January 2026

As Investment Evaluations marks an important milestone this year, we celebrate the remarkable career of someone whose influence is woven into the very fabric of our company and the broader industry: John Stermole. After decades of service, leadership, and mentorship, John is stepping into a well-earned retirement, leaving behind a legacy that will continue to shape our work for years to come.

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In 1984, John joined his father and founder of Investment Evaluations, Frank Stermole, to serve as an instructor and Director of the company.  He is retiring as President, but his real contribution has always been something deeper: the steady, principled guidance he offered to colleagues, clients, and students alike. His work embodied both rigorous analytical thinking and a genuine care for the people he taught and served.  

 

With degrees from the University of Denver (B.S.B.A. in Finance) and Colorado School of Mines (M.S. in Mineral Economics), John helped define how economic evaluation is taught and practiced across mining, energy, and infrastructure sectors. As co-author of Economic Evaluation and Investment Decision Methods, now in its 17th edition, John’s work has reached countless professionals around the world and remains a foundational text in our field.  

 

Beyond the textbook, his publications, spanning mining royalties, global taxation frameworks, petroleum exploration, and heavy construction, have informed policymakers, investors, universities, and industry leaders across continents. His 1997 appointment as a Fellow of the Institute for Global Resources Policy and Management at Mines reflected the international impact of his analysis and modeling work.  In 2020, he received the SME/AIME Mineral Economics Award from the American Institute of Mining, Metalurgical and Petroleum Engineers, recognizing his outstanding contributions to the advancement of Mineral Economics.  

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John’s career also included several years of hands-on industry experience with Lowdermilk Construction Co., where he applied engineering economics to real-world heavy construction and mining projects. This grounded, practical understanding infused his later teaching and consulting with credibility that students and clients instantly recognized.

 

In the midst of these accomplishments, it is John’s teaching career that many regard as the heart of his legacy. Beginning in 1987, he taught Engineering Economics and Investment Decision Methods to undergraduate and graduate at Colorado School of Mines and the University of Denver. His students consistently recognized him for excellence, with Mines graduates naming him an Outstanding Faculty Member across multiple graduating classes. His ability to make complex concepts clear, delivered with patience, humor, and authenticity, has shaped thousands of careers.  

 

Within Investment Evaluations, John’s leadership has been defined by humility and unwavering consistency. He believed in investing deeply in people and in passing knowledge forward.  True to his character, John’s retirement has been anything but idle. He continues with a life of service by dedicating most of his week to his church’s food bank - driving the delivery truck, hauling crates of food, stocking shelves, and walking alongside individuals and families who come in for support.

 

At home, some of his greatest joys come from time spent with his wife of 45 years, Pattie. Together they care for their garden, chickens, and one mischievous pup.  As a lifelong outdoorsman, he also makes a point to enjoy the outdoors with weekly hikes in the Colorado mountains and spending time fly fishing.  While we will miss his presence in the company, his influence remains fully alive - in the professionals who learned from him, in the companies guided by his expertise, and in the future of Investment Evaluations as it continues forward on the foundation he helped build.