Dick Elgin, a second-generation surveyor, was raised in his father’s surveying business in Rolla, Missouri. A second-generation surveyor, Dr. Elgin was raised in his father’s surveying business in Rolla, Missouri. After serving as an Army helicopter pilot in Vietnam he received the degrees BSCE and MSCE from the University of Missouri-Rolla (UMR), and his PhD from the University of Arkansas. Formerly an Assistant Professor of Civil Engineering at UMR, he currently is the President of Elgin Surveying & Engineering, Inc. of Rolla. Along with Drs. Knowles and Senne, he coauthored the Celestial Observation Handbook and Ephemeris, the Practical Surveying Guide to Celestial Observations and was a contributor to The Surveying Handbook.
Dr. Elgin is a past president of MSPS, and was editor of Missouri Surveyor for many years. He is a member of MSPS, ACSM, NSPS, NSPE, MSPE, Chi Epsilon, Tau Beta Pi, Surveyors Historical Society, UMRs Academy of Civil Engineers, and the UMR Order of the Golden Shillelagh. He is a past member of the Missouri Board for Architects, Professional Engineers, Professional Land Surveyors and Landscape Architects. Dr. Elgin was the recipient of MSPS 1995 Robert E. Myers Service Award and ACSMs Presidents Award. Dr. Elgin owns one of the largest private collections of early American surveying equipment in America. He is an avid bicyclist and drives a perfectly restored 1964 Morgan Plus Four.