John E. Urosek, PE, is a Founding Member of the Board of Directors of the Rebuilding Their Future Foundation, Inc. John is the owner of John Urosek Mine Consulting, LLC, and provides expertise in mine fires, mine explosions, and mine emergencies, mine emergency preparedness, ventilation, and mine gases. He is a world-wide recognized expert in the areas of ventilation, fires, explosions, dust control, roof control, and enforcement activities. He earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Mining Engineering from the Pennsylvania State University and is a registered Professional Engineer in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.

John was employed by the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA), United States Department of Labor from 1974 until 2017 and worked in the areas of ventilation, fires, explosions, dust control, roof control, and enforcement activities. In 2002, he joined MSHA’s Mine Emergency Unit. In 2007, he was promoted to become the Chief of Mine Emergency Operations. He has served as MSHA’s senior technical advisor and expert in emergency response and has had extensive experience in an active command centers and with rescue and recovery operations during mine emergencies. In January 2017, John retired from MSHA to become an international consultant specializing in mine emergency response, mine rescue operations, and mine rescue team training. Over his career, John has responded to 94 mine emergencies and has conducted 20 mine explosion and fire investigations. He has participated in over 70 ventilation investigations and has served as an expert witness in 25 cases. John has been involved in over 68 Mine Emergency Response Drills and other training exercises.

John has been a member of the Connellsville Township Volunteer Fire Department since 1974. During that period, he served as a Firefighter, Maskman, Truck Driver, and Captain. John has taken numerous classes such as fundamentals of firefighting, hazard recognition, rural, and arson investigations. John has also served as an instructor in numerous burn classes. During his career as a firefighter, he has responded to well over 200 structure fires. John was also the Emergency Management Coordinator for Connellsville Township, Pennsylvania since 1989 to 2007. He was responsible for coordinating the response to all emergencies, natural or manmade, that occurred in Connellsville Township. The position required extensive coordination with fire, police, and township officials and the development and maintenance of the emergency response plan. 

John was inducted into the Connellsville Area School District Falcon Foundation Hall of Fame in 2011 and into the Coal Mine Rescue Hall of Fame in 2015. He received the Distinguished Career Service award from MSHA in 2017 and in 2003 John received a Special Recognition Award for his role in the Quecreek Mine Recovery from the Pennsylvania State University, College of Earth and Mineral Sciences. In 2017, he was recognized for his career accomplishments by receiving the prestigious the Donald S Kingery Award from the Pittsburgh Coal Mining Institute of America. He has written papers and made presentations at over 100 venues on topics covering mine fires, emergency response, and rescue operations.