National Academies Press: OpenBook

Memorial Tributes: Volume 8 (1996)

Chapter: Jesse F. Core

« Previous: Walker Lee Cisler
Suggested Citation:"Jesse F. Core." National Academy of Engineering. 1996. Memorial Tributes: Volume 8. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/5427.
×
Page 54
Suggested Citation:"Jesse F. Core." National Academy of Engineering. 1996. Memorial Tributes: Volume 8. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/5427.
×
Page 55
Suggested Citation:"Jesse F. Core." National Academy of Engineering. 1996. Memorial Tributes: Volume 8. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/5427.
×
Page 56
Suggested Citation:"Jesse F. Core." National Academy of Engineering. 1996. Memorial Tributes: Volume 8. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/5427.
×
Page 57

Below is the uncorrected machine-read text of this chapter, intended to provide our own search engines and external engines with highly rich, chapter-representative searchable text of each book. Because it is UNCORRECTED material, please consider the following text as a useful but insufficient proxy for the authoritative book pages.

JESSE F. CORE 1913-1993 BY F. F. AP LAN, J. M. MUTMANSKY, AND R. V. RAMANI ESSE F. Cow, age eighty, died at his home in State College, Pennsylvania, on November 29, 1993, after a long battle with cancer. He was alert, energetic, and interested in his profes- sion up to the end. Jesse was a Distinguished Member of the Society for Mining, Metallurgy, and Exploration (SME) (1975) and an honorary member (1978), Legion of Honor Member (1986), and Erskine Ram say Medal recipient (1971 ~ of the American Institute of Mining, Metallurgical, and Petroleum Engineers (AIME). He was elected a member of the National Academy of Engineering in 1981. Jesse was a native of Ford City, Pennsylvania, where he attend- ed both grade and high school, and he graduated from Pennsylvania State University in 1937 with a degree in mining engineering. He was elected a distinguished alumnus of Penn State in 1966. While still in college, he began work as a coal miner with Hillman Coal and Coke Company. In 1938 he joined Pittsburgh Coal Company as an engineer, rising through the ranks of chief mining engineer and divisional engineer. He joiner! Buckeye Coal Company in 1947 as chief engineer of coal mines and later served as chief engineer for Island Creek Coal Company at Holden, West Virginia. In 1951 he joined the Prick District of United States Steel Corporation as district mining en- gineer, advancing to chief engineer and general superintendent of the Frick District. In 1958 he was named vice-president in 55

56 MEMORIAL TRIBUTES charge of coal operations for U.S. Steel Corporation, including operations in Alabama, Colorado, Kentucky, Pennsylvania, Ten- nessee, Utah, and West Virginia. He retired in 1976 and became an adjunct professor of min- ing engineering at Penn State. His citations for both honorary membership in AIME and for the Erskine Ramsay Medal em- phasizec3 two major hallmarks for his career: promoting mine safety and assisting younger engineers to develop their full potential. Under his leadership, U.S. Steel developed a well- respected, comprehensive coal mine safety program. The leacl article in the Wall Street Journal for January 19, 1973, cited U.S. Steel and Jesse for establishing the best safety record in un- derground coal mines. Jesse continually stressed that a safe mine was also a very productive mine. He was also known to be a strong mentor and an excellent role mode! for young professionals. This was manifested not only at the corporate level, but also by his service as an active member of the Old Timer's Club, which gives yearly awards to outstanding seniors in mining engineering at many of the country's leacling uni- versities. His assistance as an adjunct professor at Penn State is another example of his desire to help younger engineers. He was active in many professional societies and groups, including the SME Coal Division. lie served as chairman of the Coal Division of the American Mining Congress and was a past president of the Coal Mining Institute of America and of the Mine Inspectors Institute of America. He was a cofounder and first chairman of the Keystone Bituminous Coal Association, a member of the National Mine Rescue Association, the Arr~erican Iron and Steel Institute, and the Rocky Mountain Coal Mining Institute. He was a registered professional engineer in Kentucky, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia and held papers as a Pennsylvania fireboss and as a first-grade coal mine foreman. Jesse was the kind of engineer that was interested in many phases of engineering. This interest quickly translated into a love of railroads and railroading, initiated because most coal is mover! by rail. He had an extensive book and video library of railroads and he took every opportunity to travel by rail. He spoke

TESSE F. CORE 57 authoritatively on both the old narrow gauge roads and modern diesel practice. Jesse loved all aspects of mining and was an active mining history buff. This included an intense interest in the history of coal mining in both anthracite and bituminous coal mines, the Molly Maguires, the clevelopment of the United Mine Workers of America, and in hard rock mines in both the Unitecl States and abroad. He had a life- long interest in geology, especially of Appalachia and the U.S. Southwest. His abiding interest in Southwest geology quickly extended to the mining and to the Native American art of that region. Shortly before his death, he gave all of his mining, geology, en cl railroacling materials to his colleagues and his collections of minerals and paintings of mining scenes to Penn State's Earth ancL Mineral Sciences Museum. iesse's interests clid not stop here. He was active in the Boy Scouts of America, holding various positions in the Allegheny Trails Council. Further, he was chairman of the Catholic Committee for Scouting for the Diocese of Pittsburgh and received the Silver Beaver and the St. George Awards for his service to scouting. Since coming to State College, Pennsylvania, Jesse continued his services to his chosen profession. He was appointed by President Carter as a member of the Presiclent's Commission on Coal. At Penn State, he participated in resident and continuing education courses, and his views on educational, research, and inclustrial matters were sought out by the faculty. His wife of fifyv-one years, Margaret, precleceased him in 1992. He is survived by his daughters, Margaret of Pittsburgh and Mary Katherine Mitchell of Cincinnati; a brother, Daniel of Duluth; and three grandchildren. Jesse will be long remem- berecl by his friends and acquaintances as one who proved one man can make a difference.

Next: Andrew F. Corry »
Memorial Tributes: Volume 8 Get This Book
×
Buy Hardback | $107.00 Buy Ebook | $84.99
MyNAP members save 10% online.
Login or Register to save!
Download Free PDF

This series presents biographies of deceased members of the National Academy of Engineering.

  1. ×

    Welcome to OpenBook!

    You're looking at OpenBook, NAP.edu's online reading room since 1999. Based on feedback from you, our users, we've made some improvements that make it easier than ever to read thousands of publications on our website.

    Do you want to take a quick tour of the OpenBook's features?

    No Thanks Take a Tour »
  2. ×

    Show this book's table of contents, where you can jump to any chapter by name.

    « Back Next »
  3. ×

    ...or use these buttons to go back to the previous chapter or skip to the next one.

    « Back Next »
  4. ×

    Jump up to the previous page or down to the next one. Also, you can type in a page number and press Enter to go directly to that page in the book.

    « Back Next »
  5. ×

    To search the entire text of this book, type in your search term here and press Enter.

    « Back Next »
  6. ×

    Share a link to this book page on your preferred social network or via email.

    « Back Next »
  7. ×

    View our suggested citation for this chapter.

    « Back Next »
  8. ×

    Ready to take your reading offline? Click here to buy this book in print or download it as a free PDF, if available.

    « Back Next »
Stay Connected!