Rich Byrnes
Port Houston
Chief Port Infrastructure Officer
Rich is Port Houston’s Chief Infrastructure Officer. His team supports commerce and trade by focusing on Port Development, the Houston Ship Channel Expansion, Port Houston’s 2040 Plan, and Sustainability. Rich’s career spans engineering, operations and consulting, including wintering over at the South Pole, Antarctica, oilfield engineering in the Middle East, and consulting with oil & gas, transportation, and governments world-wide. Previously, he led global business and technical consulting units at Schlumberger and Halliburton and has also taught leadership and management at Texas A&M and the University of Maryland. Rich holds two Master’s from MIT, in Ocean Systems Management and Technology and Policy; a Bachelor’s in Mechanical Engineering from UC Santa Barbara; an Associate’s in Mathematics from Long Beach City College; and leadership certificates from Texas A&M. Rich serves on the Boards of the Blue Sky Maritime Coalition, Port of the Future Conference, Texas Hydrogen Alliance, and STEM-E Youth Career Development Program.
