NEWS TIPS  | HISTORY OF UMR | FACTS & STATISTICS

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News Tips

Note to media: To reach the media contacts for any of these news tips, call the UMR office of public relations at (573) 341-4328 or email news.mst.edu.

• Expert available to discuss Illinois earthquake (April 18, 2008)

Dr. J. David Rogers, the Karl F. Hasselmann Chair of geological engineering at Missouri University of Science and Technology, says Midwestern earthquakes are potentially more powerful than California quakes. According to Rogers, unique geology in the Midwest increases the shaking intensity of earthquakes because seismic energy moves through the dense bedrock at very high speeds, then becomes trapped in soft sediments filling river channels and valleys. Rogers and several graduate students have been modeling synthetic seismic events in the New Madrid region, which produced magnitude 8.0 quakes in 1811 and 1812. Most of their scenarios are modeled after an 1895 earthquake with a magnitude of 6.4 that was centered in Charleston, Mo. The preliminary results are sobering, says Rogers, who is a member of Missouri's Seismic Safety Commission. Data indicates ground shaking would be magnified about 600 percent within the flood plain of the Missouri River, a development that would cause most of Missouri’s existing long-span bridges to collapse. “You don't even need a really big earthquake to do significant damage in Missouri,” Rogers says. “It could happen tomorrow.”

• Expert available to discuss AP drinking water probe(March 11, 2008)

Dr. Craig Adams, the John and Susan Mathes Missouri Chair of Environmental Engineering at Missouri S&T, is available to the media to comment on the Associated Press investigation into drugs found in the nation’s drinking water supplies. Adams' research could become instrumental if governmental agencies require regulation of antibiotics in the future.

• Experts available to discuss Minneapolis bridge collapse(Aug. 7, 2007)
As National Transportation Safety Board officials conclude their preliminary investigation following the deadly collapse of the I-35W bridge in Minneapolis, several UMR researchers are available to discuss the structural and environmental challenges to be faced in the aftermath.   [more]

• Experts available to discuss earthquakes in the Midwest(April 12, 2006)
Midwesterners are more used to tornadoes than earthquakes. But the 100th anniversary of the 1906 San Francisco earthquake has some experts at UMR thinking about threats associated with the New Madrid fault in addition to those posed by the San Andreas fault.   [more]

• Mine safety expert available to discuss West Virginia accident(Feb. 7, 2006)
Dr. Larry Grayson, chair of the mining and nuclear engineering department at UMR, is available to the media to comment on the mining accident in West Virginia. Grayson is a former superintendent of a 500-person underground coal mine in Pennsylvania and former associate director of the Office of Mining Safety and Health Research, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.   [more]

• UMR experts available to discuss issues related to Hurricane Katrina(Sept. 1, 2005)
As the Gulf Coast region continues its cleanup and rescue efforts in the wake of Hurricane Katrina and begins the process of rebuilding, UMR engineers and scientists are available to discuss the challenges to be faced and to comment on several hurricane-related issues. [more]

• Earth Day(April 6, 2005)
A round-up of UMR environmental research activities, for use by the media as briefs or as background for stories, including indoor air research, "green" pollution solutions, industrial ecology and amphibian malformations. [more]

• UMR scholars can offer unique perspectives on Pearl Harbor anniversary(Dec. 1, 2005)
As the United States reflects on the 64th anniversary of Japan’s bombing of Pearl Harbor, a University of Missouri-Rolla military historian and an English professor emeritus can offer insight into the day that thrust the nation into World War II. [more]

• UMR researchers study space shuttle insulation and space debris impact(Aug. 5, 2005)
As NASA prepares for Discovery astronauts to return home, two UMR engineers are working to get the spaceflight program back on solid ground. [more]

• Space shuttle(April 6, 2005)
To help journalists cover the upcoming launch of the space shuttle Discovery, UMR offers experts that might be of assistance. Areas of expertise include space shuttle foam, shuttle tiles and astronauts.   [more]

