Michael Economides, 64, a University of Houston (UH) energy expert, died of a heart attack on Saturday. Economides was the founding director and chief scientist of the Global Petroleum Research Institute at Texas A&M University before becoming a chemical engineering professor at UH. As a consultant, Economides worked for Chevron Corp., Royal Dutch Shell plc and Petroleos Brasilerio (Petrobras), as well as in Russia and China. He published more than 300 journal articles and more than a dozen books, including The Color of Oil, which he co-authored. He also founded and was editor-in-chief of Energy Tribune, an online publication. In 1969, Economides, then 19, moved to the United States from Cyprus as a Fulbright scholar at the University of Kansas. He became a U.S. citizen in 1982 and went on to receive a doctorate from Stanford University in 1984. He is survived by his wife Christine Ehlig-Economides, also a petroleum engineering expert, and two sons.

Talisman Energy Inc.has appointed Icahn Capital LP managing directors Samuel Merksamer and Jonathan Christodoro to its board, two months after shareholder activist Carl Icahn bought close to 6% of the stock (see Daily GPI, Oct. 9). Related to the appointments, Talisman said some standstill restrictions would remain in effect until the 2014 annual meeting or when the Icahn nominees are no longer on the board. One of the new directors is to sit on the CEO succession committee; interim chief Hal Kvisle plans to step down (seeDaily GPI, Nov. 8). In addition, Icahn has agreed to vote the shares he controls in support of Talisman’s slate of director nominees at the annual meeting.