Taylor Energy

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Taylor Energy is an independent American oil company that drills in the Gulf of Mexico based in New Orleans, Louisiana. It has been owned by Phyllis Taylor since the 2004 death of her husband, Patrick, making her the wealthiest woman in Louisiana. Taylor has been actively supporting the reconstruction of New Orleans since its destruction during Hurricane Katrina.

The company's founder, Patrick Taylor, grew up in Beaumont, Texas, was kicked out of his home by his father, and attended Louisiana State University under a free tuition program. He married Phyllis Miller in 1965, who had grown up in Abbeville, Louisiana and had been one of the first women to graduate from Tulane Law School.

After achieving success, Taylor became a champion for free college education. He achieved some press in 1988 for promising a group of 183 middle school students that he would provide for their college education if they could maintain their grades; the follow-through was later covered on 60 Minutes.

He would also join with Texas State Senator Royce West in 1998 to form what is now known as the TEXAS Grant program ¹, which pays for college tuition and fees for students from low and middle-income families.