Dedicated students, distinguished colleagues and dear friends,

Happy Friday!

In a few hours, the Olympic games will begin. Integrating determination, culture and education, these remarkable exercises bring the best of human qualities together in a balanced way that is only achieved through enduring effort. Men and women of all cultural, ethnic, racial, religious and philosophical backgrounds come together and contribute to building a more peaceful and cohesive world.

And, at the risk of being repetitive; in a few days, our new academic year will begin. Integrating determination, culture and education, our exceptional educational programs bring the best of human qualities together in a balanced way that is only achieved through enduring effort. Men and women of all cultural, ethnic, racial, religious and philosophical backgrounds come together and contribute to building a more peaceful and cohesive world.

In light of the pending demographic cliff, and as more teens skip college, I am always asked, “Why should I attend a university when I can get a well-paying job now?” Frankly, that is a troubling question to begin with! In response, I submit that it is only through life-enhancing education and enduring learning effort that we recognize the richness of the human spirit and gain the ability to transcend ethnic, gender, philosophical and cultural boundaries and value differences. In fact, it is through education and the experience of cohort learning that we are able to appreciate those differences as enablers of society’s creativity. Of course, just as in Olympic competitive arenas, meaningful achievement is only possible through sustained, rigorous effort, without privilege, entitlement or discrimination, and in the spirit of teamwork and mutual understanding.

Through my Friday messages, I have heard from generations of our alumni, ranging from Miners who graduated decades ago to our most recent graduates, who, without exception, attribute their professional and personal success to their higher education in general and to their Rolla education specifically. They recognize the enormous value of their broader education that opened their eyes to the world and enhanced their perspectives, as much as they value their technical and specialized trainings. They tell me about how their technical education allowed for deeper exploration and pragmatic experimentation and how it opened doors to internships, co-ops and eventually well-paying, meaningful jobs. At the same time, they highlight that their broader university education permitted coexistence, better communication, and a sense of solidarity with their fellow students.

To our incoming and returning students, and to all those who consider college education anywhere, I say nothing teaches us about life and coexistence better than four years of residential college. My undergraduate experience at LSU, aside from all the common benefits of an engineering education, taught me how to be precise in expressing myself, in understanding the nuances of teamwork and how to overcome the impediments of a contemporary world.

The recruiters of our graduates tell me that they are not only impressed with the technical SKAs (skills, knowledge and abilities) of our graduates, but they are also drawn to our graduates because of their understanding of multidisciplinary teams, spirit of cooperation and teamwork. They tell me that even as interns and in co-ops, our students are well-prepared due to our experiential learningapproach and the support they receive in interview preparation, creating résumés and other job documents.

Finally, as I write this note on National Intern Day, I encourage all our incoming students to encourage their friends and classmates to consider all the benefits of a college education beyond earnings and not to succumb to the challenges of entering a university — any university. In today’s world of continuous innovation and discovery, in our environment of growing interdisciplinary advances, and in an era of multicultural existence, a life without post-secondary education is partly blind to deeper aspects of life that we all desperately need to see.

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