One of the four women to be honored by Nicholls’ Louisiana Center for Women and Government on March 14 is Phyllis Taylor, chief executive officer for Taylor Energy Company and currently the wealthiest woman in Louisiana. Phyllis Taylor’s list of success began several years before the founding of Taylor Energy Company.

Taylor is a graduate of Tulane University School of Law and the University of Southwestern Louisiana and has served as a law clerk for both the Supreme Court of Louisiana and Orleans Parish Civil District Court.

Her first experience in the oil and gas industry came in 1972 when she served as in-house for counsel John W. Mecom Sr., an independent oilman noted for reviving abandoned oil wells.

The Taylor Energy Company was founded in 1979 with the intention to explore and develop natural gas and oil in the Gulf of Mexico. Since the passing of Taylor’s husband, Patrick F. Taylor, in 2004, she has served as the company’s chairwoman and chief executive.

Taylor is also chairwoman and president of the Patrick F. Taylor Foundation. Founded in 1985, the foundation has helped over 14 million American children with financial assistance for college. It provides tuition for all students who meet the standards of requirement.

This program led to what is known as TOPS, the Tuition Opportunity Program for students, which still holds the value that “students have the opportunities to attend college based on ability to learn, not ability to pay.”

The foundation has created a number of other organizations from its original beginnings, including the Audubon Students and Scholars Program and the New Orleans Museum of Art Scholars program, which both give aquarium and zoo memberships to deserving students.

In the past 20 years, Taylor has served on such boards as the New Orleans Business Council, the Congressional Medal of Honor Foundation and the New Orleans Museum of Art.

Taylor has been actively supporting the reconstruction of New Orleans since the destruction of Hurricane Katrina.

Just as her place as No. 297 on the Forbes 400 list highlights her financial success, countless students and affected communities throughout the state outline her philanthropic success as well.

She and her late husband were named Philanthropists of the Year by the National Philanthropist.