Professor James Stone, Ph.D., has
been named the new head of the Department
of Civil and Environmental Engineering (CEE) at South Dakota School of Mines & Technology.
Stone earned undergraduate and
master’s degrees at Virginia Tech before working for five years in industry
designing environmental remediation systems. Following completion of his Ph.D.
and post-doctoral studies at Penn State University, he began his work at South
Dakota Mines in 2003.
As a professor, Stone’s research
focused on a variety of collaborative and interdisciplinary projects dealing
with sustainability and the environment. His work delved into issues around agriculture
and the environment, uranium mining, water quality and bioenergy production. As
a teacher Stone worked with environmental-focused students on relevant, real-world
case studies and assignments to better prepare them to handle tomorrow’s
complex environmental problems.
“I am looking forward to the
challenges of leading this department and continuing the high level of both
teaching and research established by our faculty,” says Stone. “I’m also
looking forward to helping inspire the next generation of engineers.” Stone
hopes to increase departmental focus on sustainability during his time as
department head. “As we look at the grand challenges facing future scientists
and engineers, the ability to integrate sustainable infrastructure solutions
alongside environmental stewardship will be very important going forward,” he
says.
Stone takes the reigns of the department
at an opportune time. In late 2019, the CEE department received the
largest estate gift in university history -
a $3.6 million donation from the estate of Willard and Billie Kaye Goodman. CEE
department faculty are also seeing broad success in a wide range of interdisciplinary
research projects, including faculty who are playing lead roles in the $24
million NSF grant titled “Building on the 2020 Vision: Expanding
Research, Education and Innovation in South Dakota.” In 2018, the department graduated its first Ph.D., Namita Shrestha, who recently accepted a tenure track faculty
position at Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology, teaching environmental
engineering. This all comes alongside various
rankings that place CEE department degree offerings among the best in the
nation.
When Stone is not on campus you may
find him snowboarding, trail running or mountain biking on nearby M-Hill or one
of the many miles of trails and gravel roads in the adjacent Black Hills
and Badlands.
Stone was selected for the position
following the retirement of department head Scott Kenner, Ph.D., P.E. Kenner’s
distinguished career includes 28 years at the university as a celebrated
professor and leader. An article planned for the next edition of the Hardrock
magazine will profile Kenner’s accomplishments, while also highlighting the
career of administrative assistant Ellen Haffner who is also retiring following
her 18 years of service in the CEE department.