University of Wyoming. Natural Resources Research Institute records, 1938-1975

The Natural Resources Research Institute, commonly known as the NRRI, was enacted by the Wyoming State Legislature in 1943 to create a University of Wyoming Research Station to be under the control of the university’s president and board of trustees. The purpose of the NRRI was to aid in the development of the natural resources of Wyoming and to promote its industrial growth and the wider utilization of minerals, fuels, and other resources through research and laboratory investigations. In October 1943, the first director, Henry G. Fisk, was appointed. By the spring of 1944, NRRI had established lab space in the Science Building (later known as the Geology Building.) Additional research space was built in the late 1940s between the Engineering Building and Lewis Street. In 1950, a main NRRI Office Building, also located on Lewis Street, was constructed by Spiegelberg Lumber and Building Company and was ready for occupancy by November. Major research of the NRRI was focused on coal, petroleum, and bentonite, in addition to some agricultural crops, including sugar beets. In 1960, the NRRI’s second director, John Bellamy, was appointed. Bellamy, who had a strong background in meteorology and hydrology, expanded natural resources research beyond land resources to include research in water and atmospheric resources. In the early 1970s, the NRRI research programs began to be absorbed by departments within the College of Engineering. In 1971, Assistant Director Walter Duncan was promoted to director to oversee remaining research activity and funding. NRRI activity continued to diminish through the 1970s. Petroleum and Chemical Engineering Department Head Donald Stinson acted as the director from 1979 through 1980 when the NRRI ceased. In time, the old NRRI structures were razed to accommodate new development on campus.