It was a fire drill at TJ Residence Hall in September 1999 that first brought Amanda (Kay Hansen) and Chris Byrd together. The two connected again a couple of weeks later at the hall’s dance and have been together ever since.

The pair graduated with bachelor’s degrees in civil engineering in May 2003.
“We got married in Rolla one week after we graduated, and then moved to Wichita, Kan., to start our new life together,” she says. “Rolla has always held a special place in our hearts. We enjoy the opportunity to drive through every few years and make our four kids listen to us reminisce about our college days.”
Share This Story
Spark a Memory?
Share your story! Fill out the form below to share your fondest memory or anecdote of S&T. If you'd prefer not typing, you can also share by phone at 833-646-3715 (833-Miner150).
Serial entrepreneurship
Gary Havener, a 1962 graduate in mathematics, is the founder of several companies, with business dealings including real estate development…
Leading a national lab
At Sandia National Laboratories, Joan Woodard, a mathematics graduate in 1973, was the executive vice president and deputy laboratories director…
Kristy Giacomelli-Feys and Dimitri Feys
Finding love after a divorce can feel like a fool’s errand. But for Kristy Giacomelli-Feys and Dimitri Feys, their first…
EV pioneer
As the auto industry begins to fully embrace the notion of electric vehicles, it has EV pioneers like Jon Bereisa…
David and Karen (Miller) Sorrell
In the spring semester of 1979, David Sorrell was looking for an “easy A” during his senior year at Missouri…
From S&T soccer to the state capitol
You might think that with the thousands of graduates Missouri S&T has produced over its 150-year history, at least a…