Mines Alumna, Author and National Engineer Leader to Deliver Keynote Address at 192nd Commencement Ceremony
Scyller Borglum, Ph.D., and South Dakota Mines alumna, will give the commencement address during the South Dakota Mines 192nd commencement ceremony at 9 a.m. on Saturday, Dec. 20, 2025, in the Fine Arts Theatre at The Monument in Rapid City. Those who wish to view the ceremony online can find information here.
The event includes a total of 152 graduates. This includes one associate, 73 baccalaureates, 62 master’s and 16 doctoral degrees. The names of all graduates and more detailed biographies for our honored guests can be found in the commencement program.
This year’s senior class representative speaker is Adedokum Alarape-Crowe, from Hudson, Colo., who will be graduating with a Bachelor of Science in civil engineering. During his time at Mines, he was active in the National Society of Black Engineers and the Student Associate Senate, and played defensive back for the Hardrocker football team, earning Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference All-Academic Honor Roll honors in 2023 and 2024.
Alarape-Crowe completed internships with Interstates in Iowa, Nucor-Vulcraft in South Carolina, and Advanced Geotechnical Solutions in Wyoming. He will continue at Mines to pursue a master’s degree in civil engineering.
Along with being the commencement keynote speaker, Borglum will also be awarded an honorary Doctor of Public Service.
Scyller Borglum
Scyller Borglum, Ph.D., is a national leader in petroleum and geological engineering with more than two decades of experience in energy storage, subsurface engineering and strategic planning. She serves as head of caverns and salt-brine expert at Westlake Corporation, overseeing solution mining, brine management and cavern integrity across North America.
Her career includes directing underground storage initiatives at William Sale Partnership USA and contributing to Advanced Clean Energy Storage in Utah, the world's first utility-scale hydrogen production and storage facility. She has held engineering roles at RESPEC and Marathon Oil, conducted geomechanical research through the National Energy Technology Laboratory and worked internationally as a Fulbright scholar in Norway. Borglum also served in the South Dakota State Legislature, where she helped shape state energy policy.
A 2018 Mines doctoral graduate in geology and geological engineering, she holds multiple advanced degrees and is the author of two books and several technical publications. Borglum lives in Rapid City and frequently travels to Houston for her work.
Members of the media are welcome to attend the ceremony and interview graduates and university officials after the event.