Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/670198
ATRON PROFILES PATRONS | Spring 2016 21 Alpay received a scholarship to make his emphasis petroleum engineering and geology, as the prominence of oil exploration grew in the 1950s. From there, he earned a master's degree from University of Pittsburgh, followed by a doctorate from Purdue University—both in engineering. While earning his PhD, he worked as a summer intern at Standard Oil's oil production research affiliate, Pan American Petroleum in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Upon graduation, he joined the company as a senior research engineer. "In the '50s after World War II, oil was the future of exploration. Working in the oil industry is not thrilling. But the high degree of sophistication in every aspect of the technology, from exploration and drilling to production and refining, is mind-boggling," he says. "Safely drilling a straight hole just 10,000 feet into the ground is no small feat." In the 1970s, Alpay realized that computers, not oil, were going to be the future. While working toward a master's degree in mathematics from the University of Tulsa, he decided to instead move to California to pursue a degree in computer sciences and joined THUMS (a consortium of the five major oil companies, Texaco, Humble, Union, Mobil and Shell) as a senior engineer. THUMS was the contractor for the city of Long Beach, tasked with the development and operation of oil deposits lying offshore. Alpay also briefly taught a graduate course in the petroleum engineering department at the University of Southern California. Alpay's left brain interests led him to pursue literature, spanning every subject from the classics to detective fiction to psychoanalysis. But his right brain would not be left to rest. He also took up painting, which helped lead to his romantic fate. As a young engineer in Tulsa, he met a teacher named Beverly, who he instantly recognized as a no-nonsense girl. A clincher was when Beverly, an art enthusiast, took him for a serious artist, seeing influences of the cubist, Pablo Picasso, in one of his paintings. Following Alpay's move to California, absence made the couple's hearts grow even fonder, but a health crisis would seal the deal. Following a thyroid operation, Beverly came out to California and spent the summer caring for Alpay. "When I awoke from surgery Beverly's face was the first I saw," Alpay says. "at was really when I knew, I wanted to spend the rest of my life with her." After their wedding, the couple went to work designing and building their Palos Verdes Peninsula home and continued to share their love of the arts, growing a collection of oils, watercolors and sculptures. Beverly continued her career as an eighth-grade English teacher at Dapplegray Intermediate School. She later became a school administrator for the Palos Verdes Unified School District. More than a decade following her premature passing, Alpay made a $2 million donation to the Palos Verdes Art Center in 2011 to name the Beverly G. Alpay Center for Arts Education. Beverly had volunteered at the Art Center for nearly a decade, where she served as president and chair of the board. In 1996, she received the Medici Award, the Art Center's highest honor. Alpay's entrepreneurial side eventually kicked in and he began investing in various real estate ventures in California and Texas, which became a full-time endeavor. Always self- effacing, Alpay says, "I'm basically a glorified janitor." However, his companion today, Ruth Anne (known as Ruthie) also a widow and a former teacher, begs to differ, noting that Alpay's involvement in his business affairs runs much deeper. After rising at 4 a.m. daily for a three-mile walk, she notes he "works like he is still 40." It was the arts that also brought this couple together a few years ago, following an introduction by a mutual friend at the Palos Verdes Arts Center. In addition to Alpay's work and his daily quest to complete e New York Times crossword puzzle in ink, the couple spends time viewing Alpay's collection of nearly 3,500 movies on DVD and traveling. But with friends, family and their community in mind, they are intent on leaving something greater behind. "is gift is the legacy for which I would most like to be remembered. It also serves to honor my late wife Beverly who exemplified what volunteerism and service to the community is all about," Alpay says. "I hope it will inspire and motivate others to step up and do what they can to give back to their community in any way they can."