Truman H. Kuhn papers, 1918-1989

Truman H. Kuhn spent most of his professional life as a professor of Geological Engineering at the Colorado School of Mines in Golden, Colorado. He was born in 1908 in Glendora, California. He graduated from Citrus Union High School in 1922 and earned a B.S. degree from the California Institute of Technology in 1930. He graduated with a Ph.D. from the University of Arizona in 1940. From 1930 to 1937 he was an engineer geologist for the Los Angeles Flood Control District, and from 1940 to 1942 he worked for the Magma Copper Company as a geologist. He was also a consulting geologist for the Eagle-Picher Mining and Smelting Company and for the Arizona Molybdenum Corporation.

Mr. Kuhn became an Assistant Professor of Geology at the Colorado School of Mines in 1942, and he was promoted over the next 12 years until he achieved the rank of Faculty Dean and then Vice President for Administrative Affairs. He held many active positions outside of the School of Mines, including Geological Consultant to the School of Mines Research Foundation and Registered Professional Engineer in Colorado. He was a consultant to Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Indonesia, and other foreign governments as an expert on setting up mining and petroleum colleges. He also had an abiding interest in the problems involved in maintaining academic and professional standards in geology and geology education. He belonged to many boards concerned with these issues including the Colorado State Board for the Registration of Engineers, the American Institute of Professional Geologists, and the ECPD Engineering Education and Accreditation Committee.

He wrote numerous articles and produced 16 publications on mining geology, applied geology, engineering education, and manpower. He also received numerous awards including the medallion of merit from the University of Arizona, the Tasker H. Bliss medal as a military engineer, and the George R. Brown medal from the Colorado School of Mines. Truman Kuhn died on November 14, 1988.