The South Dakota School of Mines & Technology (South Dakota Mines, SD Mines, or SDSM&T) is a

public university A public university or public college is a university or college that is in owned by the state or receives significant public funds through a national or subnational government, as opposed to a private university. Whether a national universit ...

Rapid City, South Dakota Rapid City ( lkt, link=no, Mni Lúzahaŋ Otȟúŋwahe; "Swift Water City") is the second most populous city in South Dakota and the county seat of Pennington County. Named after Rapid Creek, where the settlement developed, it is in western So ...

. It is governed by the

South Dakota Board of Regents The South Dakota Board of Regents (also known as SDBOR) is a governing board that controls six public universities in the U.S. state of South Dakota. These include Black Hills State University, Dakota State University, Northern State University, So ...

and was founded in 1885. South Dakota Mines offers bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral degrees.

History

The cornerstone of the first School of Mines (then known as the Dakota School of Mines) building was dedicated on August 19, 1885, with the first classes being held February 21, 1887. John W. Hancher received the first bachelor of science degree at the first commencement on May 31, 1888. The school became known as the South Dakota School of Mines in 1889 after admission of

South Dakota South Dakota (; Sioux language, Sioux: , ) is a U.S. state in the West North Central states, North Central region of the United States. It is also part of the Great Plains. South Dakota is named after the Lakota people, Lakota and Dakota peo ...

as a state to the United States. The School of Mines presented exhibits during the

1904 World's Fair The Louisiana Purchase Exposition, informally known as the St. Louis World's Fair, was an World's fair, international exposition held in St. Louis, Missouri, United States, from April 30 to December 1, 1904. Local, state, and federal funds tota ...

and the first licensed radio station in the state of South Dakota was established on campus in December 1911, a full decade before WCAT (the precursor the current campus station

KTEQ-FM KTEQ-FM (91.3 FM, "K-Tech") is the campus radio station of the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology (SDSM&T) in Rapid City, South Dakota. The station broadcasts a variety of music formats according to the tastes of the volunteer DJs doi ...

). The first "M-Day" homecoming celebration occurred on October 5, 1912 with the construction of th
"M" on M-Hill
the school's mountain monogram. The school's

ROTC The Reserve Officers' Training Corps (ROTC ( or )) is a group of college- and university-based officer-training programs for training commissioned officers of the United States Armed Forces. Overview While ROTC graduate officers serve in all ...

battalion was formed in 1918 in response to World War I. The football stadium began construction in 1931, and was completed as "O'Harra Field" in 1938. The school formally became the South Dakota School of Mines & Technology in February 1943. In September 2012, South Dakota Mines made national news when

Bloomberg Bloomberg may refer to: People * Daniel J. Bloomberg (1905–1984), audio engineer * Georgina Bloomberg (born 1983), professional equestrian * Michael Bloomberg (born 1942), American businessman and founder of Bloomberg L.P.; politician and ma ...

announced that it had passed

Harvard Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

in the category of starting salaries for graduates. On September 19, Tech President Dr. Robert A. Wharton died due to complications of cancer treatments. During the presidential search, Duane C. Hrncir was the interim president. On April 25, 2013, the School of Mines announced that

Heather Wilson Heather Ann Wilson (born December 30, 1960) is the 11th President of the University of Texas at El Paso. She previously served as the 24th Secretary of the United States Air Force from 2017 through 2019. Wilson was the 12th president of the Sou ...

will become the first female president in the school's 128-year history, starting in June 2013. She resigned in 2017 after being appointed to the office of

Secretary of the United States Air Force The secretary of the Air Force, sometimes referred to as the secretary of the Department of the Air Force, (SecAF, or SAF/OS) is the head of the Department of the Air Force and the service secretary for the United States Air Force and United S ...

. In October 2017, the School of Mines announced that the next president would be James (Jim) Rankin, Ph.D.

Academics

South Dakota Mines offers degrees in 20 engineering and science fields, as well as 18 master's degree programs and 9 Doctorate programs. The South Dakota Mines placement rate for graduates with a bachelor’s degree is 96 percent, with an average starting salary of more than $66,500.

