LOOKING BACK

45 Years Ago

1978

The South Dakota Intercollegiate Conference (SDIC) competition opened to women and the Tech Rockerettes Basketball Team takes first place.

20 years ago

2003

Spirit Rock is officially dedicated on campus.

Dear Hardrockers,

Thanks to support from many of you, our campus is bustling with new construction and growth across many departments. The Nucor Mineral Industries Building is quickly taking shape and will open in 2024 to provide our students and faculty with cutting-edge resources. We’re in the final hurdles of our fundraising efforts, and naming opportunities for state-of-the-art labs, classrooms, and meeting rooms are still available inside the new facility.

Research on campus is also expanding at a rapid pace across a range of disciplines; bioprocessing, data science, energy storage, advanced manufacturing, and physics are just some of the several exciting areas of innovation that can spin off into high-tech industry growth.

Our partnership with the Sanford Underground Research Facility (SURF) includes a new effort to expand the underground lab space in Lead as well as to build the Institute for Underground Science at SURF. These projects will continue to provide amazing opportunities for Mines students, faculty, and alumni for decades to come.

Our partnership with the Department of Defense via the National Security Innovation Network is also turning out new student start-up businesses right here in the Black Hills. Read more about CounSill LLC, one example of many, on page 22.

As we expand research and tech-based economic development in the Black Hills, we’re not forgetting our commitment to creating world-class STEM professionals. Starting in the fall, we’re kicking off the President’s Leadership Academy, a recurring year-long program which will expose students to the skills, insights, and perspectives that define effective leaders. Our students remain in high demand. Our career fairs continually break employer and student attendance records, and we aim to continue to grow enrollment and increase the number of graduates in the coming years.

Our alumni play crucial roles in all of these efforts; we have a bright future thanks to the time, talent, and resources so many of you invest in our alma mater. I hope to see many of you during our homecoming events this coming fall, if not up on the hill on our Friday, Sept. 15 M Day celebration, then at the Hardrocker Heritage Gala that evening or at the football game on Saturday, Sept. 16.

Warm regards,

Jim Rankin (EE 78), PhD, PE President South Dakota Mines