Samuel T. Pees Keeper of the Flame Award

“Recognizing individuals who have devoted their efforts to preserving the heritage of the oil and gas industry and bringing before the public the heritage and history of the oil and gas industry”


Harvey L. Golubock

Harvey L. Golubock

Harvey L. Golubock: worked for Witco for twenty-eight years from 1969 until 1997. Over that time he held titles of planning analyst, assistant to the president, assistant to the chairman, VP and General Manager, VP of Corporate Communications, VP Supply and Distribution and finally Group, VP. In 1995 the company made the strategic decision to sell off his Group, which consisted of the Kendall/Amalie Division; the Golden Bear Division and the Southwest Grease Division. By 1997 they had sold off most of the businesses. An entrepreneur acquired the Bradford, PA refinery (the Kendall refinery) and asked Harvey to join his company, American Refining Group, Inc. (ARG), and run the refinery business. It was a turning point in Harvey’s life and both an opportunity and a challenge as all of the marketing assets and the Kendall brand name had been sold previously to Sun Oil Company. Most of the industry gave the ARG six months before they would fold. It can happily be said that Harvey Golubock retired as president of ARG in 2011, after a fourteen-year run. Under Harvey’s leadership ARG reinvented the business and developed as a sustainable entity. It should be noted that the refinery was established in 1881 and is the oldest continuously operating crude oil refinery in the world.

Harvey Golubock spent most of his time during those fourteen years in Bradford, PA, the home of the refinery. In 2006 ARG held a major celebration in Bradford commemorating the 125th anniversary of the refinery, complete with a parade down Main Street and a sign from the State recognizing the refinery as a Pennsylvania historic landmark. They participated in an oil well shoot that commemorated Bradford’s 150th anniversary. Once the refinery back on a profitable keel, Harvey felt that it was important to give back to the local community. Over the years he served as chairman of Beacon Light Behavioral Health (an organization devoted to providing services to mentally and emotionally challenged children and adults) Co-chairman of Bradford Area Alliance ( an alliance of major business people in the Bradford community devoted to economic development of the region); Executive Committee of the Advisory Board and the University of Pittsburgh at Bradford (UPB); Bradford Hospital Foundation Board; Penn Brad Museum Board ( a museum dedicated to preserving the rich heritage of the Bradford crude oil region); Chairman of the Energy Institute at UPB. He has had the pleasure of addressing MBA classes at both St. Bonaventure and Rutgers Universities.

Harvey L. Golubock has been awarded the key to the city of Bradford. He is also a recipient of the Presidential Medal of Distinction from UPB and has a wing in the science building at UPB named in his honor.