Richard Storey, Sr. received the 2012 Mining Engineering Foundation Distinguished Alumni Award at the Student Awards Dinner on April 27, 2012. Mr. Storey, or Dick, as he is known to his friends, was born into a coal mining family on October 11, 1922 in Greensburg, Pa. When he was seven he moved to Harlan County, Ky. where his father was chief engineer at U.S. Steel in Lynch.
Upon graduating from high school, Storey entered into the mining program at the University of Kentucky; unfortunately, with the outbreak of World War II, the mining program was suspended. When Mr. Storey graduated in December 1943, he received a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering with a mining option instead of a mining engineering degree. However, the professional engineering registration boards in Kentucky and Texas recognized the mining option and issued him a professional mining engineer license.
Mr. Storey’s first job after graduation was with the L&N Railroad. Based in Middlesboro, and later Louisville, he designed rail yards, coal sidings and terminals. He later went to Virginia with Clinchfield Coal Corporation as a mining engineer, but eventually returned to U.S. Steel in Lynch where he helped develop the Splint seams that would add underground access to surface mines. Storey was then recruited to be a mining engineer at Consolidated Coal Company in Jenkins, Ky., where he would spend 17 years.
Mr. Storey’s next assignment took him to India for the World Bank where, as the only civil/mining engineer on the assignment, Dick designed a modern coal mining town under the constraints that it conform to the Cass system. Then it was on to South Korea for three years where, under a contract with Pierce Management, he evaluated every active mine for the government— exploration, mining development, mine feasibility studies, mine operations, deployment of mining equipment, establishment of improved mining methods, upgrading of safety procedures, coal processing and studies of coal characteristics and coal utilization.
Continuing his career in coal and consulting, Storey spent over a decade with the Paul Weir Company as director and senior vice president. There, his assignments focused on exploration, mining feasibility studies, mine planning and design, mine operation problems and development of mining properties in the U.S., Turkey, Australia, Canada and Africa.
After formally retiring in 1985, Mr. Storey continued consulting on a limited basis. Currently he and his wife Olivia are enjoying retirement in Lexington.
Mr. Sam Johnson, a long-time friend and colleague commented that, “Dick’s recognition is a testament to the diversity and quality of mining engineers educated at UK’s Department of Mining Engineering.” We congratulate and express our thanks to Mr. Storey for his dedication to mining and commitment to the University of Kentucky.
