Noble was born in 1896 and raised in a family of hardware merchants, whose store was built in
Ardmore, Oklahoma, then a part of the Chickasaw Indian Territory. As a young man, Noble attended college in
Durant, Oklahoma, earning a teaching certificate. He taught school, but quit to attend college at the University of Oklahoma. His pursuit of higher education was cut short when he left in order to help his ailing father with the family business. Noble was known for his interests in and use of aviation, geoscience and other emerging scientific developments of the century. During World War II, he was asked to improve the United Kingdom’s oil production. England needed oil and sent an emissary to request the help of a number of American oil drillers. Noble risked his rigs and crew in the top secret endeavor to quickly drill multiple wells in a small oil field in
Sherwood Forest. The endeavor relied on Noble Drilling’s ability to drill 106 wells in one year: from March 1943 to March 1944. The production of the field increased from 700 barrels a day to over 3,000 barrels a day. Noble’s company took no profit from the operation. As a manager, Noble was known to reward hard working employees throughout his company by including them in a share of profits for successful wells. Noble was committed to education and public service, serving as a regent for the
University of Oklahoma from 1934 to 1948. He was known to recognize and recruit talent, whether it be faculty, administrators or coaches. In addition, he believed that development of a university football program could propel the university and state out of the economic and psychological
Dust Bowl and
Great Depression stagnation of the 1930s. ==Samuel Roberts Noble Foundation==