When Jennifer Miskimins MS ’00, PhD ’02 received her bachelor’s degree in petroleum engineering in 1990, the United States oil industry was still reeling from the ’80s price collapse, most major companies had shifted their exploration efforts overseas, and those remaining on shore were slowing production and focusing on the lowest-hanging fruit. Talk of an imminent “peak oil” crisis was escalating. And for bright, forward-thinking engineers, job prospects were bleak. A quarter-century later, the U.S. energy landscape couldn’t look more different.

I really enjoyed the cover story on quantum dots as they relate to breakthroughs in solar panels. It’s like getting an issue of Scientific American that relates to research being done at my old school. My only comment is, more articles like this, please! I’m sure Mines has enough going on to fill a much

I enjoyed “Exploring Human Landscapes” [fall 2012], but in the photo on p. 25 you show and mention Bill Clinton and Saunders. You fail to mention the great Nelson Mandela. I worked on the extremely deep gold mines of South Africa from 1983 until 1995, and saw Mandela released from prison and eventually democratically elected as South Africa’s president. He surely deserves to be recognized in this photo?

After reading the story about the bell [fall 2012 issue] and seeing my uncle in Editor’s Take, we found a couple more photos from the past. My dad and his two brothers were involved in the bell heist and engraving.

In the obituary for Donald Larson in the fall 2012 edition, it was such a pleasure to see that he had won the Robert Lesage award from the Rocky Mountain Lift Association in 2008. I know a little bit about Robert Lesage because he was my father, and also a Mines graduate with an EM degree in 1948.

I loved [the fall 2012 issue]. Great magazine. I always give them to kids in the neighborhood who have an interest in going to Mines.

I had a very different Editor’s Take in mind until the day before we went to press. That was when my boss and friend, Anita Pariseau, came into my office at the end of the day to say she’d taken a position at Colorado College and would be leaving in a few weeks.

The chance to perform in the Vatican’s St. Peter’s Basilica—the world’s largest church and, acoustically, one of the most remarkable—would be a far-fetched dream for many musicians, but for 21 members of the Mines community, it’s one they realized last October when they performed during a Saturday evening mass.

A 1976 alumnus has contributed $5 million anonymously to Colorado School of Mines to support the university’s Underground Construction and Tunneling Program and to provide scholarships for undergraduate students.

In Chuck Stone’s course, Renewable Energy, students design their own field trips to companies or organizations involved in renewable energy or sustainability and outline their experience in a report.

John Turley ’65, petroleum engineering graduate, offshore-drilling expert, and ocean engineer, describes his book as a “facts-based nonfiction novel.”

Mark your calendars and get ready to hitch a ride on an ore cart to the 35th International Intercollegiate Mining Games on the Mines campus March 13–17, 2013.

Since beginning his academic career at Mines four decades ago, Tom Davis PhD ’74, a professor of geophysics at Mines, has returned almost every summer to Saskatchewan to help run the family farm, a 2,400-acre spread that includes lands his father, Len Davis, started farming in 1946.

In the final fall edition of the NCAA Division II Learfield Sports Director’s Cup standings, Colorado School of Mines ranked No. 1.

Navigating her first year at Mines and keeping up with a rigorous kart-racing schedule, Sabré Cook must work hard to stay ahead in these two predominantly male arenas.

Mines’ section of the Society of Women Engineers (the largest student section in the country at 545 members) received three awards at the organization’s 2012 national conference.

Almost 45 years after graduating with a professional degree in physics from Mines, cancer researcher Joe Gray ’68 returned to campus on December 14, 2012, as guest speaker for Midyear Degree Convocation in Lockridge Arena.

More than $14,000 was awarded to 19 freshmen and seniors at a reception on November 2, 2012, in the Ben H. Parker Student Center. Attended by more than 30 family members and friends, the event marked a longstanding alumni association tradition of offering special financial assistance to the children and grandchildren of members.

On November 12, 2012, the Colorado School of Mines Alumni Association’s ongoing Professional Development Series featured “Securing Your Next Move,” a panel discussion moderated by Cooper Swenson MS ’04. The panel included professional recruiters Dave White ’81 and Leslie O’Connor, and seasoned business executive Becky O’Rourke.

