The National Mining Hall of Fame & Museum announced its 2015 hall of fame inductees and Prazen Award winner. Selected by the National Mining Hall of Fame’s board of governors, the inductees represent technology, management, mineral policy, education, health and safety aspects of the mining industry. According to the museum, the inductees were selected for being visionaries, leaders, educators and ambassadors.
Joining 227 other mining industry leaders, the 2015 inductee class includes Dr. Frank Aplan, T S Ary, Ralph Bailey, John Campbell Greenway and Edward Steidle.
Dr. Aplan, an authority on flotation, is known for his studies of the wetting of solids and their control through the absorption of surfactant films. Recognized for his studies of the processes involved in the preparation of coal and mineral ores, Aplan also studied the atomic defects on properties and behavior of solid-liquid interfaces.
Ary, a recognized authority on mineral policy, served on the U.S. State Department Task Force to the United National Law of the Sea Convention and on the Mineral Advisory Committee to the Department of Commerce. In 1988, he was sworn in as the 18th director of the U.S. Bureau of Mines. According to the museum, he was a leader in mineral exploration and a supporter of environmentally sustainable mineral policies.
Bailey, an advocate for the safety and improvement of mines, was responsible for implementing the first longwall system to operate in eastern bituminous coal. He also helped implement a program to improve the health and safety of underground and surface miners.
Greenway led the development of the Western Mesabi Iron Ore Range in Minnesota and helped develop and patent the technology for leaching copper ores and electrowinning the leached solutions. He was also awarded the Croix de Guerre and l’Etoile, Legion of Honor for his heroic conduct in World War II.
Finally, Steidle created the College of Earth and Mineral Sciences while he was the dean and Penn State. While serving as dean, Steidle taught and shared his philosophy on mineral education and conservation.
In addition, the Powell River Project Research and Education Center, a partnership of Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University and the Appalachian coal mining industry, won the Prazen Living Legend of Mining Award.
The 28th annual induction and banquet ceremony will be held October 23 in Pittsburgh in the Omni William Penn Hotel ballroom.
