Alan Crain
Director, Houston Committee on Foreign Relations (Chair); World Affairs Council of Greater Houston
Alan has advised Fortune 500 companies on legal and business matters throughout the world for over 40 years. From 2000 through 2016, he was the Senior Vice President, Chief Legal and Governance Officer of Baker Hughes Incorporated, a technology and services company supporting the international oil and gas industry with revenues over $20 billion and operations in more than 80 countries. At Baker Hughes, Alan had global responsibility for all legal affairs, government relations, risk management, security, and compliance. Previously, he served as General Counsel of two other Fortune 500 multinationals.
From 2017 through 2020, Alan was Chairman of the Board of Directors of EP Energy. Previously, he was a member of the Board of Directors of Mariner Energy, Inc. Both companies were multibillion dollar NYSE listed companies. He also served as Chairman of the Board of Accend, Inc., a private software and database company and has served on the boards of several other private companies, including multiple Hastings Energy portfolio companies.
Each spring, Alan teaches corporate governance to the Executive MBA candidates at the Jones Graduate School of Business at Rice University. He is a frequent speaker on a variety of corporate governance matters and other challenges facing boards of directors, including programs for the NACD, Stanford University, The Fletcher School at Tufts University, Rice University, Duke University, and the University of Texas. He is a NACD Board Fellow.
Alan has over 35 years of experience serving as an arbitrator in a broad range of cases, involving both domestic and international commercial issues under the UNCITRAL Rules, the rules of the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC), the International Institute for Conflict Prevention & Resolution (CPR), the American Arbitration Association (AAA), the International Centre for Dispute Resolution (ICDR), and various public securities arbitral fora.
Alan was an adjunct Professor of Law at the Law Center of University of Houston for 10 years, teaching courses in international business law. In addition to his law degree, Alan holds B.S. and M.S. degrees in Engineering and a M.B.A. He is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations.