Mines made national news when Bloomberg announced that it had passed Harvard in the category of starting salaries for graduates. On September 19, Tech President Robert A. Wharton died due to complications of cancer treatments. During the presidential search, Duane C. Hrncir was the interim president.
On April 25, 2013, the School of Mines announced that Heather Wilson would become the first female president in the school's 128-year history, starting in June 2013. She resigned in 2017 after being appointed to the office of Secretary of the United States Air Force.
In October 2017, the School of Mines announced that the next president would be James (Jim) Rankin, Ph.D. He retired in 2024.
== Academics ==
South Dakota Mines offers degrees in 20 engineering and science fields, as well as 18 master's degree programs and 9 Doctorate programs. Its most popular undergraduate majors, based on 2021 graduates, were:
Mechanical Engineering (64)
Computer and Information Sciences (47)
Civil Engineering (47)
Industrial Engineering …
