Interviewer: Preetam Prakash

Affiliation: University of Arizona

Preetam had met Wayne Lagrone while visiting the Workforce Development Program associated with Meridian Community College in Meridian, MS. Wayne was currently the workforce project manager at the community college. He had spent the greater part of his career in management in a variety of industrial settings, but had been introduced to Preetam by one of the instructors at the Workforce Development Program because he had worked offshore in the early 1970s. Preetam contacted Wayne the following week and they arranged to meet at Meridian Community College. Wayne had worked offshore for just a little over a year, and so could not speak to many of the long-term transformations that had affected the industry. However, his perspective was somewhat unique in that he had entered the industry with a college degree. He had been born and grew up in Alabama but had gone to college in Mississippi and entered Shell Oil Company’s training program for recent graduates soon after receiving his degree. Wayne discussed the unique aspects of his experiences offshore in light of the numerous positions that he had worked in since that time.