Campus

The campus is located in the center of Rapid City, on the northern slope of small foothills of the Black Hills. The APEX Gallery is located in Classroom Building 211, and hosts a new exhibit every four to six weeks. The gallery hosts contemporary works of artists and scientists, many of whom are nationally and internationally recognized.

Museum of Geology

Digenite-pyrite, Butte Mining District, Montana

Opening the same year as the school, the Museum of Geology collects, conserves, curates, interprets, and exhibits paleontologically, mineralogically, and geologically significant objects and serves as the repository for such objects from South Dakota and the Northern Great Plains. The public exhibits of the museum have been housed since 1944 in the second floor of the then newly completed O'Harra Building, while the preparation laboratories and collections are held in the James E. Martin Paleontology Center, constructed in 2009.

Student organizations

Active fraternities on campus include

Chi Psi Chi Psi () is a fraternity consisting of active chapters (known as "Alphas") at 33 American colleges and universities. The mission of Chi Psi is to create and maintain an enduring society which encourages the sharing of traditions and values, res ...

Alpha Chi Sigma Alpha Chi Sigma () is a professional fraternity specializing in the fields of the chemical sciences. It has both collegiate and professional chapters throughout the United States consisting of both men and women and numbering more than 70,000 mem ...

Delta Sigma Phi Delta Sigma Phi (), commonly known as Delta Sig or D Sig, is a fraternities and sororities, fraternity established in 1899 at City College of New York, The City College of New York (CCNY). It was the first fraternity to be founded on the basis o ...

Lambda Chi Alpha Lambda Chi Alpha (), commonly known as Lambda Chi, is a college fraternity in North America which was founded at Boston University in 1909. It is one of the largest social fraternities in North America, with more than 300,000 lifetime members a ...

Theta Tau Theta Tau () is a professional engineering fraternity. The fraternity has programs to promote the social, academic, and professional development of its members. Today, Theta Tau is the oldest and largest professional engineering fraternity and h ...

, and

Triangle A triangle is a polygon with three Edge (geometry), edges and three Vertex (geometry), vertices. It is one of the basic shapes in geometry. A triangle with vertices ''A'', ''B'', and ''C'' is denoted \triangle ABC. In Euclidean geometry, an ...

. Sororities include

Alpha Delta Pi Alpha Delta Pi (), commonly known as ADPi (pronounced "ay-dee-pye"), is an International Panhellenic sorority founded on May 15, 1851, at Wesleyan College in Macon, Georgia. It is the oldest secret society for women. Alpha Delta Pi is a mem ...

and

Beta Delta Mu Beta (, ; uppercase , lowercase , or cursive ; grc, βῆτα, bē̂ta or ell, βήτα, víta) is the second letter of the Greek alphabet. In the system of Greek numerals, it has a value of 2. In Modern Greek, it represents the voiced labio ...

. Student government organizations include the Student Association Senate. Student media organizations include

(the campus radio station) and "the Aurum" (the campus newspaper, formerly known as "the Tech" and then "the Raver"). "The Aurum" is the original name of the school newspaper, first published in November 1901. The newspaper changed its name back to "The Aurum" in January 2010. The campus radio station, KTEQ, was started in 1922 as a low-powered AM station, left the air in 1955, and returned as the FM-station KTEQ in 1971 and airs a freeform programming format. Amplify College Ministries,

Fellowship of Christian Athletes The Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA) is an international non-profit Christian sports ministry founded in 1954 and based in Kansas City, Missouri. It has staff offices located throughout the United States and abroad. History FCA was found ...

InterVarsity Christian Fellowship InterVarsity Christian Fellowship/USA is an inter-denominational, evangelical Christian campus ministry founded in 1941, working with students and faculty on U.S. college and university campuses. InterVarsity is a charter member of the Internat ...

, Lutheran Campus Ministry, the

Newman Center Newman Centers, Newman Houses, Newman Clubs, or Newman Communities are Catholic campus ministry centers at secular universities. The movement was inspired by the writings of Cardinal John Henry Newman encouraging societies for Catholic stude ...

, and United Campus Ministries are some of the many Christian and religious groups operating on campus. Service organizations on campus include

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and Gamers for Service.

