Dedicated students, distinguished colleagues and dear friends,

Happy Friday!

As we soon embark on another academic year, in my mind’s eye, I try to see this place all those years ago when for the first time 23 men and one woman, Clara Smith, registered to become the first students at our university 155 years ago. In 1874, the first degrees were awarded to Gustavus A. Duncan and John Holt Gill in civil engineering and John Wallace Pack in mining engineering. Interestingly, from the very beginning, along with hundreds of thousands of American male students, and unlike many institutions of higher education, S&T has welcomed women and international students.

Heartwarming examples abound, including Zentaro Iijima, our first student from Japan who came to Rolla in 1892. Zentaro majored in civil engineering while taking courses in electricity from physics professor Austin Lee McRae. He became a charter member of the MSM Electrical Club and made a presentation to members on a “System of Wiring for Electric Lighting.” He was active on campus, joining the Mining Club and serving on a committee that organized the 1893 commencement ball. Convinced that “an electric light plant for this town is needed,” Zentaro developed and proposed to the city council a plan to construct a light and power plant, including construction and operation costs and projected annual earnings. Zentaro returned to Japan and became one of his nation’s leading electrical engineers, electrified the first city in Japan, and never forgot his experiences at MSM and the “kindness shown” to him by Rolla citizens. In fact, he routinely wrote to the university until his last correspondence was received in the late 1920s.

Hector Boza earned his bachelor's degree in mining engineering from this institution in 1911. He later became involved in government in his homeland of Peru and served as senator, president of the senate, and first vice president of Peru. Other notables include Dr. Farouk El-Baz, a native of Egypt who earned his master’s and Ph.D. degrees in geology from our university and helped NASA determine the site of the Apollo 11 moon landing. Mariana Rodriguez, a native of Peru, earned her bachelor’s degree in civil engineering from S&T in 1980, returned to her homeland, and helped establish two universities and two technical institutes. And Bipin Doshi came to S&T from India and earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in chemical engineering. Following a successful career, he and his wife, Linda, supported his alma mater by endowing the Doshi Department of Chemical and Biochemical Engineering. There are many more examples to highlight, but you get the point.

I invite all of you, our alumni, faculty, staff, students and friends, to explore the stories of our dedicated trailblazers of yesteryears, American and international, find inspiration in their paths and perhaps imagine your own place in S&T’s legacy. 

As an international student myself, and as we enter the new world order in international relations, for the first time at our university and similarly across many institutions of higher education, the significant decline in enrollment of international students could have unintended and hopefully unwanted consequences. Aside from long-term, intangible benefits that the international students and scholars offer, the economic case alone is worthy of consideration.

My review of our old archives – a favorite pastime of mine – led to an epiphany about how incredibly proud we ought to be of the paths and contributions of our international scholars. And as we gradually and positively move from disruption to reform, a course adjustment in our academic international relations would be a welcome change.

Given all the ongoing devastating wars, all the conflicts that highlight perversion of logic, we need more collaboration, not less! After all, our success should be measured by what we are for, and not by what we are against!

We need others and they need us. Everyone does!

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