Dave Kanagy leaves a legacy of visionary leadership of SME

Since 2004, Dave Kanagy has served as the executive director and chief executive officer of SME. In that role, he has worked with 22 SME Presidents, traveling the world to represent the Society. His prestigious one-million-mile status with United Airlines is a testament to these efforts. He has been to six of seven continents while leading the Society on a journey from a struggling association in 2004 to the largest and arguably the most influential professional mining society in the world. In the following pages, some of those past SME Presidents reflect on their time with Kanagy and paint the picture of a visionary leader who was willing to make the hard decisions for the betterment of the Society while remaining open to new ideas and opportunities. One of his first accomplishments as the executive director was to streamline the SME Boad of Directors from 29 members to nine, making it much more effective. With a keen financial sense, he was able to add value while cutting excess to expand the Society in every measure. As the leader of SME, Kanagy helped facilitate much of the Society’s growth and innovation as the world’s largest mining related organization. He has a B.S. degree in industrial education from the University of Maryland, an M.S. degree in technology education from Eastern Illinois University and is a certified association executive by the American Society of Association Executives. Under his leadership, several unique programs were created or advanced, including OneMine.org, the world’s foremost online mining research library. He enhanced legacy programs and increased collaboration with international organizations. Kanagy is the recipient of prestigious awards, including the Colorado Society of Association Executives’ Professional of the Year award and the Mining and Metallurgical Society of America’s Gold Medal award. Barbara A. Filas – 2005 SME President What I loved the most about working with Dave is that he always supported me when I wanted to do something new or different at SME. I have swung off many windmills throughout my SME career, like championing the first student mentoring initiative, creating the first new division in SME (the Environmental Division) in nearly a half century, and forming an ad hoc Governance Committee, whose recommendation was that on my first day as SME President I would ask 29 SME Directors to all turn in their resignations and be replaced by a nine-member board. Dave completely supported all these initiatives and really was the driver in making each of them happen. We just couldn’t get anything done in a timely manner with a 29-member board. With the downsized board, in about one year’s time we were able to create the Registered Member program, establish a new marketing plan, commit to holding joint meetings with the Colorado Mining Association when the SME Annual Meeting is in Denver, CO, merge with the American Underground Association to create the Underground Construction Association (UCA), create a new governance structure supported by strategic committees, and develop new Articles of Incorporation and Bylaws. What a change, and it never would have happened if the executive director had not been fully supportive. I always say that my last windmill to swing from at SME is the WAAIME Division. As the current chair of that division, I can always count on Dave’s support for our new programs, for how we interpret our operating agreements, and for being a presence in our meetings and receptions. I am truly honored to have worked with such a consummate professional over the years. Dave’s departure from SME leaves giant shoes to fill, but he has served SME extremely well for over two decades and deserves to put his feet up next to Trish’s and enjoy his retirement. I wish them both my very best! By my standard, Dave has been by far the most effective executive director in the history of SME. He came into the Society at a very dark time. Our financials were abysmal and our membership was rapidly declining. I can remember giving talks with graphs of our financial and membership trends, pointing out that SME would be out of money in seven years and out of members in another seven years if we didn’t make some drastic changes. Dave came in as executive director and was never intimidated by the trends. He was instead invigorated by the challenge to change their downward direction. He has been responsible for so many changes at SME over the years that there are too many to count. Today, SME is among the largest, if not the largest, technical societies for mining in the world. It is financially sound, our membership is strong, and that success is directly attributed to Dave’s leadership and the effort of all the stellar SME staff. Steve Gardner, 2015 SME President I was on the SME board in the early 2000s when a search for a new executive director started. The SME board consisted of 29 members and could be very unwieldy. When Dave Kanagy came on board, I think we all soon realized he had a take-charge personality, which was exactly what SME needed.We also all remember what we affectionately called Dave-isms. Dave would have his favorite sayings for different situations. One, of course, was, “If you’re not 10 minutes early, you’re late.” Or “Dave is not going to jail for SME.” And then WAIT, Why Am I Talking! Dave was a great travel companion. Karen and I have some great memories of traveling around the