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

public university A public university, state university, or public college is a university or college that is State ownership, owned by the state or receives significant funding from a government. Whether a national university is considered public varies from o ...

Rapid City, South Dakota Rapid City is the county seat of Pennington County, South Dakota, United States. It is located on the eastern slope of the Black Hills in western South Dakota and was named after Rapid Creek (South Dakota), Rapid Creek, where the settlement deve ...

. It is governed by the South Dakota Board of Regents 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, 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 Dakota people, Dakota Sioux ...

as a state to the United States. The School of Mines presented exhibits during the 1904 World's Fair 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). 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. While ROTC graduate officers serve in all branches o ...

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 a ...

announced that it had passed

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

in the category of starting salaries for graduates. On September 19, Tech President 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, as the 12th president of the South Dak ...

would 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. In October 2017, the School of Mines announced that the next president would be James (Jim) Rankin, Ph.D. He retired in 2024.

Academics

South Dakota Mines offers degrees in 20 engineering and science fields, as well as 18 master's degree programs and 9 Doctorate programs. Its most popular undergraduate majors, based on 2021 graduates, were: *Mechanical Engineering (64) *Computer and Information Sciences (47) *Civil Engineering (47) *Industrial Engineering (41) *Chemical Engineering (31) *Electrical and Electronics Engineering (23) The South Dakota Mines placement rate for graduates with a bachelor’s degree is 97 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

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

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 78,000 m ...

Delta Sigma Phi Delta Sigma Phi (), commonly known as Delta 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 based on religious and e ...

Lambda Chi Alpha Lambda Chi Alpha (), commonly referred to as Lambda Chi, is a fraternities and sororities, collegiate fraternity in North America. With over 300,000 initiates as of 2024, it is the third-largest social fraternity in the world by number of initia ...

Chi Psi Chi Psi () is a fraternities and sororities, fraternity consisting of active chapters at 34 American colleges and universities. Chi Psi was founded in 1841 at Union College in Schenectady, New York. It was the first Greek-letter organization to b ...

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

, and

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. 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 member ...

and

Beta Delta Mu Beta (, ; uppercase , lowercase , or cursive ; or ) is the second letter of the Greek alphabet. In the system of Greek numerals, it has a value of 2. In Ancient Greek, beta represented the voiced bilabial plosive . In Modern Greek, it represen ...

. Student government organizations include the Student Association Senate. Student media organizations include KTEQ-FM (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 nonprofit Christian sports ministry based in Kansas City, Missouri, Kansas City. History FCA was founded in 1954 by Eastern Oklahoma State College, Eastern Oklahoma A&M basketball c ...

InterVarsity Christian Fellowship InterVarsity Christian Fellowship/USA (IVCF) is an evangelicalism, evangelical Christianity, Christian student movement with affiliate groups on university campuses in U.S.. It is a member of the International Fellowship of Evangelical Students ...

, Lutheran Campus Ministry, the Newman Center, 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 College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...

(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 a ...

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

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

(NAIA) from 2000–01 to 2010–11, and were former members of the South Dakota Intercollegiate Conference (SDIC) (also from the NAIA) until after the 1999–2000 school year. South Dakota Mines completed the transition from 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. Duane C. Hrncir served as acting president from 2012–2013 following the death of Robert A. Wharton.

Deans

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

Presidents

# Robert L. Slagle (1898–1905) # Charles H. Fulton (1905–1911) # Cleophas C. O'Harra (1911–1935) # Joseph P. Connolly (1935–1947) # Warren E. Wilson (1948–1953) # Fay L. Partlo (1954–1966) # Harvey R. Fraser (1966–1975) # Richard A. Schleusener (1975–1987) # Richard J. Gowen (1987–2003) # Charles P. Ruch (2003–2008) # Robert A. Wharton (2008–2012) # Heather A. Wilson (2013–2017) # James M. Rankin (2017–2024) # Brian Tande (2025–present)

Other notable staff

* Ernest Allmendinger, football head coach (1914) * William Arbegast, director of the Advanced Materials Processing and Joining Center (2001–2009) * Philip R. Bjork, geology and paleontology professor (1975–2000) * William Phipps Blake, 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 college and professional football coach. Boyer previously coached with the New England Patriots and multiple college football teams. Coaching career College After graduating from Muskingum Coll ...

, football defensive coordinator (2005) now NFL coach * Wendell E. Dunn, Jr., adjunct professor of metallurgy (?–2007) * Ray D. Hahn, men's basketball head coach (1930–1935) and football head coach (1929–1934) * Dan Kratzer, football head coach (2005–2011) * Erv Mondt, football head coach (1990–1994) * Walter A. Rosenblith, physics professor (1943–1947) * Dave Strong, football head coach (1941) and men's basketball head coach (1941–1942) *

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 audi ...