Athletics

South Dakota Mines athletic teams are called the Hardrockers, coming from its mining background. The history of the athletic programs stretch back to 1895 when the first school football team formed, originally named the "Longhairs". The school host a variety of college sports which include: football, basketball, volleyball, track, cross country, golf, and men's soccer. The athletic mascot name is Grubby the Miner. The school is a member of the

National Collegiate Athletic Association The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...

(NCAA) and competes at the Division II level. The school joined the Division II

Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference The Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference (RMAC), commonly known as the Rocky Mountain Conference (RMC) from approximately 1910 through the late 1960s, is a college athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (N ...

in January 2014 for the majority of its sports (effective beginning the 2014–15 school year), except for men's soccer which joined the

Great Northwest Athletic Conference The Great Northwest Athletic Conference (GNAC) is a college athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at the Division II level. It has historically operated in the northwestern United States, but al ...

(GNAC) for men's soccer in 2013 and football beginning in 2014. The Hardrockers formerly competed as members of the

Dakota Athletic Conference The Dakota Athletic Conference (DAC) was a college athletic conference affiliated with the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA). As the name implies, member teams were located in the states of North Dakota and South Dakota. T ...

(DAC) of the

National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) established in 1940, is a college athletics association for colleges and universities in North America. Most colleges and universities in the NAIA offer athletic scholarships to its stu ...

(NAIA) from 2000–01 to 2010–11, and were former members of the

South Dakota Intercollegiate Conference The South Dakota Intercollegiate Conference (SDIC) was an NAIA-associated collegiate athletic conference that ceased operations following the 1999–2000 academic school year when it merged with the North Dakota College Athletic Conference to form ...

(SDIC) (also from the NAIA) until after the 1999–2000 school year. South Dakota Mines completed the transition form the NAIA to the NCAA in July 2013.

Notable staff

Prior to 1897, the head of SDSM&T held the title of Dean rather than president. Earl D. Dake served as acting president from 1947–1948 and 1953–1954. Dr. Duane C. Hrncir served as acting president from 2012–2013 following the death of Dr. Robert A. Wharton.

Deans

# Dr. Franklin R. Carpenter (1886–1889) # George F. Duck (1889–1890) # Samuel Cushman (1890–1891) # Dr. William P. Headden (1891–1893) # Dr. (Hon.) Walter P. Jenney (1893) # Dr. Valentine T. McGillycuddy (1893–1897)

Presidents

# Dr. Robert L. Slagle (1898–1905) # Dr. Charles H. Fulton (1905–1911) # Dr. Cleophas C. O'Harra (1911–1935) # Dr. Joseph P. Connolly (1935–1947) # Dr. Warren E. Wilson (1948–1953) # Fay L. Partlo (1954–1966) # Dr. Harvey R. Fraser (1966–1975) # Dr. Richard A. Schleusener (1975–1987) # Dr. Richard J. Gowen (1987–2003) # Dr. Charles P. Ruch (2003–2008) # Dr. Robert A. Wharton (2008–2012) # Dr. Heather A. Wilson (2013–2017) # Dr. James M. Rankin (2017–present)

Other notable staff

Ernest Allmendinger Ernest John "Aqua" Allmendinger (August 25, 1890 – May 7, 1973) was an American football player and coach. He played college football as a guard for the University of Michigan Wolverines from 1911 to 1913. He was also selected to Walter Cam ...

, football head coach (1914) *

William Arbegast William John Arbegast, Jr. (11 April 1951– 28 November 2009) was an American metallurgical engineer, mechanical engineer and friction stir welding expert. Life and career Arbegast was born in Davenport, Iowa, the son of William John Arb ...

, director of the Advanced Materials Processing and Joining Center (2001–2009) * Dr.

Philip R. Bjork Philip Reese Bjork is an American geologist and paleontology, paleontologist known for his work in unearthing dinosaur species in United States, America. Career Bjork received his undergraduate degree at the University of Michigan. Bjork's Master ...

, geology and paleontology professor (1975–2000) *

William Phipps Blake William Phipps Blake (June 1, 1826 – May 22, 1910) was an American geologist, mining consultant, and educator. Among his best known contributions include being the first college trained chemist to work full-time for a United States chemical m ...

