# Montana Technological University

Montana Technological University, popularly known as Montana Tech, is a public university in Butte, Montana. Founded in 1900 as the Montana State School of Mines, the university became affiliated with the University of Montana in 1994. After undergoing several name changes, in 2017 the Montana University System Board of Regents voted to designate Montana Tech as part of Special Focus Four-Year Universities, the only such designation in the Montana University System. To recognize this new designation and the greater independence with it, the name was officially changed in 2018 from Montana Tech of the University of Montana to Montana Technological University. Montana Tech's focus is on engineering, applied and health science.
In fall 2017, Montana Tech had nearly 2,700 students. It has 13 campus buildings and offers 39 undergraduate degrees along with 15 minors, 5 certification degrees, and 9 pre-professional career programs. Montana Tech also offers 18 graduate degrees and has Ph.D. programs in Materials Science and Engineering, Interdisciplinary Studies, and Earth Science and Engineering.

## History

The Enabling Act of 1889, which brought Montana into the Union, allotted land for the creation of a school of mines as one of the four original Montana University System universities. In 1893 the Montana Legislature provided funding to establish the school in Butte. The cornerstone of Main Hall was laid in 1896, and the university opened its doors in 1900 as the Montana State School of Mines. The first student was a woman, Clara Clark of Butte, and Nathan R. Leonard acted as the first president. Despite enthusiastic local support, even offers of free land for construction, the early history of the school was fraught with poor funding and accusations of fraud, but with the help of former governor John E. Rickards, the school was opened.
In 1919 the Montana Legislature established the Montana State Bureau of Mines and Metallurgy on the campus in keeping with Montana Tech as a school focusing on the development of minerals and industry. Charles H. Clapp of the mining department served as the first president of the Bureau.
The school was renamed the Montana College of Mineral Science and Technology in 1965. It began moving beyond purely engineering and applied sciences, adding social science and liberal arts options. Alumni Coliseum opened on campus.
The university became affiliated with the University of Montana in 1994 with a reorganization of the Montana University System. The name was changed to Montana Tech of the University of Montana. The Butte Vocational-Technical Center was put under Montana Tech administration as the College of Technology. In 1998 Frank Gilmore became chancellor.
In 2010 the Natural Resource Building (NRB) opened. It now accommodates the Bureau of Mines and the Petroleum Engineering Department. In 2011 Don Blackketter became chancellor. In 2012 the College of Technology became Highlands College, and the Frank and Ann Gilmore University Relations Center (URC) building opened. The first Ph.D. program in Materials Science and Engineering began in 2014 in partnership with University of Montana and Montana State University. The Nursing Department began offering a full bachelor's degree in 2015. In October 2021, the university announced a $7 million donation to the Nursing Department from Dave and Sherry Lesar. This led to renaming the Nursing Department the Sherry Lesar School of Nursing. These funds also contributed to the construction of the Lesar Family Nursing Simulation Center, which opened in spring 2022 in the Science & Engineering building. In 2016, a full Bachelor's of Mechanical Engineering program was added, and the Natural Resource Research Center opened on campus, including a new nano research lab and additional lab space for existing departments.
In 2017 the Montana Board of Regents designated Montana Tech as part of Special Focus Four-Year Universities, the only such designation in the Montana University System, in recognition of Tech's focus on engineering, applied science and health science. This change gives greater independence by reporting directly to the Board of Regents and handling its own finances instead of through the University of Montana. To recognize this, in the summer of 2018, the school's name was changed to Montana Technological University. Les Cook became chancellor in 2019.
On April 25, 2023, the university announced the largest donation in its history from Ryan Lance, CEO of ConocoPhillips. On September 21, 2023, the university's School of Mines and Engineering was officially renamed the Lance College of Mines and Engineering by unanimous vote of the Montana University System Board of Regents.

### Presidents (1900–1994) and chancellors (1994–present)

Source:
* Nathan R. Leonard, 1900–1909
* Charles H. Bowman, 1909–1919
* Charles H. Clapp, 1919–1921
* George Warren Craven, 1921–1928
* Francis Andrew Thomson, 1928–1950
* J. Robert Van Pelt, 1951–1956
* Edwin G. Koch, 1957–1971
* Fred W. DeMoney, 1972–1985
* Lindsay Norman Jr., 1986–1998
* Frank Gilmore, 1998–2011
* Don Blackketter, 2011–2019
* Les Cook, 2019–present

## Academics

Montana Technological University offers 39 undergraduate degrees consisting of 11 associate degrees and 28 undergraduate majors, along with over 15 minors, 5 certification degrees, and 9 pre-professional career programs. Montana Tech also offers 18 graduate degrees including three Ph.D. programs in Materials Science and Engineering, Interdisciplinary Studies, and Earth Science and Engineering.
Montana Tech consists of four colleges:
* Lance College of Mines & Engineering
* College of Letters, Sciences, and Professional Studies
* Highlands College
* Graduate School

## Athletics

The Montana Tech athletic teams are called the Orediggers, named after Butte's mining history. The university is a member of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), primarily competing in the Frontier Conference since the 1933–34 academic year.
Montana Tech competes in 12 intercollegiate varsity sports: men's sports include basketball, cross country, football, golf, and track & field (indoor and outdoor); women's sports include basketball, cross country, golf, track & field (indoor and outdoor), and volleyball.
Montana Tech won the conference's most prestigious all-sports recognition, called the Bandy Award, in 2023, marking the first time since 1993 to do so.

