Michael A. “Mike” Creel

Two McNeese alumni have been named recipients of two McNeese Alumni Association awards—the Distinguished Alumnus Award and the Distinguished Service Award—and will be honored at a reception Oct. 23 at the Stream Alumni Center.

Michael A. “Mike” Creel, president, chief executive officer and a director of Enterprise Products Partners LP of Houston, Texas, a leading North American provider of midstream energy services, has been named the 2009 Distinguished Alumnus, while Damain A. Sullivan, vice president and team leader in the Energy Finance/Global Corporate Banking Unit at the Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ Ltd. in Houston, has been named the recipient of the 2009 Distinguished Service Award.

The recipients will also be honored during halftime of the McNeese vs. Southeastern Louisiana football game at 6 p.m. Oct. 24 in Cowboy Stadium.

Creel, a native of Lake Charles, received his bachelor’s degree in accounting in 1975 from McNeese and was licensed in Texas as a certified public accountant in 1978. Creel worked for seven years in the financial industry prior to beginning his energy career in 1980.

He previously held management positions with the Coastal Corporation and Enron Corp. and served as treasurer of EOG Resources Inc., vice president and treasurer of NorAm Energy Corp. and senior vice president and chief financial officer of Tejas Energy Corp.

Enterprise Products is one of the largest publicly traded partnerships with an equity market capitalization of $12 billion, assets of $19 billion, an enterprise value of $21 billion and ranked 89th on Barron’s 2009 list of top 500 top-performing companies. The company transports natural gas, natural gas liquids, crude oil and petrochemicals through more than 36,000 miles of onshore and offshore pipelines. Services include natural gas transportation, gathering, processing and export terminaling, crude oil transportation and offshore production platforms, and petrochemical transportation and storage services.

Creel is also director of Duncan Energy Partners LP, a publicly traded partnership that owns and operates midstream energy assets, and is a group vice chairman of privately held EPCO Inc. He is a member of the National Association of Corporate Directors, American Institute of Certified Public Accountants and Financial Executives International.

The alumnus award is the highest award presented by the McNeese Alumni Association, which recognizes individual achievement by graduates who have distinguished themselves in their chosen field of endeavor and whose work appropriately reflects on the university.

Damain A. Sullivan

Sullivan received his Bachelor of Science degree in finance in 1992 and his Master of Business Administration degree in 1996, both from McNeese.

He began his banking career at Calcasieu Marine National Bank in 1994. He held several positions as part of a training program, including credit underwriting and marketing. In 1996 he joined Hibernia National Bank in New Orleans, where he held positions in underwriting and marketing. While there, he also served on a merger due diligence team for the bank. He joined Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi in 1997. He is also a member of the Houston Downtown Organization.

Sullivan is a founding member of the McNeese Greater Houston Alumni Chapter and served as chapter president from 2004-2007 and currently serves as a member of the board of directors. He has supported the College of Business Student Investment Team and he has initiated an internship program at the bank that includes the recruiting of McNeese business students to interview for these positions. Two students were hired as summer interns in 2008 and one was later hired full-time after graduation.

The service award recognizes an alumnus who has given years of personal and professional service to the alumni association and the university.