Founder of the 40-year-old International Conference on Ground Control in Mining, Syd Peng is a global leader who has advanced the science and technology of mining. Growing up in Taiwan, Peng worked in the Shinchu coal mine and moved to the US to study gas outbursts and safe mining practices at the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology. Peng received his PhD at Stanford University, where he married his wife, Felicia. Married and graduated, Peng’s first engineering job was at the Twin City Research Center until 1974, when he moved to West Virginia University and declared, “this is where mining is supposed to be.” Chairman of the WVU mining program for 28 years, Peng developed their PhD program and the US standards for longwall mining and surface subsidence damage control. As a consultant, Peng became known as a problem solver for industry and inspired safe mining practices in China coal mines. Peng has had a significant impact on the mining industry and continues to influence future generations of mining engineers through the Syd S. and Felicia F. Peng Ground Control in Mining Award.