### Football

The Orediggers football team won the Frontier Conference Championship in ’36, ’39, ’70, ’72, ’79, ’83, ’92, ’96, ’97, ’04, '12, ’15, and ’16. They were runner-ups in the 1996 NAIA National Championship under coach Bob Green.

### Basketball

The Orediggers men's basketball team, coached by Adam Hiatt, made history by becoming the first men's basketball program to win four consecutive Frontier Conference regular season and tournament championships in 2021–22, 2022–23, 2023–24, and 2024-25. The Diggers own several conference records, including the best overall conference record (14–1 conference mark set in 2023-24) and the highest scoring margin in league play (+15.1 margin). Montana Tech also set a Frontier Conference record for most points scored in a championship game (103 points in the 2022–23 season), as well as the largest regular season margin (5 game margin in 2023). After setting school records for most overall wins (27) in 2021–22, the program eclipsed that mark in 2022–23 with a 29–5 overall record. The Orediggers are 107–23 over the past four seasons (27–7, 29–5, 27–5, 24-6). The Diggers hosted the first two rounds of the NAIA National Tournament in back-to-back seasons (2022–23 and 2023–24). Montana Tech won their Regional Bracket to advance to the final site in Kansas City for the first time in program history in 2022–23. There, they upset #1 seed William Penn to advance to the National Quarterfinal. The 2024–25 team reached the highest Top 25 National Ranking in program history at #5, as well as becoming the first team in school history to win 20+ games in four straight seasons. The 2024-25 team also set a school record as the fastest team to reach 20 wins in a season (22 games). The Orediggers won the Frontier Conference regular season championship in 1984, '85, '88, '91, '93, 2022, '23, '24, '25 and conference tournament championships in 1983, ‘84, ‘85, ‘88, ‘93, ‘98, ‘99, ‘22, '23, '24, '25. Montana Tech has competed in the NAIA National Tournament in 1998, '99, 2022, '23, '24, and '25. The Orediggers beat rival Carroll College 62–61 on February 28, 2022 to win their first Frontier Conference tournament championship since 1999.

#### All-American honorees (since 2016–17)

* Chris O'Neill (HM 2018)
* Taylor England (HM 2019, HM 2020)
* Sindou Diallo (HM 2020, HM 2021, 2nd Team 2022)
* Caleb Bellach (HM 2022, 1st Team 2023)
* Asa Williams (3rd Team 2024)

#### Frontier Conference Awards (since 2016–17)

* Coach of the Year (Adam Hiatt 2023, 2024, 2025)
* Player of the Year (Caleb Bellach 2023, Hayden Diekhans 2025)
* Defensive Player of the Year (Taylor England 2020, Derrius Collins 2022; Hayden Diekhans 2024 and 2025)
* Newcomer of the Year (Sindou Diallo 2020, Caleb Bellach 2022, Asa Williams 2023)
* Freshman of the Year (Bridger Larson 2021); 6th Man of the Year (Keeley Bake 2022; Camdyn LaRance 2024)
* 1st Team all-Conference (Taylor England 2020; Sindou Diallo, 2020, 2021, 2022; Caleb Bellach 2022, 2023, 2024; Asa Williams 2024; Michael Ure 2024; Hayden Diekhans 2025; Keeley Bake 2025)
* 2nd Team all-Conference (Chris O'Neill 2017, 2018, Taylor England 2019, 2021, 2022; Asa Williams 2023; Ifeanyi Okeke 2025)

### Track and field

Montana Tech began participating in the NAIA as the Orediggers track and field team started in spring 2021. Becca Richtman won the 3000m steeplechase at the 2021 NAIA Outdoor Championship. At the 2022 NAIA Indoor Championship, Richtman won the 1 mile and 3000m races, and was named meet MVP. The Orediggers finished 6th overall. At the 2022 NAIA Outdoor Championship, Richtman won the 10,000 meter race, took 2nd in the 5,000 meter, 2nd in the 3,000 meter, was named meet MVP, and named the NAIA National Women’s Track Athlete of the Year. Over her career Richtman won 10 All-American honors.

### Golf

Sean Benson won Frontier Conference Men's Golf Championship in 2019. Sean Ramsbacher won the Men's Conference Championship in 2021, no tournament was held in 2020.

## Reputation and rankings

In 2014, Montana Tech was ranked sixth in the nation for graduates earning the highest starting salaries, according to the Washington Post. In 2015, The Wall Street Journal ranked Montana Tech ninth in the nation for best public universities for return on investment.
Montana Tech has had 1 Fulbright Scholar, 3 Rhodes Scholar finalists, 11 Goldwater Scholars, and 5 Goldwater honorable mentions.

## Notable alumni

* Mike Mansfield, former United States Senator
* Arnold Olsen, former United States Representative
* Don Heater, former NFL player
* Craig Kupp, former NFL player
* Ryan Lance, CEO of ConocoPhillips
* Tucker Wetmore, country singer-songwriter