Darryl Willis

Who is Darryl Willis?

Darryl Keith Willis is an American geologist and publicist, currently Vice President of resources of BP America. He is head of Deepwater Horizon oil spill claims and public relations spokesperson for the Deepwater Horizon oil spill.

Willis has appeared in many public relations advertisements clad in an orange shirt and has been featured in CNN's The Situation Room.

Willis grew up in Pontchartrain Park, New Orleans and graduated from McDonogh No. 35 Senior High School.

Willis graduated from Louisiana Scholars' College at Northwestern State University in 1991, received a Master of Science in Geology from the University of New Orleans and received a Master in Global Management and Public Policy from Stanford in 2007.

Willis married his wife Dawnia Tyrese Richard Willis on September 10, 2005, on Martha's Vineyard days after his mother Cora Hambrick Willis had lost her house in Hurricane Katrina. Willis's brother Robert "Bobby" Willis, Sr., a former employee of WWL-TV, relocated to Gonzalez, Louisiana in the wake of Katrina. He died March 18, 2010.

Willis, a geologist by profession, said he was tapped for the volunteering after hearing BP executives discuss the plan.