Roger A. Markle (December 12, 1933 – January 2020) was an American mining engineer and executive. He served as the 15th director of the U.S. Bureau of Mines. He later served as the president and vice chairman of

Quaker State Quaker State is an American brand of motor oils, owned by Shell USA, the US-based division of Shell plc. The former Quaker State Oil Refining Company had been constituted in 1924 after the Eastern Refining Co. acquired rights to the ''Quaker Sta ...

and the executive vice president of

NERCO NERCO was an American mining company headquartered in Portland, Oregon, with interests in coal, natural gas, and oil. The company also had significant operations in gold and silver mining, and manufacture of gallium arsenide wafers. NERCO was cre ...

Early life

Roger A. Markle was born on December 12, 1933, in

Sidney, Montana Sidney is a city in and the county seat of Richland County, Montana, Richland County, Montana, United States, less than west of the North Dakota border. The population was 6,346 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. The city lies alon ...

to Forrest Markle. He attended a one-room schoolhouse up until eighth grade. He then attended Montana School of Mines for two years while working weekends at mines in

Butte In geomorphology, a butte ( ) is an isolated hill with steep, often vertical sides and a small, relatively flat top; buttes are smaller landforms than mesas, plateaus, and table (landform), tablelands. The word ''butte'' comes from the French l ...

. He then moved to

Fairbanks, Alaska Fairbanks is a Municipal home rule, home rule city and the county seat, borough seat of the Fairbanks North Star Borough, Alaska, United States. Fairbanks is the largest city in the Interior Alaska, interior region of Alaska and the second la ...

and enrolled at the

University of Alaska The University of Alaska Fairbanks (UAF or Alaska) is a public land-, sea-, and space-grant research university in College, Alaska, United States, a suburb of Fairbanks. It is the flagship campus of the University of Alaska system. UAF was e ...

. Markle graduated from the University of Alaska with a Bachelor of Science in mining engineering in 1959. He graduated from

Stanford University Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a Private university, private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth ...

in 1965 with a Master of Science in mining management. He then graduated from the

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, or UChi) is a Private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Its main campus is in the Hyde Park, Chicago, Hyde Park neighborhood on Chicago's South Side, Chic ...

in 1971 with a

Master of Business Administration A Master of Business Administration (MBA) is a professional degree focused on business administration. The core courses in an MBA program cover various areas of business administration; elective courses may allow further study in a particular ...

Career

Markle served in the

U.S. Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest displacement, at 4.5 million tons in 2021. It has the world's largest aircraft ...

. He was honorably discharged in 1954. Markle worked as a mill superintendent, chief mine engineer and then general superintendent with Alaska Mines & Minerals, Inc. from 1958 to 1961 at the Red Devil Mine near

Red Devil, Alaska Red Devil is a census-designated place (CDP) in Bethel Census Area, Alaska, United States. The population was 23 at the 2010 census, down from 48 in 2000. Their post office was founded in 1957. History The village was named after the Red Devil ...

. He then worked as an instructor of adult education at the University of Alaska from 1962 to 1964. From 1965 to 1974, Markle worked at

Standard Oil Standard Oil Company was a Trust (business), corporate trust in the petroleum industry that existed from 1882 to 1911. The origins of the trust lay in the operations of the Standard Oil of Ohio, Standard Oil Company (Ohio), which had been founde ...

and its subsidiaries in varying positions relating to mining. He started as a project manager in

Denver Denver ( ) is a List of municipalities in Colorado#Consolidated city and county, consolidated city and county, the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Colorado, most populous city of the U.S. state of ...

and ended as a manager of mine development. From 1974 to 1978, he served as the president of the western division of the Valley Camp Coal Company. In 1978, President

Jimmy Carter James Earl Carter Jr. (October 1, 1924December 29, 2024) was an American politician and humanitarian who served as the 39th president of the United States from 1977 to 1981. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party ...

nominated Markle as the director of the U.S. Bureau of Mines. He assumed the position on September 1, 1978, and resigned the post on April 11, 1979, for personal reasons.

Lindsay D. Norman Lindsay D. Norman (born 1938) is an American mining engineer and educator. He served as the 16th director of the United States Bureau of Mines, U.S. Bureau of Mines. He also worked as an executive for Jones and Laughlin Steel Company and Chase M ...

assumed the role of acting director following his resignation. In 1979, he returned to the Valley Camp Coal Company, which was then owned by

, as a director, president, and chief executive officer. He was named president of Quaker State in 1982. In January 1988, Markle was named vice chairman. He served as president until May 1988. He retired from Quaker State in 1989. In 1990, Markle became executive vice president of

. He retired shortly before the company was sold to

Kennecott Utah Copper Kennecott Utah Copper LLC (KUC), a division of Rio Tinto Group, is a mining, smelting, and refining company. Its corporate headquarters are located in South Jordan, Utah. Kennecott operates the Bingham Canyon Mine, one of the largest open-pit ...

in 1993.

Personal life and death

Markle married Mary E. (d. 2014) around 1971. She had two daughters from a previous relationship. After retiring, Markle and his wife lived in

Vancouver, Washington Vancouver ( ) is a city on the north bank of the Columbia River in the U.S. state of Washington (state), Washington, located in Clark County, Washington, Clark County. Founded in 1825 and incorporated in 1857, Vancouver had a population of 190, ...

Atlantic Beach, North Carolina Atlantic Beach is a town in Carteret County, North Carolina, United States. It is one of the five communities located on Bogue Banks. The population was 1,364 at the 2020 census. History The idea of Atlantic Beach was first envisioned in the ...

and, finally,

Sun City, Arizona Sun City is an Unincorporated area#United States, unincorporated community and census-designated place in Maricopa County, Arizona, Maricopa County, Arizona, United States, that is located within the Phoenix metropolitan area. The population wa ...

. Markle died in January 2020 in Sun City.

Legacy

Between 2014 and 2020, Markle gave $2.1million to create the Roger A. Markle Climate Change Adaptation Endowment at the University of Alaska. He created the endowment to support people living in the Arctic that may be impacted by

climate change Present-day climate change includes both global warming—the ongoing increase in Global surface temperature, global average temperature—and its wider effects on Earth's climate system. Climate variability and change, Climate change in ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Markle, Roger A. 1933 births 2020 deaths People from Sidney, Montana University of Alaska Fairbanks alumni Stanford University alumni University of Chicago alumni University of Alaska Fairbanks faculty United States Navy sailors Standard Oil United States Bureau of Mines personnel American mining engineers