Penn State Professor Raja V. Ramani to be Inducted Into National Mining Hall of Fame

Raja V. Ramani, professor emeritus of mining and geo-environmental engineering at Pennsylvania State University, has been named to the National Mining Hall of Fame (NMHF). He will be inducted into the NMHF on Oct. 23. NMHF says Ramani’s selection is in “recognition of a lifelong commitment to education and research that has influenced a generation of mining industry leaders.”

Ramani joined the Penn State faculty in 1970 and devoted most of his career to educating mining industry leaders through his more than 50 years at the university. He served as head of the Department of Mineral Engineering from 1987 to 1998 and chair of the Mineral Engineering Management  section from 1974 to 2001. In 1998, he was appointed as the first endowed chair in the College of Earth and Mineral Sciences, the George H. Jr. and Anne B. Deike Chair in Mining Engineering.

Ramani’s commitment to safety, productivity and environmental issues extended beyond Penn State through numerous national and international appointments and consultations, including the United Nations and World Bank. He has served on more than 40 committees of the Society for Mining, Metallurgy and Engineering, including as its president, president of the SME Foundation, and chairman of the Coal Division. He was a member of the SME board of directors, SME Foundation board of trustees, and the American Institute of Mining, Metallurgical, and Petroleum Engineers’ board of trustees. In 2005, was elected to the National Academy of Engineering.

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Ramani earned his bachelor of science degree in mining engineering with honors in 1962 from the Indian School of Mines. He joined Bengal Coal Co. before immigrating to the U.S. to earn his master of science degree in 1968 and doctorate in 1970, both in mining engineering from Penn State.