Miner Stories

Surveying the future of mining

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Karl F. Hasselmann, who graduated in 1925 with a degree in mining engineering, was oil prospecting in Europe when he began researching how to use gravitational survey methods to locate offshore oil. After returning to the U.S., Hasselmann began drilling with his own company in the Gulf of Mexico and discovered one of the first…

Joe Miner with Jerry Bayless

‘Mr. Miner’

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The name “Mr. Miner” may sound like someone related to mascot Joe Miner, and in Jerry Bayless’s case it may be true. Carrying the aforementioned nickname, Bayless, who earned his bachelor’s degree (1959) in civil engineering,joined the civil engineering faculty while pursuing a master’s degree (1962) in the same discipline. He remained on the faculty…

Raising support for scholarship

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Zebulun Nash, who graduated with a degree in chemical engineering in 1972, was part of a team that got its start by raising funds for the creation of a Martin Luther King Jr. Scholarship at S&T. It took 20 years, but the scholarship endowment became a reality for the university’s students.

Leading a national lab

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At Sandia National Laboratories, Joan Woodard, a mathematics graduate in 1973, was the executive vice president and deputy laboratories director for more than 10 years. Woodard, who retired in May 2010, joined Sandia in 1974 and held various positions of increasing responsibility. She served as executive leader for the nuclear weapons program, as the executive…

Bringing back the wetlands

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Donald Hey, a 1963 graduate in civil engineering, is passionate about proving the economic efficiency and sustainability of using restored wetlands for water quality management and flood control. Hey, an executive director and co-founder for Wetlands Research Inc. based in Wadsworth, Illinois, focuses his research on river and wetland restoration throughout the Mississippi River Basin.…

Studying the past to improve the future

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Katy Bloomberg, who earned her bachelor’s degree in history in 2006, believes that her experience working in S&T’s Archives prepared her for her work in the federal government. Bloomberg has worked in the Defense Department in Washington, D.C., as a program analyst at the Commission on Wartime Contracting. The contracting commission develops recommendations to improve…

Creating fashion for feet

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When Darla Ellis, a 2006 graduate in chemical engineering, began a summer internship with Nike, Inc. during her senior year at Missouri S&T, she already owned a well-loved pair of their shoes. She returned to campus at the end of the summer with eight pairs. Today, Ellis continues to wear Nikes to work as a…

Cheryl D.S. Walker: engineer, curator, lawyer, poet

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Cheryl D.S. Walker, who earned a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering in 1986, has many talents and many pursuits. Dedicated to serving her community and the University of Missouri System, she’s also devoted to music and the arts, especially poetry. The S&T community may best know Walker from her service to higher education. A member…

Taking S&T to dizzying heights

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The snows of Kilimanjaro have been touched by Missouri S&T. Sarah Taylor, a 2001 graduate in electrical engineering, and her father, Mark Amen, who earned his bachelor’s degree in civil engineering in 1976, climbed to the summit of Africa’s highest peak and planted the S&T flag in March 2011. It’s quite a feat, considering that…

First woman department chair

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In 1990, Dr. Elizabeth Cummins was named chair of Missouri S&T’s English department. She joined S&T as an instructor in 1967 after teaching five years at the University of Missouri-Columbia. She taught classes on literature, science fiction and technical writing. Beyond her teaching and scholarly accomplishments, including three Faculty Excellence Awards, Cummins was one of…