Dr. Kwame Awuah-Offei has accepted the role as chair of mining and explosives engineering effective Aug. 1, 2022. He was named interim chair of the program in July 2018.

“Dr. Awuah-Offei has done an outstanding job as interim chair, and we are delighted to see him move into a permanent leadership role,” says Dr. Richard Wlezien, vice provost and dean of Missouri S&T’s College of Engineering and Computing. “He is known internationally for his expertise, and we appreciate his steady hand and exceptional leadership skills.”

Awuah-Offei takes on the role at a time of challenges and opportunities for mining and explosives engineering. Demand for mining engineers is expected to increase along with the need to mine for materials required for technology in energy, communications, aerospace, computing, construction and electronics. Missouri S&T is one of fewer than 20 colleges in the United States that offer a mining engineering degree of some kind.

Awuah-Offei joined the Missouri S&T faculty as an assistant professor in 2007 after earning his Ph.D. in mining engineering in Rolla in 2006. He is the Union Pacific Foundation/Rocky Mountain Energy Company Professor in Mining Engineering. Awuah-Offei conducted some of his doctoral studies at the University of Alberta in Canada. He earned a bachelor’s degree in mining engineering from Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology in Kumasi, Ghana.

About Missouri University of Science and Technology

Missouri University of Science and Technology (Missouri S&T) is a STEM-focused research university of over 7,200 students. Part of the four-campus University of Missouri System and located in Rolla, Missouri, Missouri S&T offers 101 degrees in 40 areas of study and is among the nation’s top 10 universities for return on investment, according to Business Insider. S&T also is home to the Kummer Institute, made possible by a $300 million gift from Fred and June Kummer. For more information about Missouri S&T, visit www.mst.edu/.