The Old Timers Club, a group of leaders in the mining industry, has awarded a 2006 Old Timers Award to a recent graduate of the University of Missouri-Rolla.

William “Ford” Roes was presented with a gold pocket watch as part of a ceremony in April at UMR. Roes, who earned a bachelor’s degree in mining engineering from UMR in 2005, now lives in Wyoming and works for the Kiewit Mining Group.

The Old Timers Club was conceived during the American Mining Congress Convention of 1938 in Cincinnati, Ohio. Nine leaders in the mining industry formed a group with the intent of improving the techniques of coal mining. The written purpose of the Old Timers Club was to “perpetuate friendships formed within the coal industry and to promote worthy activities directed toward the betterment of coal mining.”

Today, the club has more than 70 members. Each year, members select outstanding engineering students or recent graduates from a pool of universities to receive the Old Timers Award. The club has now chosen more than 550 students with an interest in coal-oriented engineering to receive the award. More than 40 previous recipients of the Old Timers Award have come from UMR.

Roes was nominated by the UMR mining and nuclear engineering department.