president
SDMines
Robert A. Wharton, Ph.D., became president of the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology on July 1, 2008. Previously, he served as provost and vice president for academic affairs at Idaho State University (ISU). Wharton was a tenured professor of biology at ISU and previously served as its chief research officer. His Ph.D. in botany is from Virginia Polytechnic Institute. He also holds a M.A. degree in biology and a B.A. in botany from Humboldt State University in California. Dr. Wharton is a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, The Explorers Club, and the Royal Geographic Society. Wharton is a recipient of the United States Antarctic Service Medal and has served on the National Research Council’s Polar Research Board.
Head Coach
volleyball coaches Beth Honaker
After a very successful first season, Beth Honaker starts her second season as head coach of the Lady Hardrockers. Beth, originally from Walkerton, Ind., served as the School of Mines assistant volleyball coach for one season in 2006. Previously she was head coach at Gwinn High School (Mich.) for four years. She has a Masters of Exercise Science degree from Northern Michigan University where she played for the NCAA Div. II Wildcats as an outside and right side hitter. As a coach, Honaker said the main thing she wants to instill into her players is the team concept. “I think the biggest thing will be trying to teach the girls that volleyball is not just a hobby, it’s almost like a job. There
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SDMines
are going to be times that they might not want to go to practice or might not want to travel that weekend, but being part of a team is being a part of something that’s a whole lot bigger than themselves,” Honaker said. “For the most part, it’s getting everybody on the same page. If we figure out how to do everything we need to do as a team then we are going to be a heck of a lot better.” Honaker added that she wants to take the winning season the Hardrockers had in 2007, use it as a stepping stone for even better things to come. “I think the girls got a taste of what it’s like to be a winning team. In the past few years they knew they weren’t looked upon as a big threat from other teams in the conference. That’s going to change --- actually I think it already has,” Honaker said. “Looking over the past 15 plus years, there has been a tradition at the School of Mines for volleyball. (The Hardrockers) were the top of the conference and they were competing with (the likes of ) Dickinson State and the University of Mary. My big thing is to somehow tap back into that tradition and bring it back. I think we have the caliber of players now and we are getting the caliber of players so that we could be back up there.”
School of Mines Volleyball 08