country and the world during my term as SME President in 2015 and then again, over this last year as AIME president. It was my privilege to get to know and work with Dave Kanagy and call him friend. He truly saved SME. William H. Wilkinson – 2009 SME President I was SME President in 2009 and one of the duties of the president was to attend the PeruMin conference in Arequipa, Peru. So, Dave and I and SME staff flew to Arequipa for the meeting. Since I was a VP with Freeport-McMoRan, they took care of many of the arrangements. One of these was securing us rooms in the Hotel Costa del Sol, a very nice hotel in Arequipa. (This was an amazing contrast to the 2011 PeruMin trip, where Dave invited several past presidents and their spouses and our accommodations were in a convent, but that is another story.) This was a time when security in Peru was questionable, so one of Freeport’s requirements was that Dave and I needed to be transported by Freeport security. This seemed like a bit of overkill, but Dave and I never had to wait for a bus or a taxi. One of the other significant memories of travel with Dave during 2009 was a meeting with the Member Societies in Kansas City. As part of that trip, we visited the Linda Hall Library where many SME publications are archived. On display was one of the original Latin editions of Agricola’s De Re Metallica. Amazingly, we were allowed to actually turn the pages and look at some of the figures after we put on archival gloves. This was a truly amazing experience. The 2011 PeruMin trip was a great trip, in part because of the bonding among the group staying in the convent as mentioned above. The accommodations were basic, college dorm-like rooms with twin beds, and many folks did not have hot water. It was great also because Dave arranged a trip to Cuzco and Machu Picchu for the group. Machu Picchu is a magical place and thanks to Dave this trip checked off one of my bucket list boxes. It was a combination bus and train trip with several stops in the Sacred Valley on the way. I especially remember walking the trail to the Inca Bridge with Dave. Nikhil Trivedi – 2010 SME President Having been a member of SME since 1968, I have seen several executive directors come and go. I don’t have any impression of any of them. They were doing their jobs, and the Society was coasting along, experiencing the ups and downs of the mining industry. In the early 2000s, SME was experiencing severe financial challenges with membership decline adding fuel to the fire. The industry itself was in one of its down cycles. In 2004, Dave Kanagy joined SME as executive director from ISS, an AIME Member Society. My interaction with Dave began in earnest in 2008 when I became president-elect designate in advance of my SME presidency in 2010. Dave’s energy, focus on industry, situational leadership style and strategic thinking impressed me from the very first time I interacted with him. During my SME presidency, there were three events that left a lasting impression on me.I wanted to establish a new, separate Health & Safety Division. Dave advised me to take it slowly and start with an ad hoc committee to determine the feasibility and sketch out what the new Health & Safety Division’s charter would be. That sage advice gave us a couple of good years to have a standing committee laying a solid foundation for that division, which is now flourishing. That was Dave being a wise counsel and a strategic thinker. After Dave’s miraculous rescue of SME’s finances, by 2010 SME was growing and we needed actual physical space as the old building in Littleton was not adequate for our future growth objectives. So, Dave found an old TV studio and SME bought it with Dave promising that we will pay off the building by 2015, and … he kept his word. The current SME headquarters building was fully paid off in five years after purchase. That was Dave having a keen eye for a good deal and disciplined focus on the bottom line, resulting in enhanced value for SME members. I venture to add that Dave’s fiscal management of SME has made SME a lot less vulnerable to the industry’s cycles. Dave and I traveled to the Russian Federation in 2010 to attend the annual meeting of the International Marine Minerals Society. During rush hour on Moscow Metro, the compartment we were in was so crowded that I just could not get off at our destination station. Dave was closer to the exit and managed to get off and I waved goodbye to him as the train sped off, leaving both of us wondering what just happened. Dave later mentioned to me that he had already started thinking what he was going to tell the SME Board about how he lost the SME President in unfriendly territory. Thanks to the rush-hour train frequency in Moscow, I could catch a returning train from the next station back to where Dave was and reunite with him. At that time, I saw Dave as a caring friend. I worked with Dave again in a different setting. When I became AIME President in 2016, I found that Dave was the most prolific contributor to discussions on AIME’s mission and future. Dave had intimate and detailed knowledge of AIME’s history, past discussions, decisions and actions. Dave was the conscience and the voice that kept the AIME legacy alive for a lot of new members from AIME’s Member Societies.As I look at the milestone Dave is approaching in early 2026, after more than two decades of solid leadership at SME, I am happy to note that Dave is getting well-deserved recognition from