Kecojevic Awarded Erskine Ramsay Medal

 Vladislav Kecojevic

Vladislav Kecojevic, Massey Professor of Mining Engineering at West Virginia University, has been awarded the 2017 Erskine Ramsay Medal from the Society for Mining, Metallurgy and Exploration. The award, which will be presented at SME’s annual conference in February 2017, was established in 1948 to recognize distinguished achievements in the coal mining industry.

 Kecojevic earned the award “for his outstanding contributions to the research, education and service in surface coal mining and for his international recognition as a researcher, teacher and academic leader,” said David L. Kanagy, executive director of SME.

“I am deeply honored to have been selected for this prestigious award by my peers in the Society for Mining, Metallurgy and Exploration,” said Kecojevic. “The list of previous recipients of this award makes me even more humbled.”

While earning his undergraduate and graduate degrees in mining engineering from the University of Belgrade, Kecojevic was employed with Krupp Canada from 2000-2001 and was responsible for the design of mining equipment. He was also involved in the planning and design of coal, bauxite and limestone mines in Serbia and Montenegro from 1992 through 2000.

He began his academic career at Penn State University and held the Centennial Career Development Professorship in Mining Engineering from 2005-2009. He joined WVU’s Department of Mining Engineering in 2010.

SME is an international society of professionals in the minerals industry with more than 13,000 members in nearly 100 countries. Recent Erskine Ramsay medal winners include Syd Peng and Christopher Bise, former chairs of the Department.

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