Awards & Scholarships

A member of AIME for forty-eight years, Elmer Allen Holbrook has accomplished so much in the field of mineral industry education that the selection of him as the first recipient of this award received national acclaim.

Born in Fitchburg, Mass., in 1881, he received his B.S. from M.I.T. in 1904, his E.M. from the University of Illinois in 1916, and a D.Sc. from the University of Pittsburgh in 1949. His career in professional mining lasted about six years while he was successively Superintendent of Ruby Gulch Mining Co., of Gould Mining Co., General Superintendent of Daly Reduction Co. and then in private mining practice in Mexico, Canada, and the U.S. In 1910 he was appointed Professor of Mining at Nova Scotia Technical College, later being Assistant, Associate, and eventually Professor of Mining at the University of Illinois. In 1917 he became associated with the Bureau of Mines and served in various capacities until 1922 when his pedagogical career began in earnest and he became Dean, Schools of Mining and Metallurgy at Pennsylvania State College and, in 1927, Dean, Schools of Engineering and Mines, University of Pittsburgh, which office he held until retirement in 1950. He was chairman of the Mineral Industry Education Division of AIME in 1945, being ex officio a member of the Board of Directors of the Institute. He has been Chairman of two AIME Local Sections, the Washington, D.C., and the Pittsburgh.

For many years, Dr. Holbrook has been a member of Pennsylvania State Sanitary Water Board and Commissioner of Pennsylvania on Ohio River Valley Interstate Water Sanitation Commission. He is the author of numerous technical bulletins and articles, many of which have been published by AIME.