Midday on a lazy, warm fall day and the newly retired Professor George Chilingar is hard at work in his Windsor Square home. Spread across his dining room table are stacks of papers, text books, academic journals and sheets of carefully handwritten text.

"I'm int the process of writing three books and about 10 articles," says Chilingar. "I've written..." he pauses to think, "I've written 65 books. I love teaching and I want to share my knowledge."

His home i stuffed floor to ceiling with memorabilia form a USC career in engineering and science that stretches back 60 years. At USC, Chilingar has received the Teaching Excellence Award (1969), the Distinguished Service Award from Archimedes Circle (1974), the Distinguished Faculty Award (1976) and in 2007, the Academic Senate honored him with a Distinguished Faculty Service Award. In carefully arranged clutter, hanging from walls and occupying most available horizontal surfaces, are an astonishing number of "Gold Medals" and other honors from academic societies around the world, as well as commendations, proclamations and effusive expressions of gratitude from governments, companies and public figures. And he is very proud of them all.

The medals include the Lomonsov Gold Medal of Honor from the Russian Academy of Sciences, the White Elephant Medal from the King of Thailand, the Knight of Arts and Sciences Medal of Honor from Russia, the Highest Medal of Francisco Morazan from Honduras and the Ruben Dario Medal from Nicaragua. In 1993, he became the first American petroleum geologist to be elected to the 275-year-old Russian Academy of Sciences and he is currently the president of the Russian Academy of Natural Sciences, U.S. branch.

For 20 years, Chilingar has been the honorary consul of Honduras. Governments and parties have changed, but he remains the honorary consul. Not only that, but in 2004, he established an endowed fellowship for Honduran students studying environmental engineering.

There is a Chilingarian Oilfield in Iran, discovered when the Shah ruled that nation, and Chilingar -- then Tchillingarian -- was a consultant, but the oilfield continues to be called by its original name.

Chilinagar was born in Tbilisi, Georgia, then part of the Soviet Union. His father was Armenian and his mother Russian. His childhood was spent trapped in Russia under the harsh, pre-World War II Stalin regime that did not allow emigration. When he finally got to Iran, he graduated first in his class, receiving special permission to take the final exam out of order because he was too young. Shortly thereafter, in 1944, he came to the United States aboard a Liberty Ship.

"We were chased by Japanese submarines," he says. "They attacked us twice. I think I was about 12 years old."

USC President Rufus von KleinSmid had to grant special permission for Chilingar to grant special permission for Chilingar to enroll as an undergraduate in petroleum engineering in 1945. "I was allowed to try one semester and earned all A's, except for a B in English," he says, laughing.

In 1949, he graduated magna cum laude with a B.S. in petroleum engeneering, and a year later, received an M.S. He began working on his Ph.D., this time in geology, because "they told me the world was running out of oil."

But Chilingar wanted to learn to fly, so he joined the USC Air Force ROTC program. After successfully completing flight training he was transferred to Wright Patterson Air Force Base and put to work in the Petroleum and Chemicals Laboratories. "Because of my degrees, they thought I knew everything about petroleum products, which i didn't."

He would eventually become chief of the laboratories. At that time, there had been a series of crashes involving F-100s. He determined that the jet fuel was forming soapy compounds that clogged the fuel filters. "We designed tests to prevent this," he said, holding up a commemorative model of the airplane that he received in gratitude from the Air Force Association.

It was in the Air Force that Chinlingar first changed his name, after formally asking his father for permission. He said sergeants had a hard time pronouncing the "T" during basic training and he thought that caused them to always call on him first. So over the years, his name at birth, Tchillingarian, changed to Chilingarian, and eventually became Chilingar.

"Changing my name, however, did not help. I was always asked to do things first," he says about the Air Force. "I guess they just liked me."

After six years in the Air Force, Chilingar returned to USC in 1956 to complete his Ph.D. He was asked to stay on as an assistant professor of petroleum engineering and briefly became chair of the department in 1964-65. "But I decided that if I continued as chair, I wouldn't have the chance to write books."

A lifelong champion of Russian scientific literature, which he continues to believe is undervalued by American scientists and engineers, he donated 100 rare Russian books on petroleum engineering and geology to USC, and was written up for the contribution in Pravda. But during the Cold War, this was not a popular stance to take. "I was accused of being a Communist, when in fact, I'm a rotten capitalist!"

Much beloved by his students, Chilingar is proud of them and often sees potential in students that others miss. When a young undergraduate petroleum engineering major, John Mork (BSPE '70), was struggling, Chilingar took the latest book he had written and wrote "to my best student" on the inside front page. Mork became one of Chilingar's best students before graduating, and after graduating, went on to become CEO of Energy Corporation of America. In 2005, he named the Viterbi School's Mork Family Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science, which today is home to the Petroleum Engineering Program.

Mahmoud Al-Adasani (BSPE '58) has a similar story. Coming to USC from Kuwait to study petroleum engineering, he face initial difficulties. At the end, however, "he did very well, graduated and became minister of petroleum of Kuwait," says Chilingar.

"Ahmad Al-Zamel (BSPE '62, MSPE'64), another of my students, became minister of petroleum of Saudi Arabia. And another student, Chengyu Fu(MSPE '86), really excelled when he was here, later becoming CEO of the China National Offshore Oil Corporation."

He also has warm feelings for colleagues, past and present.

"I knew Dean Robert Vivian and worked in his office when I was a student. There is a plaque on Vivian Hall with my name on it as one of the donors to the Vivian Chair. Dean (Alfred) Ingersoll was very effective and had good rapport with the faculty. He got Olin Hall for us, and I made a speech at his farewell," says Chilingar. "Zohrab Kaprielian did a lot for USC, and Len Silverman was very effective."

But he saves his highest praise for the final two deans.

"Max Nikias is Superman. He is the best thing that happened to USC since I've been here" he says. :And I've known Yannis Yortsos form many years. He is an outstanding dean, and I predict a great future for him."