Dr. Samuel Frimpong, professor and Robert H. Quenon Missouri Endowed Chair of Mining Engineering, has been named vice provost of graduate education at S&T. The appointment begins Thursday, June 1. Frimpong will take over the position from Dr. Rainer Glaser, who served as interim vice provost of graduate education since July 2022.

“I am delighted to have Dr. Frimpong step into this role,” says Dr. Colin Potts, provost and executive vice chancellor of academic affairs at S&T. “He has been an integral part of the mining and nuclear engineering programs for almost 20 years. With his guidance, I am confident our graduate education services will continue to prepare our students for their future, grow our research profile, and show why our university is a destination of choice.”

“I am very grateful for Rainer’s service as interim over the last year,” says Potts. “I am eternally thankful for his work and guidance.”

The role of the vice provost for graduate education is to improve support for graduate students at S&T. Frimpong will oversee many services for graduate students including the Grad Track Pathway and Accelerated Programs, thesis and dissertation writing services, graduate teaching assistant workshops, and student fellowship programs.

Frimpong joined S&T in 2004 as the Robert H. Quenon Missouri Endowed Chair of Mining Engineering. He is director of the Heavy Mining Machinery Research Laboratory and the Mine Escape Research, Innovation and Technology (MERIT) Center. He is also a member of the United Nations Council of Experts on Sustainable Mining and Metals, the College of Reviewers for the Canada Foundation for Innovation and Canada Research Chairs program, and the U.S. Board on Natural Resources.

Frimpong earned a Ph.D. from the University of Alberta and a master’s degree from the University of Zambia, both in mining engineering. He earned a post-graduate diploma and bachelor’s degree in the same subject from the University of Mines and Technology in Tarkwa, Ghana. Frimpong’s research interests include surface mining, oil sands extraction, machine-formation interactions, machinery health and longevity, risk and safety engineering, bulk material transport and operations research.