen) Beren, his 14 grandchildren and the 20 great grandchildren he shared with his former and late wife Joan S. Beren. He also is survived by his friend June Garson.