AIME, SME, AMEA, association managers society, MMSA, National Mining Hall of Fame and several other entities.When one embarks on a career, one hopes to have an impact. Dave has had an impact. Not just an impact; Dave has had a lasting and profound impact. Dave’s impact on SME, the SME Foundation, the mining industry and the SME membership at large will be felt for decades. George Luxbacher – 2018 SME President I first met Dave in 2002 when he accompanied Mike Karmis, then SME President, to the Coal Division Executive Committee (EC) meeting at the annual meeting. George Weisdack and I had convinced the Coal Division EC that we needed to move our scholarship funds to the SME stock portfolio rather than the then SME-mandated approach of fixed investments – we came out swinging with our demands. All for the best – SME let us move to stocks and, over time, the other divisions to a large part followed us. That was the same meeting where Mike challenged us to change the name to Coal & Energy Division, which we did with minimal results over time. I don’t think I made a great first impression on Dave but he certainly recognized me going forward. I then served on the SME Board representing the Coal & Energy Division from 2004 through 2006 and got to know Dave much better. As I finished my term on the board (my second pass, having served on the board as the Eastern Regional Vice President from 1994-97), I found I has been selected to serve as the 2008 SME President – this began 20 years of a great friendship between the Kanagy and Luxbacher families. Back then, the SME President didn’t do all the international trips, but we did the travel to local sections, AIME and UEF. One highlight was the 2008 AIME Board of Trustees (BOT) meeting in Jackson Hole, WY where we rafted down the Snake River for riverside campfire dining, competing with mosquitoes for dining pleasure. Dave supported me in bringing all the divisions together at the Midyear Board meeting to encourage more input – he never stops reminding me that this practice has cost SME a lot of money since then, bringing staff to the meeting to support the increased attendance. Dave, in a brave move, organized a trip to Peru for a group of SME past presidents, senior members (all of whom I believe later became SME presidents) and SME staff. We went to Lima, then Arequipa for PERUMIN and to sign an MOU with the Instituto de Ingenieros de Minas del Peru. There was a big hiccup – the travel agency SME was using had screwed up and not booked hotel reservations as promised for the Libertador Hotel (a first-class hotel) in Arequipa – with the major mining show underway, rooms were impossible to find. Mike Karmis had a Society of Mining Professors (SOMP) meeting in conjunction with PERUMIN and he had put the attendees up at a Catholic retreat center run by the Daughters of Charity of St. Vincent de Paul – Peru. Luckily, they could also accommodate the SME crowd. The retreat center had to buy bedlinen and towels for us – other than small individual beds, linty towels (they hadn’t been washed first), and only solar-heated hot water, this was a great accommodation – particularly considering the alternative of no rooms. It worked out great; the group purchased snacks and drinks and really bonded more than at any other SME event and it showed during the rest of the trip. The group then flew to Cusco, then on by bus to Urubamba, stopping in Pisac and Ollantaytambo, then train to Aguas Calientes. We spent two days there touring Machu Picchu, before returning to Cuzco by train, then Lima by plane. This was a trip of a lifetime, according to all the members and spouses. The hotel screwup turned out to be a plus and we even had a great time at the retreat house. In 2012, Dave and I were at the AIME BOT meeting in Carmel, CA and got the opportunity to play golf at Pebble Beach (with Drew Meyer and Mark Rubin, SPE ED). I am at best a poor golfer and won’t even admit how I did that day, but the course is beautiful and the rest of our foursome (including Dave) tolerated me, ignoring my balls that went way off course. In 2013, I was AIME President and elected to hold my BOT meeting in Alaska, initiating the concept of a field trip related to the President’s society. Naturally, through Dave’s connections, we went to the Pebble Project by plane and helicopter. While we did our best to overcome the antimining nature of the TMS BOT members, we were not successful. Orvis and NGO propaganda won out. This was another great trip and Dave and I (with our spouses) went by boat to see glaciers and joined the entire group for a rafting trip followed by a riverbank salmon bake. Robert W. Schafer – 2021 SME President Dave certainly made the SME an organization that is on sound financial footing and brought growth that he and everyone is proud of. However, the greatest contribution that Dave brought is the sense of genuine purpose and SME’s reason for reaching and achieving goals for the future. He brought a genuine and sincere sense of purpose for SME members and its leaders. Dave gave SME a future path to continuing success.

Dave Kanagy leaves a legacy of visionary leadership of SME

Authored by: William Gleason

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Mining Engineering’s Weekly Rundown: Episode 73

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To view the past issues of the UCA magazine you must be a member of SME/UCA.

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