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Contact: Leah McNeill
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CSM graduate plans to make a 'big bang'

GOLDEN, Colo., April 27, 2001 - Jenn Kramb of Ft. Collins plans to make a big bang with a career in explosives for the U.S. Army Ordinance after she graduates next week from Colorado School of Mines.

The only female mining engineering major graduating this semester, she is also an active member of ROTC and a published poet.

With the School's trademark M-Blem on Mt. Zion in the background, she will join 377 other graduates at 9 a.m. on Friday, May 4, 2001, at outdoor ceremonies held on CSM's Kafadar Commons.

See more on Kramb and other unique graduates in the attached "Student Profiles."
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· Seventy-nine graduate and 299 undergraduate students will receive their silver-metal diplomas at the ceremony.

· Keynote address will be delivered by CSM alumnus J. Steven Whisler, CEO and chairman of the board of Phelps Dodge Corporation

· Three Honorary Degrees will be awarded:

Ø J. Steven Whisler, president, CEO and chairman of the board, Phelps Dodge Corporation

Ø Dr. William D. Nix, Lee Otterson Professor, School of Engineering, Stanford University

Ø Dr. Gordon P. Eaton, 12th director of the U.S. Geological Survey, former president of Iowa State University, now retired

Three Mines Distinguished Achievement Medals will also be awarded:

v Frederick Banfield, a 1964 Mines graduate, who is president of Mintec, developer of software regarded as the pre-eminent modeling and mine design system in the industry.

v CSM alumnus James D. Dunn, president of Mill Creek Lumber and Supply Company, one of the largest building material suppliers in Oklahoma.

v F.H. Merelli, a 1959 graduate of the School, who is chairman and CEO of Key Production, Inc, an independent oil and gas exploration, development and production company.

Student Profiles

JENN KRAMB, of Ft. Collins, Colo., is a "military brat," whose aunt, grandmother and both grandfathers were in the service. When she finishes her military duties, she would like to go into international mining, perhaps in Peru or Mexico. Eventually, she might like to use her experience and knowledge to become a public school teacher.

BRYANT MOOK is a graduate student in petroleum production engineering from Dallas. A world traveler, Bryant spent most of his professional life as a petroleum geologist visiting all of the inhabited continents. At 48 and a father of three boys, Bryant is juggling the demands of his academic course load, despite a hearing impairment and other disabilities, as well as the demands of raising a one-year-old boy. He is currently applying and interviewing with several petroleum companies around the country.

NHATRAN TRAN is a petroleum engineering major from Louisville, Colo. Born in Thailand, Nhatran's family fled Vietnam after the fall of Saigon in the late 1970s and moved to Colorado to build a new life. She plans to attend law school in the fall and wants to go into international law to help her native country as it develops its natural resources.

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