PEOPLE : Michael Hammer Leaves VP Post at Oxy

Michael A. Hammer, 36, who began work nine years ago at his grandfather Armand Hammer’s company as an oil field roughneck, resigned Thursday as corporate secretary and vice president of Occidental Petroleum Corp.

Hammer said he would devote himself full time to “the various activities handed over to me upon (Armand Hammer’s) death last year,” including the Armand Hammer Foundation; the Armand Hammer United World College of the American West, in Montezuma, N.M., and the controversial Armand Hammer Museum of Art and Cultural Center, which opened a year ago in Westwood.

Hammer is executor of the Armand Hammer estate.

Gerald M. Stern--executive vice president, senior general counsel and a director of the company--will add the role of corporate secretary to his duties. Hammer will remain on Oxy’s board of directors.

The role of corporate secretary at Occidental, according to a company spokesman, includes maintaining relations with stockholders, keeping corporate records--including the minutes of board and annual meetings--filing documents and corresponding with the Securities and Exchange Commission as well as various stock exchanges.

Since Occidental Chairman Ray Irani took over after Armand Hammer’s death Dec. 10, the company has undergone an extensive restructuring.

Oxy has shed many of the late Hammer’s pet projects as it has sought to concentrate on its core energy business in tough times for the oil industry.

Meanwhile, Armand Hammer’s museum, a separate entity from the oil company, was launched after bruising court battles over ownership of Hammer’s art collection and his plans for the museum’s financing. Since opening, it has been under fire from critics who contend that the collection is not strong enough by itself to support an independent museum.

Michael Hammer took over administrative duties at the museum during the summer.