Anadarko Executive Chairman James Hackett to Attend Harvard Divinity School

James Hackett, executive chairman and former chief executive of Anadarko Petroleum Corp. (APC), plans to attend Harvard Divinity School later this year.

Last year, he handed over the CEO role to President Al Walker. Mr. Hackett will hold the title of executive chairman until June.

Mr. Hackett, 59, is credited by analysts with turning Anadarko into one of the best-performing independent oil-and-gas producers during his eight-year tenure as CEO, with stakes in a number of attractive onshore and offshore oil-and-gas fields around the world.

"Jim Hackett will be attending Harvard Divinity School to become better prepared to write, speak and teach about faith and leadership, which has been a long-held interest of Jim's and one of the key reasons he is retiring from Anadarko," Anadarko spokesman John Christiansen said.

The Anadarko executive chairman declined an interview through a spokesman.

Mr. Hackett and his wife, Maureen O'Gara Hackett, have been long-time supporters of The University of St. Thomas, a Catholic liberal-arts university in Houston, as well as a number of other institutions.

"He was at the helm during the company's transformation from one that had a history of falling short of production targets to one with a reputation for being one of the stronger explorers in the industry," said Phil Weiss, an analyst with Argus Research Co.

Mr. Hackett was formerly the president and CEO of Devon Energy Corp. (DVN) following its merger with Ocean Energy, where he served as chairman, president and CEO. He has also worked at Duke Energy Corp. (DUK), NGC Corp., Burlington Resources and Amoco Oil Co.

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