Late in the summer of 1874, Gustavus A. Duncan, John H. Gill and John W. Pack, the first three graduates of the University of Missouri School of Mines and Metallurgy held the first meeting of MSM alumni.

On November 4, 1921, those attendng Homecoming accepted the constitution for the MSM Alumni Association, and Arthur D. Terrell, 1898, was elected the first president. Volunteers began to build the alumni organization and alumni sections were formed in major cities across the United States.

The MSM Alumnus (now called the MSM-UMR Alumnus), the official publication of the association, was first printed in September 1926 and edited by then registrar Noel Hubbard. The registrar's office also started to maintain alumni name and address records.

In 1946, the MSM Alumni Association was incorporated and the campus office was established, with Francis C. "Ike" Edwards acting as executive secretary. He served in that capacity until his death in 1975.

Frank H. Mackaman joined the campus in 1968 as field secretary and was given the title of executive vice president of the association in 1975. He served in this position until he was named vice chancellor of alumni affairs by the university shortly before his retirement in 1988.

Donald G. Brackhahn, came to Rolla in 1985 as director of alumni and constituent relations. He was given the title of executive secretary of the association in 1988, and became executive vice president in 1992, retiring in 2002.

The current executive vice president is Lindsay Lomax Bagnall. She is a 1976 graduate of UMR, and had served as the assistant alumni director since 1988 and the association's assistant vice president since 1992.

The Miner Association represents and serves nearly 50,000 graduates and former students. Today's association carries on the proud tradition of support to MSM-UMR by providing aid to campus faculty, staff and students.