HOUSTON, December 17, 2024 — The American Heart Association, a global force for longer, healthier lives, is proud to announce that George Lindahl III, a renowned leader in the petroleum industry who has spent the past 20 years focused on transforming lives through philanthropy, has been appointed chair of the upcoming 2025 Paul “Bear” Bryant” Awards ceremony presented by Marathon Oil.
Now in their 39th year, the American Heart Association Paul “Bear” Bryant Awards were created in collaboration with the Bryant family to preserve the Bear Bryant legacy by recognizing coaches who embody his example of leadership and character while raising awareness and critical funds for scientific research to eliminate needless suffering and death from cardiovascular disease and stroke, the leading causes of death globally. The football coaching legend died from a heart attack in 1983.
“George is the ideal person to lead this year’s Bryant Awards campaign,” said Steven Embree, Executive Director of the Paul “Bear” Bryant Awards. “He is a proven leader in the petroleum industry, and has used his leadership skills over the last 20 years to create transformational change in the lives of so many through his charitable contributions and his selfless service.”
A proven oil and gas finder and pioneer of horizontal drilling technology for enhanced petroleum production in the late 1980s, Lindahl has held several executive positions in the petroleum industry and fortune 500 companies, including executive vice president, board director, and partner for Walker Energy Partners of Houston, TX; chairman, CEO, and president of Union Pacific Resources, Inc.; vice chairman for Anadarko petroleum corporation and member of the Anadarko board of directors; and managing partner of Sandefer Capital Partners.
After reaching levels of professional success that few will ever achieve, Lindahl left the business world behind and began to pursue his passion for serving others. He began to invest the two resources he could bring to the table – money and time – and through his efforts, Lindahl has found joy and fulfillment not through professional success, but by living a life of purpose.
At the age of 50, Lindahl was a Fortune 500 CEO and Chairman, but was looking for more. A book called Halftime by Bob Buford helped make clear what was missing. “It’s not about success,” said Lindahl, “it’s about significance.”
While through his professional career, Lindahl’s life priorities were “success, success, success,” in his meaningful second act, it is a new definition of success that drives him – his mantra, “the real joy in life is helping someone else.”
After experiencing unparallelled success in the professional realm, the joy that he has found in serving what he calls the 5 L’s – people in our society who are lonely, lost, looked over, least, and last – has provided Lindahl with so much more.
No stranger to the Bryant legacy, Lindahl had a front row seat to the coaching legend’s early years at the University of Alabama. Lindahl attended Alabama from 1964-68, and received his bachelor’s degree in geology. An avid college football fan and follower of the Crimson Tide, Lindahl has attended 12 national championship games – ten of which were won by Alabama.
The 2025 Paul “Bear” Bryant Awards event is scheduled to be held on Wednesday, January 22 at the Post Oak Hotel in Houston, Texas. In addition to the Coach of the Year, the Paul “Bear” Bryant Awards will also present Conference Coach of the Year Awards from each of the Power Four collegiate athletic conferences (Atlantic Coast Conference, Big Ten, Big 12, and Southeastern Conference) and one from the combined Group of Five conferences (American Athletic Conference, Conference USA, Mid-American Conference, Mountain West Conference and Sun Belt Conference), Pac-12 Conference, and Division I Independents.
As previously announced, Grant Teaff, the legendary former Baylor University and American Football Coaches Association Executive Director, and Mark Richt, former University of Georgia and University of Miami head coach, will also be recognized at this year’s awards event. Coach Teaff will receive the 2025 Paul “Bear” Bryant Lifetime Achievement Award presented by Memorial Hermann Health System in Houston, and Coach Richt will receive the 2025 Heart of a Champion Award presented by St. Luke’s Health in Houston.
Marathon Oil Corporation, an independent exploration and production company based in Houston, has served as the presenting sponsor of the Paul “Bear” Bryant Awards for more than a decade, underscoring the company’s commitment to health and wellness and supporting initiatives that promote the well-being of workers and their families in the communities where it operates. Fans can follow the action at facebook.com/bryantawards, twitter.com/bryantawards or Instagram.com/bryantawards or the hashtag #BryantAwards. To attend the exclusive, VIP experience visit bryantawards.org or contact Alexxa Newman, development manager at Alexxa.Newman@heart.org.
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