Murphy Oil Chairman William C. Nolan Jr. Passes Away

EL DORADO, Ark. -- Murphy Oil Corp. Chairman of the Board William C. Nolan Jr. died at El Dorado's Medical Center of South Arkansas following a brief illness, the company announced. He was 72.

Nolan graduated from Yale University in 1961 and Yale Law School in 1964, after which he worked in Murphy's law department until 1969, when he founded the Nolan and Anderson law firm. He was also president of the Noalmark Broadcasting Corp.

Nolan had served as a Murphy director since 1977 and became Chairman on July 15, 2002. Last December, Murphy announced Nolan's retirement, which would have been effective May 1, 2012, though he was to remain on the board. Claiborne P. Deming was elected as Nolan's successor in the chairman role.