Dedication of the Russell H. Volk Gymnasium at the Colorado School of Mines was held on May 8, 1974. Completed in 1960, the building has been known simply as the CSM Gymnasium. A bronze dedicatory plaque and a memorial portrait of Mr. Volk are now prominently displayed in the building renames for him.

Russell H. "Rut" Volk, E.M. 1926, M.Sc. 1931 & Medallist 1956, was considered by the Colorado School of Mines as the greatest student athlete of his generation. He earned 15 varsity letters in intercollegiate sports, a school record that still stands (as of 1974). He also served as president of his class and was national student-leadership conference in Yugoslavia in 1926.

After graduating from CSM in 1926, he gained national recognition as a leader in the petroleum industry, while serving as president and chairman of the board of the Plains Exploration Co., Denver, an independent petroleum production firm which he founded. In 1971, the company became the Plains Division of Cardinal Petroleum Co.

He and his colleagues were among the pioneers in petroleum exploration and development activities in the Denver-Julesburg Basin, one of the significant areas of oil production in the United States.

Appointed as a member of the Board of trustees by Gov. John A. Love, he served in that position from 1967 to 1973. He was a past president of the CSM Alumni Association and served as a director of the Colorado School of Mines Foundation, Inc.

Mr. Volk was a Denver-area civil leader whose service included membership on the board of trustees of Colorado Women’s College, director of the United Fund campaign, advisory board member of the Institute of International Education (Rocky Mountain Office), and past president of the Petroleum Club, which named him "Man of the Year" in 1954 for his efforts leading to the construction of the club’s building.

As a part of the presentation of the dedicatory plaque and memorial portrait, Colonel Fertig reminisced in these words about "Rut" Volk as a student, petroleum engineer, business and civic leader, and friend!

"It is a privilege to speak on this occasion to honor a unique Miner. There are many here who might speak more intimately of Rut. As you may know, I was a late comer to Mines, transferring from Boulder in January 1923. As a new man on the campus and lonesome, I was taken in by the MET’s (Mu Epsilon Tau) a local fraternity (now (ATO), which seemed to be foremost in athletics and in scholarship. Eddie Brook , Eddie Chapman, Woody Volk and Rut were among the first that I met. Then there were Delahunty, an outstanding football player, and his pal, Shorty Fairbairn, hardly four feet tall and the handiest man in wrinkling, a real pro!

Woody Volk, a quiet polished gentleman, was a particular friend and I wondered how he and Rut came from the same family. Rut was a magnificent athlete where brute strength made up for lack of finesse and skill. I believe the record book will hear me out. Rut Volk was the only athlete to win the conference 175-pound wrestling championship and the heavyweight boxing championship—and he did that on the same evening!

A Freshman, with those honors thrust upon him, he found it difficult to be just a freshman in the fraternity. One afternoon at dusk, with still some traces of snow in the shade at the north end of the old Gym, Rut was ambushed. As a tribute to his strength, the ambush party included Delahunty, Chapman, the 158-pound boxing champion, and the Littredge brothers, each of the size desired by the football pros. Rut offered some resistance, but he was soon spread-eagled. Shorty Fairbairn proved his ability as a wrinkler.*

"For three weeks Rut was almost subdued, but when his raw stomach ceased bothering him, he was out for blood. Yet, never did he carry out any of the terrible threats which he had made against his assailants.

My school day recollections did not paint the complex man that life developed; yet his glory in victory and his acceptance of defeat were part of this man. Generous to a fault, but needing a brusque manner to conceal his generosity, he acted the hardboiled executive in a profession where fine manners were often missing. Stubborn, full of opinions, often loudly expressed, correct often enough that people listened. An example of this was his faith in finding oil in the Denver-Julesburg basin. He said, ‘Sure you can doodle-bug it, but it takes a well to prove it.

Here was a man involved in intricate business deals, but one who always found time to foster the school he loved. A man with strong ties to family an friends, a leader who pushed things to completion. There were few unfinished jobs, when he was told that he had only a few weeks to live.

I know not one who can say that Rut Volk lied to him or tried to mislead him. Of course, I am a poor witness, for Rut and Alice were such good friends of ours. To us, he stood larger than life.

In closing, only one Rut Volk was made and the world and Mines is a poorer place now that he is gone."