James F. Roberts (62) was appointed to Foundation Coal's board of directors in August 2004 and remained on our board after the merger with Foundation Coal on July 31, 2009. He also served on our safety, health, environmental and sustainability committee since the merger. Mr. Roberts served as chairman of the board of Foundation Coal from April 2006 until the merger. Mr. Roberts also served as chief executive officer of Foundation Coal from August 2004 until the merger, and as its president from August 2004 to January 2008. Prior to his service in these positions, he was president and chief executive officer of RAG American Coal Holding, Inc., Foundation Coal’s predecessor, from January 1999 to August 2004. Mr. Roberts was president of CoalARBED International Trading from 1981 to 1999, chief financial officer of Leckie Smokeless Coal Company from 1977 to 1981 and vice president of Finance at Solar Fuel Company from 1974 to 1977. Mr. Roberts is a former director and a former chairman of the National Mining Association, a former director of the American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity, a former member of the executive committee of the National Coal Council and the former vice-chair of the Coal Utilization Research Council. Through his experiences, Mr. Roberts has managed and evaluated risk for large companies particularly in the areas of mergers and acquisitions, accounting, corporate finance, international sales and marketing and operations and, similar to Messrs. Quillen and Crutchfield, his senior executive experience in the coal industry has provided him with significant insight into coal company risk management and he has been at the helm of developing and overseeing coal mine safety processes and procedures.
Qualifications: Mr. Roberts’ previous role as the chairman of Foundation Coal’s board of directors and as its chief executive officer provide our board with tremendous insight and experience with respect to our business and his more than 32 years of experience in senior executive roles in the coal industry provides our board with expertise with respect to our industry generally. Mr. Roberts also served on the boards of numerous coal industry groups which adds broader insight into our business and market conditions.