Dear Mines Community:
Dr. Rod Eggert stepped down as Division Director for Economics and Business, after more than
fifteen years in this capacity, to focus more of his attention on the Critical Materials Institute
(CMI). Established in 2013, CMI is one of five energy innovation hubs of the U.S. Department
of Energy. Its focus is innovation to reduce supply risks and increase the availability of
materials critical to clean energy technologies. CMI is a multi-institutional, multi-disciplinary
consortium led by the Ames Laboratory. CMI research at Mines, in partnership with the Kroll
Institute of Extractive Metallurgy, focuses on process engineering to improve primary mineral
processing and recovery, as well as secondary recovery through recycling of manufacturing
wastes and end-of-life products; material characterization; environmental sustainability; and
economic analysis of material supply chains. In addition, Mines spearheads CMI efforts in
education, training and outreach. Eggert is deputy director of CMI overall, the PI for Mines'
activities, and directs CMI's economic analysis. We thank Rod for his many years of service to
the Division of Economic and Business and support his new direction of service to Mines.
Replacing Dr. Eggert as the Interim Division Director is Dr. Michael Walls. Michael joined the
School of Mines in 1992 and “retired” as a full professor in 2013. He was instrumental in the
launch and continued success of the M.Sc. in Engineering and Technology Management (ETM)
Program at CSM and served as the Chair of that graduate program from 2001-2010. Dr. Walls
has advised in the areas of risk analysis, corporate risk policy, and strategic planning to
companies in the petroleum and mineral industries. In addition, he has lectured extensively to
petroleum professional and industry groups on the topics of decision analysis, risk and portfolio
management. For 12 years prior to entering academia, Dr. Walls held technical and managerial
positions in the upstream petroleum industry. Dr. Walls holds a B.S. degree in geology from
Western Kentucky University, an MBA in finance, and a Ph.D. in management from the
McCombs School of Business at the University of Texas at Austin. We are pleased that he has
agreed to continue his many years of commitment to CSM.
We look forward to continuing to work with Michael and the entire faculty and staff of the Economics
and Business Division.
All the Best!
Terry Parker
Provost and Executive Vice President
Ramona M. Graves
Dean, College of Earth Resource Sciences and Engineering