1978 Mining Alum Speaks at Lacy Distinguished Lecture Series

At the 2023 Lacy Lecture, 1978 mining engineering alumna Barb Filas said that helping others get into jobs that they love is key to a fulfilling career. Filas, a third generation miner, stressed the importance of choosing a career that brings joy at  the 18th Annual W.C. Lacy Distinguished Lecture Series.

The Homecoming lecture series is a tribute to Willard C. "Bill" Lacy, the first head of the combined Department of Mining and Geological Engineering at the University of Arizona.“Figure out what really makes you happy,” the 1978 mining engineering alumna told students in the audience during the University of Arizona College of Engineering’s Homecoming 2023 festivities.

Because there are different dynamics involved in mining jobs, from CEO to manager of environmental or tech services, “you have to decide when you progress in your career where you want to get to at the end of the day,” she said.

“For me, it was that I didn’t want to be told what to do, and I wanted to travel.”

In her 40-plus-year career, Filas, one of the first women to graduate from the university’s mining engineering program, has worked on every continent except Antarctica, traversing terrain that included the coal mines of Illinois and the boardroom of a global mining firm as president of Geovic Mining Corp.

“If you love what you do for your job, you never work a day in your life.”