As President of the Colorado School of Mines for 21 years (1925-1946). Dr. Melville Coolbaugh dedicated the majority of his professional life and energies to the Golden, Colorado mineral engineering institution.
He left a legacy to the mining industry of highest technical knowledge, spirit of fair play and unbendable integrity that he instilled in the many students whose lives were influenced by their contact with “Prexy” Coolbaugh.
In addition to his long service in academic fields, Dr. Coolbaugh was noted for his work in chemistry and metallurgy, and held numerous United States and foreign patents.
A graduate of Colorado College, Colorado Springs, in 1902, he gained the Master’s degree at Columbia University and went to South Dakota School of Mines, Rapid City, as Head of the Chemistry Department.
In 1914-15 he took a year’s work in special studies in mining and metallurgy at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, taught for a time at Case School of Applied Science, and in 1917 began his association with Colorado School of Mines as Professor and Head of its Chemistry Department.
He took a leave of absence in World War I to join the Chemical Warfare Offense Division, where he was associated with some of the best known chemical experts in the U.S. After the war he perfected and patented a process for the treatment of complex ores, which became known as the Coolbaugh Process. From 1919 to 1925 he headed Metals Exploration Company’s research labs in Denver.
In 1925 he was offered the presidency of the Colorado School of Mines, then at a low point in its existence. It was in desperate financial condition, the physical plant was run down and its education standards were at a low ebb.
Dr. Coolbaugh devoted all his energy to the School’s restoration and advancement. Student enrollment in undergraduate and graduate studies was increased, numerous new educational and laboratory buildings were constructed, the first department of applied geophysics in the U.S. was established and the School’s experimental plant became a model facility.
He successfully led the School through the Great Depression and World War II. During his tenure 1,800 students graduated from “Mines”—including all three of his sons.
The chemistry building at Colorado Mines was dedicated to his memory in 1951.
