South Dakota School of Mines & Technology confirmed this morning that its president, Robert Wharton, has died.

In April, Wharton announced that he was cancer free after successful treatment for neck cancer. Wharton was diagnosed late in 2011 and underwent seven weeks of radiation and chemotherapy treatments.

The SDSM&T official website has this statement:

South Dakota School of Mines Athletic Director Dick Kaiser received word Monday the Hardrocker Athletic Dept. has successfully completed the first year of NCAA Div. II candidacy and has been accepted into Year II candidacy.

“It’s a milestone step for Hardrocker athletics to get moved from candidacy Year I to candidacy Year II,” Kaiser said. “We view the phone call today as an important step forward in the NCAA process. We will continue to seek a conference affiliation which is important to our future, while we move forward toward full membership in NCAA D-II”.

In the second year of candidacy, SD Mines will now be recognized as a NCAA Div. II competitor to other NCAA opponents and the contests against the Hardrockers will count toward national and regional ratings.

Also at the candidacy Year II level, the Hardrockers will strive to schedule additional Div. II contests to fulfill the NCAA requirements.

GREENEVILLE, Tenn. - South Dakota School of Mines seniors Jamie Lien and Ayla Brausen have been named as Daktronics-NAIA Scholar Athletes for the 2010-11 season.

Lien is an interdisciplinary Sciences major from Presho, S.D., and Brausen is a Metallurgical Engineering major from Roscoe, S.D.

“It’s not surprising that these two ladies have received this honor,” said Lady Hardrocker head golf coach Eric Glenn. “They work hard both on and off the course and really exemplify what a student-athlete is at South Dakota Mines.”

In order to be nominated by an institution's head coach, a student-athlete must maintain a minimum grade point average of 3.5 on a 4.0 scale and must have achieved a junior academic status to qualify for this honor.