M. Jay Allison has been a director since 1987, and our Chief Executive Officer since 1988. Mr. Allison was elected Chairman of the board of directors in 1997. From 1988 to 2013, Mr. Allison served as our President and before that he served as our Vice President and Secretary. From 1981 to 1987, he was a practicing oil and gas attorney with the firm of Lynch, Chappell & Alsup in Midland, Texas. Mr. Allison was Chairman of the Board of Directors of Bois d’Arc Energy, Inc. from the time of its formation in 2004 until its merger with Stone Energy Corporation in 2008. He received B.B.A., M.S. and J.D. degrees from Baylor University in 1978, 1980 and 1981, respectively. Mr. Allison also serves on the Board of Regents for Baylor University.
Roland O. Burns has been our President since 2013, Chief Financial Officer since 1990, Secretary since 1991 and a director since 1999. Mr. Burns served as our Senior Vice President from 1994 to 2013 and Treasurer from 1990 to 2013. From 1982 to 1990, Mr. Burns was employed by the public accounting firm, Arthur Andersen. During his tenure with Arthur Andersen, Mr. Burns worked primarily in the firm’s oil and gas audit practice. Mr. Burns was a director, Senior Vice President and the Chief Financial Officer of Bois d’Arc Energy, Inc. from the time of its formation in 2004 until its merger with Stone Energy Corporation in 2008. Mr. Burns received B.A. and M.A. degrees from the University of Mississippi in 1982 and is a Certified Public Accountant. Mr. Burns also serves on the Board of Directors of the University of Mississippi Foundation and the Cotton Bowl Athletic Association.
Daniel S. Harrison was promoted to Chief Operating Officer in July 2019 after serving as our Vice President of Operations since September 2017. Mr. Harrison has been with Comstock since 2008 and served in various engineering and operations management positions of increasing responsibility during that time. Prior to joining us, Mr. Harrison was an operations engineer at Cimarex Energy Company from 2005 to 2008. Prior to 2005 he worked in various petroleum engineering operations management positions for several independent oil and gas exploration and development companies. Mr. Harrison received a B.S. Degree in Petroleum Engineering from the Louisiana State University.
Patrick H. McGough became our Vice President of Operations in July 2019 following the Covey Park acquisition. He joined Covey Park in August 2018 as the Vice President of Operations, where he was responsible for Drilling, Completion, and Production operations and engineering.
Prior to working at Covey Park Patrick held significant roles as a Drilling, Completion, and Production engineer at Brammer Engineering. During this time Mr. McGough worked in multiple basins (Arkla-Tex, South Texas, West Texas, Mississippi, Oklahoma, and South Louisiana) in unconventional and conventional plays. He received a Bachelor of Science in Chemical Engineering from Louisiana Tech University and an MBA from Centenary College of Louisiana.
Ronald Mills joined Comstock in August 2019. Prior to joining the company, Mr. Mills was an Equity Member and Senior Analyst responsible for covering small-cap and mid-cap domestic exploration and production companies at Johnson Rice & Company LLC. Mr. Mills held progressive roles of responsibility since joining Johnson Rice in August 1995.
Mr. Mills earned his bachelor’s degree in economics and his master’s degree in business administration from Tulane University.
LaRae L. Sanders was named our Vice President of Land in November 2014. Ms. Sanders joined Comstock in 1995, and served as Land Manager since 2007. She has been instrumental in all of the company’s active development programs and major acquisitions. Prior to joining Comstock, Ms. Sanders held positions with Bridge Oil Company and Kaiser-Francis Oil Company, as well as other independent exploration and production companies. Ms. Sanders is a Certified Professional Landman. She is an accomplished land professional with 35 years experience and became the nation’s first Certified Professional Lease and Title Analyst in 1990.
In this role, David Terry is responsible for driving the company’s long-term strategy for acquisition and divestitures, reserves and midstream. He joined Comstock in July 2019 in conjunction with the acquisition of Covey Park Energy LLC, where he served in the same capacity.
Prior to co-founding Covey Park, Mr. Terry held significant roles in operations and business development at EXCO Resources, Inc. and Winchester Production Company. Over the course of his career, David has been involved in oil and gas property transactions of approximately $5 billion.
Mr. Terry received his bachelor’s degree in petroleum engineering from Louisiana State University.
Whitney Ward joined the Company in July 2019 concurrently with the closing of the acquisition of Covey Park Energy LLC, where she served as Vice President of Marketing. She joined Covey Park, and started the Marketing department, with Covey Park’s first acquisition in June 2014. Subsequently, Mrs. Ward spearheaded the marketing efforts in Covey Park’s four additional acquisitions in the Haynesville shale basin. Prior to joining Covey Park, Whitney held progressive positions in the Marketing department at EXCO Resources, Inc. from 2007 through 2014.
Mrs. Ward earned her bachelor’s degree in communication studies from The University of Texas at Austin.