The University of Kentucky's Department of Mining Engineering has the distinction of being both among the oldest and newest programs of its type in the nation. It is the oldest in that the program was founded as the School of Civil and Mining Engineering in 1866; newest in that it was only in 1979, after a varied history of change reflecting conditions in the mining industry, that the Department was upgraded from a transition program in Civil Engineering to departmental status.

In 1910, a college was established and given the name Mines and Metallurgy, but seven years later the college was amalgamated into a department within the College of Engineering. In 1966 the mining department was realigned with Civil Engineering. In 1977, the University Board of trustees authorized the re-establishment of Mining Engineering as a separate and distinct department. In 1988, the department moved to its current new facilities.

In keeping with its history and the renewed emphasis of the University's commitment to mining engineering, a distinguished national and international faculty has been assembled. Hence, in a continuing pursuit for excellence, the University of Kentucky's traditional land-grant teaching, research and service function is expanded further through the addition of faculty members recruited from among the world's finest mining disciplines. This faculty gives the Department of Mining Engineering an increased academic capability as a leader in both the state's and the nation's greatly expanded minerals industry.