Three appointed to senior administrative positions

Gene Cilento, Glen H. Hiner Dean of the Statler College of Engineering and Mineral Resources at West Virginia University, has appointed one faculty member to a chair’s position, while reappointing two to administrative positions, effective July 1, 2018.

Vladislav Kecojevic has been named the Robert E. Murray Chair of West Virginia University’s Department of Mining Engineering Kecojevic, who had been serving as interim chair since August 2017, has been on the faculty in the Statler College of Engineering and Mineral Resources since 2010.

“Dr. Kecojevic’s commitment to his students and his profession, along with his performance as interim chair, made him the ideal candidate for the position,” said Gene Cilento, Glen H. Hiner Dean of the Statler College. “He has re-energized our alumni base in mining engineering and I have no doubt he will expand and strengthen the Department’s research capabilities and recruitment and outreach efforts.”

“I am honored and privileged to be appointed as the Robert E. Murray Chair of the Department,” said Kecojevic. “The Department will be at the forefront of educating new generations of mining engineers, and contributing to the College’s teaching, research and service mission. I look forward to continuing to build our Department together with our students, faculty, staff, administration, alumni and our community.”

Kecojevic began his academic career at Penn State University in 2001 and held the Centennial Career Development Professorship in Mining Engineering from 2005-2009.

His research areas of expertise include surface mining, surface mine safety, information technology and environmental issues in surface mining. Kecojevic's research has been funded by the mining industry, equipment manufacturers and governmental agencies. He has published his research work in a leading mining- and safety-related peer-reviewed journals.

Kecojevic has been recognized internationally for his contributions to the mining industry. He was awarded the Erskine Ramsay Medal from the American Institute of Mining, Metallurgical and Petroleum Engineers in 2017 for his contributions to the research, education and service in surface coal mining and for his international recognition as a researcher, teacher and academic leader.

Reappointed to administrative positions are Pradeep Fulay, associate dean for research, and James Dean, director of mining and industrial extension.

“Since joining the College in 2012, Dr. Fulay has been especially effective in helping new Statler College faculty hires to develop active research programs and to achieve major external funding, including awards such as National Science Foundation CAREER Awards,” said Cilento. “I have asked him to expand his efforts to support an environment that is conducive to continuing to grow individually funded research programs but with more purpose to build larger research teams and groups within and outside the College.”

“The approach I have developed – Connect, Collaborate, Innovate – has been very effective in not only helping individual faculty but also teams of our faculty to receive some of the most competitive research grants and contracts,” Fulay said. “We have formed new partnerships with many other universities and the private sector. I am very pleased that we now have multiple large grants from agencies such as ARPA-E. In addition, we are very proud of being an important part of a Department of Energy-funded manufacturing institute on process intensification.”

In this most recent five year review, Dean was praised for working diligently to represent the Department to the professional communities it serves.

“MIE clients are satisfied with the service mining and industrial extension agents provide and to the contributions they make to their respective industries overall,” Cilento noted. “Most notably, the mining industry continues to appreciate his efforts and appreciates that he represents them very effectively.”

“It is a pleasure to continue to serve our Department’s industry constituents in an ever-more challenging environment,” Dean said. “I appreciate all that our staff and faculty do to serve the mining and manufacturing industries.”

Department chairs are reviewed every five years by the dean of the College. Evaluations include input from faculty members, staff, students and other constituents.

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