, accepted and then turned down position as the first dean - donated books started school library * Gary Boner, longest-serving (1971–1989) and winningest football head coach at SDSM&T *

Josh Boyer Josh Boyer (born January 21, 1977) is an American football coach who is the defensive coordinator for the Miami Dolphins of the National Football League (NFL). Boyer previously coached with the New England Patriots and multiple college footba ...

, football defensive coordinator (2005) now NFL coach * Dr.

Wendell E. Dunn, Jr. Wendell Earl Dunn Jr. (August 30, 1922 – December 24, 2007) was an American chemical engineer, metallurgy, metallurgist, and inventor. His technologies for high temperature chlorination reaction, chlorination, gold, tantalum and titanium e ...

, adjunct professor of metallurgy (?–2007) * Ray D. Hahn, men's basketball head coach (1930–1935) and football head coach (1929–1934) *

Dan Kratzer Daniel Leon Kratzer (born July 7, 1949) is a former American football player and coach. Kratzer served as the head football coach at Ohio Northern (1984–1985), Hastings (1990–1994), Lindenwood (1995–2000), and South Dakota Mines (2005–20 ...

, football head coach (2005–2011) * Erv Mondt, football head coach (1990–1994) * Dr.

Walter A. Rosenblith Walter A. Rosenblith (September 21, 1913 – May 1, 2002) was a biophysicist and Institute Professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He was elected to all three National Academies (United States National Academy of Sciences, Nationa ...

, physics professor (1943–1947) * Dave Strong, football head coach (1941) and men's basketball head coach (1941–1942) * Dr.

Jack Weyland Jack Arnold Weyland (born 1940) is a retired professor of physics at Brigham Young University–Idaho (BYU–Idaho) and a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He was a prolific and well-known author of fiction for LDS audie ...

, author and physics professor (?–1971)

Notable alumni

James Abourezk James George Abourezk (born February 24, 1931) is an American attorney and Democratic politician who served as a United States senator and United States representative from South Dakota. He did not seek re-election to the US Senate in 1978. He w ...

, former U.S. Representative and U.S. Senator from

, and the first Arab-American to serve in the U.S. Senate. *D. Sherwin Artus, Director & Former CEO, of Whiting Petroleum Corp. *Richard H. Frank, President and CEO of Darby Emerging Markets Fund. Former Managing Director at the

World Bank Group The World Bank Group (WBG) is a family of five international organizations that make leveraged loans to developing countries. It is the largest and best-known development bank in the world and an observer at the United Nations Development Grou ...

. *

Marty Jackley Martin J. Jackley (born October 13, 1970) is an American attorney and politician who is currently serving as the Attorney General of South Dakota since 2023, having previously served from 2009 to 2019. He assumed office as Attorney General again ...

, 30th

Attorney General of South Dakota The Attorney General of South Dakota is the state attorney general of the U.S. state of South Dakota. The attorney general is elected by popular vote to a four-year term and holds an Executive (government), executive position as the state's chief l ...

. *Tony Jensen, President and CEO of

Royal Gold Royal Gold is one of the world's leading precious metals streaming and royalty companies engaged in the acquisition and management of precious metal streams, royalties and similar production-based interests. Royal Gold owns a large portfolio of pr ...

. *Kurt Kost, President,

Alpha Natural Resources Alpha Natural Resources is a large American producer of metallurgical coal ("met coal") for the industrial production of steel and iron and low-sulfur thermal coal ("steam coal") to fuel steam boilers for the production of electrical power. In Nove ...

. Past President of Society of Mining Engineers. *

Al Kurtenbach Aelred J. (Al) Kurtenbach (born January 3, 1934) is an American electrical engineer. He was also briefly member of the South Dakota State Senate in 2004. Kurtenbach is the founder of Daktronics, Inc., based in Brookings, South Dakota. He attended ...

, founder of

Daktronics Daktronics is an American company based in Brookings, South Dakota that designs, manufactures, sells, and services video displays, scoreboards, digital billboards, dynamic message signs, sound systems, and related products. Founded in 1968 by ...

Walter Dale Miller Walter Dale "Walt" Miller (October 5, 1925 – September 28, 2015) was an American politician and member of the Republican Party. He served as the 29th Governor of South Dakota from 1993 to 1995, having assumed the office upon the death of Geo ...

