Colorado School Of Mines

The Colorado School of Mines, informally called Mines, is a public research university in Golden, Colorado, founded in 1874. The school offers both undergraduate and graduate degrees in engineering, science, and mathematics, with a focus on energy and the environment. While Mines does offer minor degrees in the humanities, arts, and social sciences, it only offers major degrees in STEM fields, with the exception of economics. In the Fall 2019 semester, the school had 6,607 students enrolled, with 5,155 in an undergraduate program and 1,452 in a graduate program. The school has been co-educational since its founding, however, enrollment remains predominantly male (69.2% as of Fall 2020). In every QS World University Ranking from 2016 to 2020, the university was ranked as the top institution in the world for mineral and mining engineering. It is classified among "R1: Doctoral Universities – Very high research activity".

__toc__

History

Early history

Golden, Colorado, established in 1859 as Golden City, served as a supply center for miners and settlers in the area. In 1866, Bishop George M. Randall of Massachusetts arrived in the territory and, seeing a need for higher education facilities in the area, began planning for a university which would include a school of mines. In 1870, he opened the Jarvis Hall Collegiate School in the central building of the Colorado University Schools campus just south of the town of Golden, accompanied it with Matthews Hall divinity school in 1872, and in 1873 the School of Mines opened under the auspices of the Episcopal Church. In 1874 the School of Mines, supported by the territorial government since efforts began in 1870, was acquired by the territory and has been a state institution since 1876 when Colorado attained statehood. Tuition was originally free to residents of Colorado.

Recent history

In August 2007, a new student recreation center was completed. In 2008, the school finished expanding its main computer center, the Center for Technology and Learning Media (CTLM). In May 2008 the school completed construction and installation of a new supercomputer nicknamed "Ra" in the CTLM managed by the Golden Energy Computing Organization (GECO), a partnership among the Colorado School of Mines, the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, the National Center for Atmospheric Research and the National Science Foundation. In 2014, CoorsTek granted a $27 million investment to the university, leading to the 2017 opening of the CoorsTek Center for Applied Science and Engineering, a multi-disciplinary building on campus dedicated to both academic and research activities.

Since 1964, the Colorado School of Mines has hosted the annual oil shale symposium, one of the most important international oil shale conferences. Although the series of symposia stopped after 1992, the tradition was restored in 2006.

Presidents

*Chris Stell. – 1873Professor in Charge.
*Gregory Board – 1875
*Milton Moss – 1878
*Albert C. Hale – 1880Began as Professor in Charge, became the first President.
*Regis Chauvenet – 1883
*Charles S. Palmer – 1902
*Victor C. Alderson – 1903Served as President two times
*William G. Haldane – 1913
*William B. Phillips – 1915
*Howard C. Parmelee – 1916
*Victor C. Alderson – 1917

*Melville F. Coolbaugh – 1925
*Ben H. Parker – 1946
*John W Vanderwilt – 1950
*Orlo E. Childs – 1963
* Guy T. McBride, Jr. – 1970
*George S. Ansell – 1984
*Theodore A. Bickart – 1998
*John U. Trefny – 2000
* Myles W. Scoggins – 2006
*Paul C. Johnson – 2015

Campus

Colorado School of Mines is located to the southwest of Golden's downtown, bordered to the west by U.S. Route 6 and to the north by Clear Creek. The campus spans , including over a dozen academic and research buildings, indoor and outdoor athletic facilities, two student centers, a library, eight residential halls, and administration buildings. Additionally, the campus hosts a research building for the United States Geological Survey, housing the National Earthquake Information Center.

The school operates the free admission Mines Museum of Earth Science, which displays rock and mineral specimens collected from Colorado's numerous mining districts as well as around the world. Notable objects in the collection include one of the "Goodwill" Apollo 17 lunar samples and the Miss Colorado crown.

The design of the university's buildings have varied widely over time, spanning a spectrum of styles from Second Empire to Postmodernist, created by noted Colorado architectural masters including Robert S. Roeschlaub (Hall of Engineering), Jacques Benedict (Steinhauer Field House), and Temple Hoyne Buell (Berthoud Hall). To date, three main academic buildings are gone (original Territorial School of Mines, 1871–93; Hall of Chemistry, 1880–1958; Paul Meyer Hall, 1963–2016), while the present campus includes:

Major open-air athletic facilities of the Colorado School of Mines include historic Campbell Field and Darden Field.