Graduating in the middle of the Great Depression, members of the Class of 1935 faced bleak job prospects. But E. Keith Staley ’35, who celebrated his 100th birthday on January 13 in Oro Valley, Ariz., points out that life had been tough for some time.

In 2012, Amy Clarke MS ’02, PhD ’06 produced a metallurgical first: movies that show bulk metallic alloys in the process of crystallizing.

At 6’2” and 275 pounds, with a slick, bald head, neatly trimmed goatee and several tattoos stretching across his biceps, Shane Carwin ’04 looks the part of an Ultimate Fighting champion.

William J. Arbegast Jr. ’74 of Rapid City, S.D., died November 28, 2009. Born in 1951, Bill received a bachelor’s degree in metallurgical engineering from Mines, where he was a member of Kappa Sigma fraternity. From 1974 to 1990, he was a senior staff engineer at Martin Marietta Astronautics Group, Space Launch Systems Division, and later worked for the company when it became Lockheed Martin; there he became the principal friction stir processing investigator. In 2001, Bill was appointed director of the Advanced Materials Processing and Joining Laboratory at the South Dakota School of Mines.

Valencia L. Barree ’86 of Littleton, Colo., died August 6, 2011. Born in 1957 into an Air Force family, she moved often; homes included Texas, Greece, Montana, South Dakota and, ultimately, Denver. Val studied classical cello performance at Colorado State University and the University of Denver, and then earned a bachelor’s degree in mathematics from Mines, where she was a member of Tau Beta Pi. After graduation and a brief stint as an instructor at Arapahoe Community College, she focused on software development for core test analysis and instrumentation under the company name Custom Scientific Tools.

Carl N. Bidinger ’50 of Sun City West, Ariz., died August 25, 2011. Born in 1925 in Denver, Carl lived in the city until beginning service in the Army Air Force as navigator and bombardier during World War II. After the war, he earned a professional degree in petroleum engineering from Mines, where he was a member of the Beta Theta Pi fraternity; later, as an alumnus, Carl supported the school as a member of the President’s Council for several years.

James H. Butler III ’52, PhD ’72 of Houston, Texas, died April 30, 2012. Born in 1928, James joined the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and served in the Philippines at the end of World War II. He went on to earn a professional degree in geology from Mines, and returned 20 years later to earn his doctorate in the same field. As a student, he was a member of Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity, and later, as an alumnus, he remained close to the school, serving as a student mentor through CSMAA and as a member of the President’s Council for several years.

Steven C. Dunn ’84 of Anchorage, Alaska, died December 23, 2011. Born in 1962 in Salt Lake City, Utah, and raised in Colorado and Japan, Steve was enrolled in the McBride Honors Program at Mines, where he graduated with a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering and petroleum refining. Immediately after graduation, he embarked on a 25-year career in the oil and gas industry.

Jack F. Earl ’53 of Georgetown, Texas, died July 5, 2012. Jack was born in 1927, attended Glendale College, and then earned a professional degree in geology from Mines, where he was a member of Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity and ROTC. He was also part of the local volunteer fire department. Jack received scholarships to Mines for basketball and football (playing quarterback), and he was also on the baseball team. He served in the U.S. Navy in World War II and as a first lieutenant in the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in the Korean War.

George H. Fentress ’49 of Tekamah, Neb., died June 15, 2012. Born in 1920, George served as a second lieutenant in the U.S. Army Air Corps, later graduating from Mines with a professional degree in geology. At Mines, he was a member of Beta Theta Pi fraternity, and he became an honorary member of the school’s alumni association in 1968. He served for 10 years in the Colorado House of Representatives. George was also a member of the American Association of Petroleum Geologists.

William L. Harvey ’55 of Parker, Colo., died January 16, 2012. Born in 1932, he joined the Marine Corps Reserve group at Buckley Naval Air Station in 1949. A year later, he enlisted in the Marines and was sent to study telephone technology in San Diego. While earning his professional degree in geophysical engineering at Mines, Bill was a member of ROTC, Tau Beta Pi and Sigma Gamma Epsilon fraternity. In 2004, he was a member of the President’s Council.