• UMR historian can offer unique perspective on fall of Saigon anniversary(April 4, 2005)
As the United States reflects on the 30th anniversary of the fall of Saigon on April 30, a UMR military historian can offer insight into the day that signaled the end of fighting in the Vietnam War.   [more]

• UMR researcher can shed light on oil production standstill and pipeline repair in the gulf(Dec. 28, 2004)
With the nation still feeling the effects of the recent hurricanes, Dr. Shari Dunn-Norman, associate professor of geological and petroleum engineering in the geological sciences and engineering department at UMR, can offer an expert insight into the oil production standstill due to platform and pipeline repair taking place in the Gulf of Mexico. [more]

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Hot Topics
UMR’s office of public relations is always ready to help journalists find authoritative sources on late-breaking stories. Contact the office at (573) 341-4328 or by email at news@mst.edu .

History of UMR
One of the four campuses in the University of Missouri System, UMR was founded in 1870 as the University of Missouri School of Mines and Metallurgy and was the first technological institution west of the Mississippi. It became the University of Missouri-Rolla in 1964 and remains one of the nation’s best technological universities. 

Facts and Statistics

The Basics
• Located in Rolla, Missouri, a town of 16,000 in the heart of the Ozarks
• First U.S. university to attain ISO 14001 certification for environmental management
• Joe Miner is the campus mascot and represents the university’s historical connection to the mining and metallurgical practices of the late 1800s.

Resources
• Campus comprises 284 acres
• Library contains nearly 400,000 volumes and 1,500 periodical subscriptions
• 400 Faculty

Enrollment
• 4,300 undergraduate
• 1,300 graduate
• 76 percent male
• 8 percent minority
• 26 percent of our students are from 48 states and 55 foreign countries
• 74 percent of undergraduates are from Missouri

Athletics
• NCAA Division II
• Great Lakes Valley Conference
• 12 intercollegiate sports (men’s varsity: baseball, basketball, cross country, football, soccer, swimming, track and field; women’s varsity: basketball, cross country, soccer, softball, track and field)
• 19 intramural sports

National Rankings
• 13th among NCAA Division II institutions, National Collegiate Scouting Association (2007)
• Tied for 52nd on the list of best engineering programs at doctoral-granting universities and tied for 18th place among public doctoral-granting universities byU.S. News & World Report's "America's Best Colleges 2007"
• One of 247 "schools that breach the supposed link between college price and college quality" by Barron's Best Buys in College Education, 2006
• One of the "best 361 colleges" in the United States by The Princeton Review, August 2006
• Ranked 54 among the nation's top doctoral-granting public universities (tied for 112th overall among public and private universities) by U.S. News & World Report's "America's Best Colleges 2007"
• Tied for 48th on the list of best engineering programs at doctoral-granting universities and tied for 26th place among public doctoral-granting universities byU.S. News & World Report's "America's Best Colleges 2007"
• A top 100 tech-savvy organization by "CIO 100" for its efforts to unify the campus web presence, August 2006
• A top 100 best value in public higher education by Kiplinger's Personal Finance magazine, January 2006
• A top 25 "connected campus" in the United States by Forbes.com’s and Princeton Review, January 2006
• Ranked 68th among the nation's best graduate engineering schools by U.S. News & World Report’s “America’s Best Colleges 2006"
• Ranked 44th in civil engineering among the nation's best graduate engineering schools by U.S. News & World Report’s “America’s Best Colleges 2006"
• Ranked 51st in electrical engineering among the nation's best graduate engineering schools by U.S. News & World Report’s “America’s Best Colleges 2006"
• Ranked 47th in materials engineering among the nation's best graduate engineering schools by U.S. News & World Report’s “America’s Best Colleges 2006"
• Ranked 50th in mechanical engineering among the nation's best graduate engineering schools by U.S. News & World Report’s “America’s Best Colleges 2006"
• Ranked 15th in nuclear engineering among the nation's best graduate engineering schools by U.S. News & World Report’s “America’s Best Colleges 2006"
• A top 25 connected campus by Forbes.com's "America's Most Connected Campuses," January 2006