Alumni Spotlight – Dan Carlson (ChE 77)
When Dan Carlson (ChE 77) pulled into Rapid City for this year’s All-School Reunion, it marked a special milestone—50 years since attending his very first. In 1975, after finishing his sophomore year at South Dakota Mines and working the night shift at a margarine plant in Albert Lea, Minnesota, he drove straight to campus, eager to reconnect with friends and recharge in the place that had already begun to shape his future.
“I remember being so excited about getting back to campus for the reunion to see all my friends,” Dan said. “I’ve missed a few reunions along the way—usually when I was living outside the U.S.—but it remains high up on my radar screen.”
This year’s return came with a meaningful twist: for the first time, Dan brought his band with him and took the stage during the reunion weekend. The performance, years in the making, was both a musical homecoming and a personal dream realized.
“Bringing a band to the reunion has been in the back of my mind for many years. It may sound simple enough but believe me it is pretty complicated,” he said. “About a year ago I said to myself the time is right, and I just need to get it done.”
Dan floated the idea to musician friends in Texas and Alabama—none of whom had ever been to South Dakota—and to his surprise, they were all in. “It was an adventure, and a dream come true for me,” he said. “The only downside was that I had limited time to spend visiting with classmates and attending other reunion activities.”
Still, just being on campus was enough to bring back a flood of memories. “Anytime I set foot on campus it transports me back to my time at the school,” Dan said. “It still has a certain energy and while it has grown considerably, that vibe is still there.”
One of the most moving moments came during Friday night’s Triangle reunion party, when a young graduate approached Dan to say thank you. “A young recent graduate came up to personally thank me as he was a recipient of a scholarship from the Dan and Nancy Carlson Scholarship Fund,” he recalled. “That brief encounter was a highlight of the trip and reinforced why we believe so strongly in supporting Mines students.”
Dan and his wife Nancy have supported scholarships at South Dakota Mines for nearly a decade. In 2025, they’ll celebrate ten years of giving through the fund that bears their name—one that has helped nearly 50 students pursue a Mines education.
“There are four factors that influence our continued support for the school,” Dan explained. “A Mines education is a great investment. It provides a high quality, affordable education with a track record of high job placement for graduates. The ROI is impressive.
“We want to honor those who made it possible for me to complete a degree at Mines. Individual named scholarships make this possible. We want to support the University’s growth ambitions while maintaining high academic standards. And we want to give back and help students realize their full potential.”
Dan and Nancy have worked closely with the university to target scholarships where they’ll have the most impact—from the chemical engineering department to leadership, music, and Triangle Fraternity programs. “Our program started small, but for over 10 years has continued to grow and produce great results,” Dan said. “The staff at CARA have been great to work with and helped us design scholarships that target areas where we want our impact to be directed.”
Their investment is deeply personal. Dan knows firsthand the kind of doors a Mines degree can open. After graduating, he began a 37-year career with Shell Oil that took him across the globe.
“I interviewed Shell Oil on campus in 1976 and started work in 1977,” he said. “I pursued a career focused on commercial and business activities in the energy industry. I started in marketing and technical sales and product management in Shell’s petrochemical business. I held assignments in business management, strategy development, general management and business development.”
From helping launch Liquid Tide for Procter & Gamble to living in a tiny village in North Wales, then later in central London, Dan’s career was full of variety and challenge. He capped it off by leading a multibillion-dollar project to create a new petrochemical complex near Pittsburgh—an effort that began with selecting products and technologies and ended with the facility’s successful startup in 2022.
Though Dan’s work took him far from Rapid City, his connection to Mines has never waned. He still cherishes the friendships that started in the dorms and classrooms nearly five decades ago.
“I think the greatest gift I received from my time at Mines was the friendship and bonds that were made,” he said. “Although I graduated 48 years ago, several of my closest friends today are my classmates and fraternity brothers.”
He credits those relationships—and the experiences they shared—for helping shape not just his career, but his life. “While at school we worked hard and played hard and sometimes mixed the two together,” he said. One of his favorite memories involves collecting temperature and humidity data for a Chem E lab—while seated at the Casino Bar. “Believe it or not, I still have that lab notebook in my garage,” he added.
Dan’s advice for current students is simple but heartfelt: “Study hard in class but keep your head up and try to broaden your perspectives. There is much to learn beyond the classroom, and you never know what might help you succeed in the future. Find ways to build leadership, teamwork, and communications skills inside and outside the classroom.”
For Dan, music has been one of those lifelong passions—an outlet that began in the 1970s and has only grown stronger with time. This year, after piling into a borrowed Suburban with his bandmates for a 1,300-mile drive from Houston to Rapid City, he added a new favorite memory to the list.
“It was an epic adventure,” he said.
Just like his Mines journey.