Mark P. Board

Outstanding Achievement Award Recipient

College of Science and Engineering, November 6, 2014

Mark P. Board is the corporate director for geotechnical engineering, Hecla Mines, Coeur d’Alene, Idaho. He received a bachelor’s degree (1975) and a master’s degree (1977) in geoengineering, and his Ph.D. in geological engineering (1994) from the College of Science and Engineering at the University of Minnesota. Currently, he is recognized as the lead mine design engineer, having worked as a mining consultant on every continent for more than 35 years. Board’s foremost goal is to introduce safer and more economical mining methods based on sound rock mechanics principles. His Ph.D. dissertation was awarded the Rocha Medal of the International Society for Rock Mechanics in 1994, the only time that it has been awarded to an American citizen. In 2012, he received the prestigious Rock Mechanics Award of the Society for Mining, Metallurgy, and Exploration, which recognized the most outstanding person worldwide in rock mechanics. Board was responsible for the redesign of the Solvay Mine in Wyoming after a massive collapse that occurred in 1995. Because of his efforts in enhancing the safety of miners, he was elected to the U.S. National Academy of Engineers earlier this year. His significant contributions to the design of the proposed U.S. Nuclear Waste Repository at Yucca Mountain earned him a Commendation of Excellence from the U.S. Department of Energy.

Biographies are as-of time of award presentation.