The honorary named Colorado School of Mines buildings commemorate Dr. Victor C. Alderson, Edward L. Berthoud, George R. Brown, Dr. Regis Chauvenet, Dr. Melville F. Coolbaugh, Cecil H. and Ida Green, Simon Guggenheim, Nathaniel P. Hill, Arthur Lakes, Dr. Paul D. Meyer, Winfield S. Stratton, and Russell K. Volk.

Academics

Mines is organized around 16 academic departments and 14 interdisciplinary programs:

Mines began the world's first graduate program in space resources in the fall semester of 2018, offering both master's and PhD degrees.

Rankings

* Tied for 33rd in '' U.S. News & World Reports 2021 "Top Public Schools" in the U.S.
* Second in ''U.S. News & World Reports 2021 "Best Engineering Graduate Schools" in the U.S., with the Petroleum Engineering program ranked fourth.
* Tied for 83rd in ''U.S. News & World Reports 2021 "Best National Universities Rankings".
* Third out of 174 schools ranked in '' Kiplinger's Personal Finance'' magazine's 2019 "Best Values in Public Colleges."
* Ninth in "USA Today's Top 10 Engineering Schools 2015".

Admissions

For freshmen entering Fall 2020, Colorado School of Mines received 11,756 applications, accepted 6,240 (53.1%) and enrolled 1,268 (11.1% of those who applied). The middle 50% range of SAT scores for the enrolled freshmen was 620–710 for evidence-based reading, and 640–750 for math, while the ACT Composite range was 27–33. The average GPA was 3.78. Of the incoming class, 21.2% were women.

Traditions

M Climb

Freshmen at the Colorado School of Mines are expected, but not required, to participate in the M Climb during orientation weekend. During this climb, students carry a ten-pound rock brought from their hometown up Mt. Zion. Before ascending up the mountain, students are given colored hard-hats which are spray-painted by members of the Blue Key Honor Society. Along the climb, non-freshmen encourage and heckle the new students with water balloons, silly string, and more, as well as leading the group in learning the Mines' fight song. At the top of the mountain, students place their rock on the "M," a large sign made of rock in the shape of Mines' M logo, and paint the M white using whitewash. On graduation, seniors are invited to take a rock from the M as a keepsake of their time at Mines.

Athletics

Colorado School of Mines was ranked No. 3 Best NCAA D2 school in the U.S. for student-athletes, according to Next College Student Athlete's 2018 NCSA Power Rankings. The NCSA Power Rankings recognize the best colleges and universities in the U.S. for student-athletes.

Notable alumni

File:Gen. James H. Dickinson.jpg, James H. Dickinson
currently serving as the commander of the United States Space Command
File:Arden-Bement-at-TTU-tn1.jpg, Arden L. Bement Jr.
former director of the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)
File:CharlesArthurBanks.jpg, Charles Arthur Banks
17th Lieutenant Governor of British Columbia
File:Shane Carwin.JPG, Shane Carwin
UFC fighter
File:Joseph Robert Wright, Jr.jpg, Joseph Robert Wright Jr.
27th Director of the Office of Management and Budget
File:Wendell Fertig 1963.jpg, Wendell Fertig
civil engineer, organized and commanded an American-Filipino guerrilla force on the Japanese-occupied Philippines during World War II
File:Antônio Ermírio de Morais.jpg, Antônio Ermírio de Moraes
Brazilian billionaire businessman and the chairman of the Votorantim Group
File:Purnomo Yusgiantoro 2011.jpg, Purnomo Yusgiantoro
president-secretary general of OPEC, former Indonesian Minister of Energy for three presidents, and former Minister of Defense in the Second United Indonesia Cabinet
File:George Saunders.jpg, George Saunders Award-winning American writer of short stories, essays, novellas, children's books, and novels. Professor at Syracuse University.

Notable faculty

See also

* Colorado lunar sample displays
* List of schools of mines

References

Informational notes

Citations

External links

*

Mines Athletics Website

{{Authority control

Public universities and colleges in Colorado
Schools of mines in the United States
Technological universities in the United States
Buildings and structures in Golden, Colorado
Education in Jefferson County, Colorado
Geology of Colorado
Mines in Colorado
Educational institutions established in 1874
1874 establishments in Colorado Territory
Tourist attractions in Golden, Colorado