Office of the President
Welcome to the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology!
The School of Mines has a proud and
long-standing heritage of excellence in preparing graduates to serve as
leaders in engineering and science.
Duane C. Hrncir, PhD
Acting President,
Provost and Vice President of Academic Affairs
Founded in 1885, the South Dakota School of Mines & Technology
boasts a rich history of achievement, contributing for over a century to
the scientific and technological advancements known today - and the
future as it will unfold tomorrow. From climate change and bioenergy to
mineral extraction and national defense, we continuously adapt, forging
innovative solutions to the globe's most pressing problems. Human
ingenuity has always been our greatest strength - and in the
dramatically-changing environment of the 21st century, this capacity for innovation has never been so important.
We offer our students real-world experiences to sharpen their
potential and careers to ignite it. Our 14:1 student-to-faculty ratio,
where students are known and closely mentored by their professors,
results in over 90 percent of them leaving with valuable internship,
co-op, or undergraduate research experience, a 97 percent placement
rate, and an average starting salary of $62,969.
The School of Mines is a powerful economic engine for the State of
South Dakota as well, attracting tens of millions in research funding
each year. With a measurable impact on our economy and the state of the
nation and world, such initiatives propel our century-old legacy of
excellence into a new era, marked by the same fearless determination of
those rugged pioneers long ago.
Driven by the Mines 2020: Strategic Vision and Plan, we're forging an
ambitious path forward. Through five priorities - increasing enrollment
to 3,500; sustaining placement rates of 96 percent or higher;
increasing annual research awards to $50 million; expanding the research
enterprise and building a new research facility; and recruiting and
retaining a diverse faculty and staff - we advance closer toward our
vision of becoming a world-class university whose collaborative
endeavors will reverberate throughout the world.