Edwin W. Peiker, Jr. '54

Edwin W. Peiker, Jr. graduated from Mines Foundation in 1954 with a degree in geological engineering. He enjoyed a successful career as a professor at CU's Department of Engineering Design and Economic Evaluation, in various positions with Climax Molybdenum and as President and COO of Royal Gold in Denver.

During his lifetime, Ed's gifts to Mines Foundation were modest. After his death in 2013, Ed's widow, Sue, decided she would like to memorialize Ed's life through an endowed scholarship. Sue contributed Royal Gold stock to augment the other memorial gifts and created the Sue and Edwin W. Peiker, Jr. Memorial Endowed scholarship fund. The fund's purpose was to help undergraduate students in geology/geological engineering attend summer field camp.

The first awards from the Peiker scholarship were made to ten students during the summer of 2016. Several of the recipients provided thank you letters to Sue, including Halle Nicholas and Amber Brusak. Excerpts from their thank you letters speak to the impact of this scholarship. Amber Brusak wrote, "The best part of field camp was experiencing geological processes from the field. I have never seen fossils like those in limestone deposits in Silverton. I have never been to Moab and seen the massive sandstone deposits. I was genuinely happy while having these experiences."

"What an incredible opportunity that this school provides to us! Those 6 weeks were jam-packed with the highest quality education I have ever received (HUGE shout-out to all the GE faculty involved in making it such a big success), and gained lifelong friends and memories. We got to go see some of the coolest geology in the country, learn a ton about it, and have SO much fun while doing so" wrote Halle Nicholas. Both women graduated in 2017 and their field camp experience only increased their excitement for their upcoming careers.