, 34th Lieutenant Governor of South Dakota and 29th Governor of South Dakota *Cmdr.

George Philip Jr. USS ''George Philip'' (FFG-12), sixth ship of the of guided-missile frigates, was named for Commander George Philip Jr. (1912–1945), posthumous winner of the Navy Cross (United States), Navy Cross for actions as commanding officer of the dest ...

, posthumous winner of the

Navy Cross The Navy Cross is the United States Navy and United States Marine Corps' second-highest military decoration awarded for sailors and marines who distinguish themselves for extraordinary heroism in combat with an armed enemy force. The medal is eq ...

for actions as commander of and namesake of . *Susan Opp, President of L-3 Communications Systems – West *Dr. Tim Osswald, professor of mechanical engineering at

University of Wisconsin–Madison A university () is an educational institution, institution of higher education, higher (or Tertiary education, tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several Discipline (academia), academic disciplines. Universities ty ...

* Dean M. Peterson, inventor of the Kodak

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camera and the "point-and-shoot" camera *Dr. Marcus R. Ross, paleontologist,

young earth creationist Young Earth creationism (YEC) is a form of creationism which holds as a central tenet that the Earth and its lifeforms were created by supernatural acts of the Abrahamic God between approximately 6,000 and 10,000 years ago. In its most widespr ...

, and professor of geology at

Liberty University Liberty University (LU) is a private Baptist university in Lynchburg, Virginia. It is affiliated with the Southern Baptist Conservatives of Virginia (Southern Baptist Convention). Founded in 1971 by Jerry Falwell Sr. and Elmer L. Towns, Liberty i ...

Ajmal Shams Ajmal Shams is an Afghan politician and former civil engineer. Shams has been president of the Afghan Social Democratic Party since October 2005. He served as Deputy Minister of the Ministry of Urban Development and Housing in the Afghan Governm ...

, current president of the Afghan Social Democratic Party. *

Anne-Grete Strøm-Erichsen Anne-Grete Hjelle Strøm-Erichsen (born 21 October 1949 in Bergen) is a Norwegian politician for the Labour Party. She served as Minister of Defence from 2005 to 2009 and again from 2012 to 2013. She also served as Minister of Health and Care Ser ...

, former Norwegian

Minister of Defence A defence minister or minister of defence is a Cabinet (government), cabinet official position in charge of a ministry of defense, which regulates the armed forces in sovereign states. The role of a defence minister varies considerably from coun ...

and

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. Former mayor of

Bergen Bergen (), historically Bjørgvin, is a city and municipality in Vestland county on the west coast of Norway. , its population is roughly 285,900. Bergen is the second-largest city in Norway. The municipality covers and is on the peninsula of ...

. * Jim Shaw, former mayor of

*Emery Stephans, President and CEO of Enterprise Analysis Corporation. *Gary R. Veurink, Vice President Manufacturing and Engineering of

Dow Chemical Company The Dow Chemical Company, officially Dow Inc., is an American multinational chemical corporation headquartered in Midland, Michigan, United States. The company is among the three largest chemical producers in the world. Dow manufactures plastic ...

; Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer

International Justice Mission International Justice Mission is an international, non-governmental 501(c)(3) organization focused on human rights, law and law enforcement. Founded in 1997 by lawyer Gary Haugen of the United States, it is based in Washington, D.C. All IJM em ...

*Chinedu Ositadinma Nebo, former Nigerian Minister of Power and Vice-Chancellor of the

University of Nigeria Nsukka The University of Nigeria, commonly referred to as UNN, is a federal university located in Nsukka, Enugu State, Eastern part of Nigeria. Founded by Nnamdi Azikiwe in 1955 and formally opened on 7 October 1960, the University of Nigeria has thr ...

, and Federal University Oye-Ekiti * James Zimmerman, Physicist, National Institute of Standards and Technology,

References

External links

*
South Dakota School of Mines and Technology Athletics
* {{authority control Schools of mines in the United States Engineering universities and colleges in South Dakota Technological universities in the United States Public universities and colleges in South Dakota Black Hills Buildings and structures in Rapid City, South Dakota Education in Rapid City, South Dakota Educational institutions established in 1885 1885 establishments in Dakota Territory