Dr. Lance Roberts

Lance A. Roberts, Ph.D., P.E. was appointed interim president at South Dakota Mines in June 2024. Originally from Sidney, Nebraska, Dr. Roberts graduated from South Dakota Mines with bachelor’s and master’s degrees in civil engineering in 1998 and 1999, respectively. He went on to earn a doctoral degree in civil engineering in 2006 from the University of Missouri-Kansas City. Prior to his appointment as interim president, Dr. Roberts served South Dakota Mines as the provost and vice president for academic affairs, the department head of mining engineering and management, and a faculty member in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering. He also spent time in industry as a bridge design and geostructural engineer and served as the senior vice president of the mining and energy division at RESPEC.

Dr. Roberts has published over 50 technical papers in both national and international journals and conference proceedings and has presented his research results at numerous forums. In addition, Dr. Roberts has numerous years of experience in the private sector prior to his first appointment at South Dakota Mines focusing on the design of foundations, earth retention, slope stability, and other geotechnical and geostructural-related projects. Dr. Roberts received his BS and MS in civil engineering from South Dakota Mines in 1998 and 1999, respectively, and his Ph.D. in geotechnical engineering/geoscience from the University of Missouri, Kansas City in 2006. Dr. Roberts is a registered professional engineer in the states of Kansas and Missouri.