MSHA assistant secretary to deliver Poundstone Lecture

David Zatezalo will deliver the 2018 Poundstone Lecture.

David G. Zatezalo, assistant secretary of Mine Safety and Health, will speak on Thursday, September 20, as part of West Virginia University’s Department of Mining Engineering’s William N. Poundstone Lecture Series. The lecture, entitled “MSHA in Review and Forecast of Priorities,” will begin at 5 p.m., in Grand Hall A, of the Erickson Alumni Center.

U.S. President Donald J. Trump nominated Zatezalo to be the ninth assistant secretary for Mine Safety and Health. He was sworn in on November 30, 2017.

A native of West Virginia, Zatezalo has spent a lifetime working in mining. He began his career as a union miner and since then has held positions at a number of companies as shift foreman, engineering superintendent, mine manager, vice president of operations and chief executive officer. Zatezalo has worked in mining all across the U.S. and internationally in Australia.

Zatezalo has a degree in mining engineering (1977) from West Virginia University and is a registered professional engineer in Ohio and West Virginia. He also has an MBA from Ohio University. He is the past chairman of the Kentucky Coal Association and the Ohio Coal Association. He’s also been a member of the Mine Rescue Veterans of the Pittsburgh District.

The Department of Mining Engineering established the William N. Poundstone Lecture Series in 2000 to honor Poundstone, a distinguished alumnus of the Department, and to bring mining industry experts to campus to share their expertise with students and faculty. Poundstone, who passed away in 2015, was inducted into the National Mining Hall of Fame and Museum in 2016.

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