Dedicated students, distinguished colleagues and dear friends,

Happy Friday!

Last week 28 of our most dedicated alumni came together and provided us with their collective wisdom of over 1,000 years of experience since they graduated from this great university and led professional careers of national and international status. Our members of the Board of Trustees helped us bridge the gap between the known and the unknown, between the urgent and the important, and between knowledge and wisdom. For their collective wisdom and selfless contributions, we are grateful.

Countless other alumni provide valuable input through a variety of means, including responding to my Friday messages such as this one. I have learned a great deal about S&T and its glorious history from contributions of our alumni who respond to my messages. These range from alumni who graduated just this past year to many who graduated in the late 1940s and every year in between. They attended the Missouri School of Mines and Metallurgy (MSM), UMR or S&T. These are delightful responses and they come from all over the world! From South and Central America, Europe, Africa, China, India, Japan, South Korea, the Middle East and even from Iceland, alumni tell their stories of yesteryear and “the way it used to be.” To all of you I say, thank you for your contributions and for sharing your thoughts that often spark further discussion and ideation here on campus.

Your inputs help guide us in our planning, as does the input of other alumni, such as our eight academies, which I wrote about last fall. As I wrote then, “Left to our own devices, we academics could mainly focus on our exciting theoretical and hypothesis-driven research. Some may say, there’s nothing wrong with that. I say, as long as we don’t become insular in the process and we balance and align our work with the needs of the society, community and industry of today and tomorrow.”

Our trustees, academy members, Miner Alumni Association board, and all other engaged alumni are our campus ambassadors whose life and leadership experiences and broad vision help keep us grounded. They help us achieve the balance and alignment that we need to continue to calibrate our outstanding educational programs and fulfill our mission. They are the financial investors supporting our future students and the rainmakers who employ our graduates. For generations, the leaders of this university have stood on the shoulders of our alumni, and the “future” students have benefited from, and in many cases counted on, their support. After all, it is all about fulfilling our mission in support of current and future generations of our students.

One of the most delightful occasions on campus, our Homecoming, is when so many of our alumni join us to celebrate our achievements and engage with their fellow alums and with us here on campus. This year’s event will be no exception and we look forward to seeing many of you here at our 2022 Homecoming next month.

Here at S&T we are excited about the progress that is fueling the long exciting journey ahead. It is a journey of evolution and change to which I personally invite all of you, our alumni of all years past, to join us in elevating S&T, having broad STEM outreach, and strengthening our regional, state and national economy. You will feel more connected, and we will reap the benefits of your collective wisdom.

Together we can Solve for Tomorrow, the S&T way.

Warmly,

-Mo.

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Mohammad Dehghani, PhD
Chancellor
mo@mst.edu | 573-341-4116

206 Parker Hall, 300 West 13th Street, Rolla, MO 65409-0910
chancellor.mst.edu