Grateful for VC: Bridging a small-town upbringing to a successful law career
Published 7:15 am Monday, September 1, 2025
For Leon Frank Drozd Jr., Victoria College was more than a starting point — it was the bridge that connected his small-town upbringing to a career in law.
Drozd attended VC from 1967 to 1968 before transferring to Texas A&M University, where he earned a Bachelor of Business Administration in 1971. In 1979, he completed his Juris Doctor from the University of Denver College of Law (now Sturm College of Law).
“VC was a respected, local college that offered classes that would transfer to a university,” said Drozd. “It allowed me to work at a Victoria radio station while attending VC, as I had to work to pay for my education.”
His first awareness of VC’s strong reputation came as a teenager in 1965, when he worked briefly at Bill Miller’s Grocery on the Port Lavaca highway. The store owner’s son, Ronald Miller, was married to the daughter of John W. Stormont, a highly respected VC dean.
“Ron spoke highly of VC,” Drozd recalled. “He was a university graduate.”
Soon after, Drozd began working at radio station KTXN-FM in Victoria, where he met several local business and legal leaders who encouraged him to start at VC. The connection ran even deeper — his father, Leon Frank Drozd Sr., had also attended VC but was unable to complete his education.
“VC provided an educational platform and gateway to continue my higher education beyond high school in Victoria,” said Drozd. “The faculty members were excellent and challenging, and I was inspired by the presence of prominent Victoria citizens who were affiliated with the college. It was an affordable opportunity at the right time.”
Loading …His two years at VC helped set his trajectory from a hardworking student balancing studies and a radio career, to a university graduate and practicing attorney. Prior to law school, Drozd served as Legislative Assistant in Washington to a senior member of Congress from Texas and later as Chief Clerk of the House Science and Technology Committee.
That path ultimately led to a 35-year career as in-house legal counsel at Chevron, where Drozd specialized in real estate and land use, natural resources and minerals laws, compliance, business aviation, and complex transactions. His work included support to the corporation’s global flight department, business and real estate services, minerals exploration, and international projects such as a 900-mile oil pipeline in Sudan. He also played a key role in environmental legal compliance and major corporate real estate projects and transactions. Drozd was senior counsel on a world-class corporate legal team that supported Chevron through several mergers and changes from 1980 until his retirement in 2015.
Today, more than five decades later, Drozd still credits Victoria College as the place where his professional journey truly began.
VC wants to hear from former and current Pirates. Visit VictoriaCollege.edu/ShareYourStory to submit a success story in honor of VC’s 100th anniversary.