Biography

Allen Mesch is a native of Buffalo, NY, or, as folks in Texas would say, a “Yankee.” Following graduation from Kenmore East Senior High School, he headed to the north country to study engineering at Clarkson University in Potsdam, NY. He earned his bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering and was accepted to continue his studies at MIT. After receiving his master’s degree, he entered the “real world.” Allen continued his education on a part-time basis with extensive coursework in business and management from the University of Pittsburgh and the University of Houston.

Allen’s business career has focused on the oil and gas industry. He held technical and management positions in engineering, economics, and planning with major multinational petroleum companies including Gulf Oil Corporation, Conoco, and Sun Oil Company. He is the Founder and President of PetroStrategies, Inc., a consulting and training organization specializing in the international oil and gas industry. Allen recently retired from the company to concentrate on his research and writing.

In addition to Allen’s business experience, he has held academic positions at the University of Texas at Dallas, Southern Methodist University, and Texas Woman’s University. He was Director of the Maguire Energy Institute at Southern Methodist University, managing the Institute’s innovative Oil and Gas Education Initiative. This industry outreach program provided an effective vehicle to educate academics, journalists, and government officials on the primary functions of the oil and gas industry.

He is a founder and past president of the Dallas/Ft. Worth Chapter of the International Association of Energy Economists, and served as a member of the MIT Enterprise Forum of Dallas/Ft. Worth and the North Dallas Chamber of Commerce.

Allen has published papers on trends in the oil and gas industry and innovations in business planning and has spoken at numerous professional conferences. He serves as a resource to local and national media on oil and gas issues with appearances on regional and national television and quotes in business publications ranging from The Oil & Gas Journal to Business Week.

He taught continuing education classes in Collin College’s SAIL program. He is a Civil War historian and managed a website, Civil War Journeys which contained over 4,000 battlefield photographs. Allen also wrote and managed the Civil War Blog Salient Points. He has presented talks at numerous Civil War Roundtables on his book, Teacher of Civil War Generals: Major General Charles Ferguson Smith, Soldier and West Point Commandant.

Allen is the author of the following publications:

Fiction:

• The Analyst – A Russell Conrad Political Thriller
• The Traitor – A Russell Conrad Political Thriller
• The Assassin – A Russell Conrad Political Thriller – under development
• The Third Rebellion

Children’s Books:

• What is a GG?

Non-fiction:

• Teacher of Civil War Generals: Major General Charles Ferguson Smith, Soldier and West Point Commandant
• Your Affectionate Father, Charles F. Smith
• Charles A. Marvin – “One Year, Six Months, and Eleven Days”
• Preparing for Disunion: West Point Commandants and the Training of Civil War Leaders
• Ebenezer Allen – Statesman, Entrepreneur, and Spy
• The Forgotten Texas Statesman