Born in Krasnoyarsk, Siberia, Boris Kochanowsky (1905–1992) left Russia in 1922 to study at the Freiberg School of Mines. After graduation, he held various posts in Germany, including advisor to the chief minister of mines under Hitler. Suddenly, condemned as a Jew, he spent months trying to escape Germany, ultimately crossing the Siegfried Line. After almost five years on the run, he reached Switzerland in late 1943 with the help of the French Resistance. Kochanowsky’s later career took him to Argentina, and finally, in 1952, to the United States, where he was appointed professor of mining at the Pennsylvania State University. While at Penn State, and after retirement, he continued to build an international reputation as a blasting and open-pit extraction specialist, traveling widely as a consultant to many major mining operations throughout the world.