I worked on the Owners' Audit Staff from August 1981-May 1984. Technically, I was an employee of Atlantic Richfield and placed "on loan" to Alyeska. I started with ARCO in June of 1980 in their Philadelphia offices as an Internal Auditor. I transferred to Alyeska in August of 1981. After leaving Alyeska in May of 1984, I returned to ARCO and completed a short summer assignment in their European chemical operations. I left ARCO at the end of August 1984 to attend graduate school at Cornell University, where I earned my MBA.

While at Alyeska, I travelled the entire line, auditing operations at pump stations, the Valdez terminal, and of course, headquarters on S. Bragaw Street. While I usually stayed at employee housing at pump stations, I also had the opportunity to stay over night at one of the construction camps, which the company had reopened in the early eighties as a base to shore up a section of the line which had been sinking. I also performed audits of contractors to identify erroneous charges, and served as an expert witness regarding clean-up costs for a large oil spill in Valdez.

I stayed in a financial career until 2000, and worked in oil & gas, computer peripherals, publishing, and medical device industries. As part of this, I enjoyed a five year posting in Germany and the Netherlands from 1989-94. By 2000, however, I felt I wanted a career which was more externally focused, rather than internally focused. I secured an appointment by the Governor (now Senator Angus King, Jr.) of Maine as the State Director of International Trade. After six years, I then moved to Arkansas as a Senior Director of International Corporate Affairs for Wal-Mart Stores. Afterwards, I returned to my alma mater, Cornell University, where I became the Executive Director of the Emerging Markets Institute. In May of 2020, I took on the new role as Executive Director of the Cornell Program in Infrastructure Policy, which focused on the funding, financing, permitting, and regulating of large scale infrastructure projects. This position wrapped up in February of 2025. My days on TAPS certainly enhanced my work in the world of infrastructure. I can be reached at rcoyle86@gmail.com.

I met my wife in Alaska. She worked for SOHIO as a financial analyst in the Accounting Department. We were invited to attend a Christmas party by the University of Alaska Anchorage Accounting Club. Each year, the Club would invite people from industry to attend its Christmas party in order to give the students a chance to network. Well, I met my wife that day in December of 1982 and spent the entire party with her. Didn't meet a single student!