May 1--COLUMBIA, Mo. -- At 80 years old, T. Boone Pickens is still the big man on campus.

Walking the crowded corridors of Jesse Hall at the University of Missouri following a speech, a man in a cap and jeans greets the billionaire with a handshake.

"You're a hell of a man," the stranger says, slapping Pickens on the back.

A minute later, another man tells Pickens that he's converted his pickup to run on propane. Trailing behind his boss, a Pickens employee keeps a fistful of envelopes -- fan mail -- that people have handed him during a three-hour visit.

"We get these everywhere," the aide says.

A geologist by trade, Pickens is among the richest people in America with an estimated net worth of $3.1 billion. He's been in the spotlight since the early 1980s when he led a series of takeover bids for companies Gulf Oil and Phillips Petroleum. In the mid-90s he founded private investment firm BP Capital Management.

But the rock star treatment Pickens gets these days is a product of his latest endeavor -- a $58 million self-funded crusade to reshape America's energy policy by helping wean the country off Middle Eastern oil.

"For 40 years we've had no energy plan in America. Zero. None," Pickens said. "If we go 10 years longer, we're going to fall in the stupid category."

Pickens launched his campaign on July 8, when crude oil was almost $150 a barrel and gasoline was $4 a gallon. Since then, energy prices have been choked by the recession, and "energy security" -- a popular phrase during last fall's presidential race -- has taken a back seat to reviving the economy.

But Pickens continues to sell his plan with the verve of someone half his age. Last month he spent 70 hours in his jet, making 54 stops, he said. And the pace isn't slowing. Before flying to Columbia on April 23, Pickens met in Dallas with Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal. After his speech at Mizzou, it was on to Philadelphia to pick up an award. On Saturday, he hosted a town hall in San Diego.

During his Missouri visit, Pickens headlined a discussion with journalism students,

urging them to hold politicians accountable for fixing America's energy woes. Then it was on to lunch with university President Gary Forsee, Missouri S&T Chancellor John Carney and Columbia Mayor Darwin Hindman.

As he picked at a salad and swigged Diet Dr Pepper, Pickens thanked Hindman for being one of 185 U.S. mayors to endorse his energy plan.

"I disagree with him on a couple of points, but I basically agree with him on the point of needing to reduce our foreign oil dependence," Hindman said afterward in an interview.