B.S., Mining Engineering, 1917
Kwong Yih Kum, who was born in 1893 in Guangdong Province, graduated from St. John’s College and Tsinghua College, and then came to the U.S. with the Boxer Indemnity Scholarship in 1910. He enrolled at the Colorado School of Mines and the University of Chicago respectively, before he transferred to the University of Minnesota in 1914 as one of the first three Chinese students at the University. Kwong graduated from in 1917 with a bachelor of science in mining engineering. While at the University, Kwong—also known to use the first name Harding—was a member of the YMCA, Cosmopolitan Club, and School of Mines Society. He was one of the founding members of the Chinese Student Club and played on the University’s soccer team as a halfback.
After graduation, he was employed as a chemist at the Iroquois Iron Company based in Chicago until 1919 when he returned to China and changed his name to Kuang Zhao’an. He firstly served as an engineer at Kailuan Coal Mining Company, and then he ran a private mine in Datong, Shanxi. In 1937, Kwong was hired by Heshan Coal Mining Company as a chief engineer in Guangxi. In 1939, he played a critical role in transforming Heshan Coal Mining Company to Heshan Coal Mining Cooperation Limited.
Image courtesy of the University of Minnesota Archives, University of Minnesota - Twin Cities
邝翼堃，1893年出生于广东省台山县，曾就读于上海圣约翰大学和清华学堂，1910年获庚子赔款奖学金赴美。他曾就读于科罗拉多州矿业学院和芝加哥大学，于1914年转学至明尼苏达大学，成为首批明尼苏达大学中国留学生之一。邝翼堃于1917年获得明尼苏达大学冶矿工程学士。在求学期间，邝翼堃的英文名字叫Harding，他参加了基督教青年会、世界学生会和冶矿学院社团。他也是明尼苏达州大学中国学生会的创始人之一。在明尼苏达大学足球队里踢中卫位置。
毕业后，他在芝加哥的Iroquois铁矿公司担任化学工程师。1919年海归回国，并改名邝兆安（兆安为其字）。他先在河北省开滦煤矿担任工程师，后到山西大同自办采矿。1937年他被广西省聘任为合山煤矿工程师。1939年他主持成立广西省合山煤矿股份有限公司，任总经理兼工程师。