, author and physics professor (?–1971)

Notable alumni

* James Abourezk, former U.S. Representative and U.S. Senator from

; the first Arab-American to serve in the U.S. Senate *

Dianne Dorland Dianne Dorland is an American chemical engineer and STEM education advocate. She served as the first female president of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers. She is also the former chair of the Department of Chemical Engineering at the ...

, first female president of the

American Institute of Chemical Engineers The American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE) is a professional organization for chemical engineers. AIChE was established in 1908 to distinguish chemical engineers as professionals independent of chemists and mechanical engineers. Curr ...

* Stan Ellis, member of the

California State Assembly The California State Assembly is the lower house of the California State Legislature (the upper house being the California State Senate). The Assembly convenes, along with the State Senate, at the California State Capitol in Sacramento, Califor ...

representing California's 32nd State Assembly district since 2025 * Marty Jackley, 30th and 33rd Attorney General of South Dakota. * Zay Jeffries, engineer and recipient of the 1946

John Fritz Medal The John Fritz Medal has been awarded annually since 1902 by the American Association of Engineering Societies (AAES) for "outstanding scientific or industrial achievements". The medal was created for the 80th birthday of John Fritz, who lived bet ...

*Tony Jensen, president and CEO of Royal Gold *Kurt Kost, president,

Alpha Natural Resources Alpha Metallurgical 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. ...

; past president of Society of Mining Engineers * Al Kurtenbach, founder of

Daktronics Daktronics, Inc. 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. It was found ...

* Peter Larson, paleontologist, fossil dealer, and founder of the Black Hills Institute of Geological Research * Walter Dale Miller, 34th Lieutenant Governor of South Dakota and 29th Governor of South Dakota * George Philip Jr., Cmdr., posthumous winner of the

Navy Cross The Navy Cross is the United States Naval Service's 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 equivalent to the Army ...

for actions as commander of and namesake of * Tim Osswald, professor of mechanical engineering at

University of Wisconsin–Madison The University of Wisconsin–Madison (University of Wisconsin, Wisconsin, UW, UW–Madison, or simply Madison) is a public land-grant research university in Madison, Wisconsin, United States. It was founded in 1848 when Wisconsin achieved st ...

* Dean M. Peterson, inventor of the Kodak

Instamatic : ''For the film formats associated with the ''Instamatic'' and ''Pocket Instamatic'' camera ranges, see 126 film and 110 film respectively.'' The Instamatic is a series of inexpensive, easy-to-load 126 film, 126 and 110 film, 110 cameras made b ...

camera and the "point-and-shoot" camera * 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 about 10,000 and 6,000 years ago, contradicting established ...

, and professor of geology at

Liberty University Liberty University (LU), known simply as Liberty, is a Private university, private Evangelicalism in the United States, evangelical Christian university in Lynchburg, Virginia, United States. It is affiliated with the Southern Baptist Conservativ ...

* Ajmal Shams, president of the Afghan Social Democratic Party * Jim Shaw, former mayor of

* Anne-Grete Strøm-Erichsen, former Norwegian

Minister of Defence A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is the part of a government responsible for matters of defence and military forces, found in states where the government is divid ...

and

Minister of Health and Care Services The Minister of Health and Care Services () is a Council of State (Norway), councilor of state and chief of the Norway's Ministry of Health and Care Services (Norway), Ministry of Health and Care Services. Since 19 April 2024 the position has been ...

; former mayor of

Bergen Bergen (, ) is a city and municipalities of Norway, municipality in Vestland county on the Western Norway, west coast of Norway. Bergen is the list of towns and cities in Norway, second-largest city in Norway after the capital Oslo. By May 20 ...

* Jakeb Sullivan, professional football

quarterback The quarterback (QB) is a position in gridiron football who are members of the offensive side of the ball and mostly line up directly behind the Lineman (football), offensive line. In modern American football, the quarterback is usually consider ...

*Gary R. Veurink, vice president manufacturing and engineering of

Dow Chemical Company The Dow Chemical Company is an American multinational corporation headquartered in Midland, Michigan, United States. The company was among the three largest chemical producers in the world in 2021. It is the operating subsidiary of Dow Inc., ...

; executive vice president and chief operating officer

International Justice Mission International Justice Mission is an international non-governmental organization focused on human rights and law enforcement. It was founded in 1997 by lawyer Gary Haugen in Washington, D.C. All IJM employees are required to be practicing Chris ...

* James Zimmerman, physicist, National Institute of Standards and Technology

References

External links

*
Athletics website
* {{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 Universities and colleges established in 1885 1885 establishments in Dakota Territory