"On March 19, 1983 the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and the University of Wyoming entered into a Cooperative Agreement, effective April I, 1983, whereby the University of Wyoming, through the formation of a nonprofit corporation known as the University of Wyoming Research Corporation (UWYRC), took responsibility for operation of what was previously the federally owned and operated Laramie Energy Technology Center (LETC). The Western Research Institute (WRT.) was subsequently formed as an affiliate of UWYRC to conduct the research within the Cooperative Agreement and to pursue related research in conjunction with other organizations. Since its inception in 1923, research efforts at what later became LETC were always directed to specific fossil energy topics. From initial work on heavy petroleum products of the Rocky Mountain region, the focus of the efforts at the Center has changed over the years with national priorities to its involvement in Oil Shale, Underground Coal Gasification and Tar Sand. Following passage of the Synthetic Liquid Fuels Act in 1944, oil shale research activities began at the Center with laboratory and bench-scale experiments. This early work consisted mainly of the evaluation of surface retorting concepts, the development of measurement and analytical methods, the evaluation of shale oil upgrading and refining methods, and the characterization of shale oil and its products."