Content area
Full text
The death of Christopher Bise on Feb. 13 in Denver, CO while attending the 2015 SME Annual Conference & Expo has left the thousands who knew him, including the two of us, with a sense of loss that is not easy to accept. We knew him from the time he was a graduate student at Penn State. We were witness to his dedication and perseverance to achieve his best in all that he undertook, qualities that made him the leader of his colleagues in several professional arenas.
Bise was born in Philadelphia, PA on Aug. 16,1950, the only child of Jessee Banner Bise and Doris Helen Bise. He often spoke of the fun-filled, good times while growing up amidst the culture, history, sports and museums that the City of Brotherly Love had to offer. This exposure was instrumental in his developing a keen interest and expertise in many activities, including music, ceramic art, weightlifting, racquetball, running and cycling.
Bise attended Virginia Tech (VPI) to pursue a degree in mining engineering, which he obtained in 1972. At VPI, he was active in the VPI Cadet School and was the drum major of the VPI cadet band, the Highty Tighties. He continued to be the Highty Tighties' alumni band drum major from 1975 to 2010, when he was promoted to drum major emeritus and performance officer by the alumni group.
While working as a resident engineer for the Consolidation Coal Co. at its underground operations in eastern Ohio, Bise took a part-time job teaching mining at a local, two-year technical college. This turned out to be the beginning of Bise's outstanding journey as a distinguished academic in mining engineering. At the time of his unexpected death, he had just accepted a position as the deputy director of the Western Australian School of Mines. He was looking forward to the challenge of moving to Australia and assuming a leadership role at the historic institution.
Immediately prior to this, Bise was the Robert E. Murray Chairman of mining engineering at West Virginia University....