UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Edward C. Dowling Jr., president and chief executive officer and board of directors member at Compass Minerals, will give the 2024 G. Albert Shoemaker Lecture in Mineral Engineering at Penn State. His talk, “Challenges and Opportunities of the Critical Minerals Revolution,” will be held at 4:30 p.m. on Friday, April 19, in the Hub-Robeson Center’s Freeman Auditorium and online via Zoom. A reception will follow the lecture at 5:30 p.m. in Alumni Hall. The event is free and open to the public.
The lecture will focus on the realities of climate change and how the global need to transition to non-carbon-emitting energy generation, distribution and utilization creates fundamental national security implications. The transition also drives an order of magnitude demand increase for various critical and essential minerals. Dowling will discuss how significant increases in critical and essential mineral production are strategically vital to achieving the desired green energy transition. His lecture will present the scale of critical and essential mineral requirements and focus on the many technical, human resource, jurisdictional, financial, environmental social and governance challenges and opportunities that the mining industry faces.
Dowling has over 30 years of leadership experience and international mining expertise. Prior to joining Compass Minerals, Dowling served as the president, CEO and member of the board of directors of SSR Mining Inc., formerly Alacer Gold Corp. He was chair of the board of SSR Mining Inc. from 2008 to 2012. Previously, he was president and CEO of Meridian Gold Inc. from 2006 to 2007, executive director for mining and exploration at De Beers S.A. from 2004 to 2006 and executive vice president for operations at Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. from 1998 to 2004. Additionally, he formerly served as chair of the board of PJSC Polyus and of Copper Mountain Mining Corporation. Dowling currently serves on the board of directors of Teck Resources Ltd.
A former petty officer in the U.S. Navy, Dowling earned a bachelor of science in mining engineering and mineral processing, a master of science in mineral processing, and a doctorate in mineral processing from Penn State.
About the G. Albert Shoemaker Lecture Series
The G. Albert Shoemaker Lecture Series in Mineral Engineering was established in 1992 by Mercedes G. Shoemaker to honor the memory of her husband, a Pittsburgh civic and industrial leader dedicated to supporting higher education. G. Albert Shoemaker, a Penn State Distinguished Alumnus, had an eminent career in the mineral industries. He was a coal industry leader for many years, serving as president of the Pittsburgh Coal Division of Babcock & Wilcox, and later as president of Consolidation Coal Co. from 1960 to 1966. Among many civic and philanthropic activities, he served as a member of the Penn State Board of Trustees from 1957 to 1978 and as board chairman from 1970 to 1972.