A graduate of Virginia Tech’s Via Department of Civil and Environ-mental Engineering, Mike Quillen received his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in 1970 and in 1971, respectively.



He got his start in the coal industry in 1974, working for the Q.S.H.E., Inc., of Gate City, Va., as an operating official for the family-owned surface mining company. In 1976 he became vice president of Paramont Coal Corp., of Wise, Va. and president in 1979, a position he held until 1989. From 1982 to 1986, he was also president of Rapoca Energy Co., of Abingdon, Va. Simultaneously, from 1983 to 1986, he was the COO of the Eastern Coal Group of W.R. Grace and M.A. Hanna of Wise, Va. From 1986 to 1989, he was also the senior vice president of Pyxis Resources Co., of the Pittston Co.



In 1989 AMVEST Corp., of Charlottesville, Va., named Mr. Quillen its senior vice president of Corporate Development, responsible for corporate acquisition activities and business development with particular emphasis on the coal, oil, and gas industries. In 1990 he became the vice president of the Central Appalachian Region for NERCO Coal Corp., of St. Louis, Mo. Two years later Addington, Inc. of Ashland, Ky., named Mr. Quillen the president and CEO of all of its coal subsidiaries.



In 1994, the busy executive became president of six of Pittston Coal and Maxim Management Company’s operating subsidiaries in Virginia, West Virginia, Kentucky, and Ohio representing 15 million tons of production. A year later, Pittston promoted him to executive vice president of Sales and Marketing and president of Pittston Coal Sales for the Pittston Coal Co., of Lebanon, Va.



In 1997, he joined a family-owned metallurgical mining company, Mega Minerals of Princeton, W.Va., and expanded its production and sales by some 300 per cent. Within 14 months, the company was sold, and Mr. Quillen joined American Metals and Coal International of Gate City, Va., as its executive vice president of operations. His responsibility included the company’s operations throughout the world, including China and Australia. After four years, he along with others created Alpha Natural Resources, Inc. (ANR).



Mr. Quillen joined the Alpha management team in 2002 as president and the sole manager of ANR, LLC, its top-tier operating subsidiary. He has served as the CEO since January 2003. He has also served as the president and a member of the board of directors of ANR Holdings since December 2002, and as its CEO since March 2003.



Mr. Quillen was honored as Virginia Tech’s College of Engineering’s Distinguished Alumnus for 2006. “Our College of Engineering is blessed with many alumni who fit the high standards we have for naming our Distinguished Alumnus. It is clear that Mike Quillen is in the top ranks of those who have helped build the positive reputation of our College through his good works and outstanding accomplishments. The economic development Mr. Quillen has fostered in Virginia is phenomenal. His Abingdon-based Alpha Natural Resources is already considered to be one of the top coal producers in the country, and his prowess as a mining executive is nationally recognized,” Dick Benson, dean of Virginia Tech’s College of Engineering, said.



Mr. Quillen’s professional associations include: past chair of the Virginia Coal Association and the Virginia Mining and Reclamation Association. He currently serves on the Coalfield Economic Development Authority, the Virginia Port Authority and the Virginia Governor’s Commission on Climate Change.



He has also served numerous civic organizations including: Virginia Tech Committee of 100; Virginia Tech Civil Engineering Advisory Board; Clinch Valley College of the University of Virginia Advisory Board; Mine Safety Advisory Board, Governor Appointment; member Careers in Coal; Commission on Transportation in the 21st Century, Governor Appointment; Society of Virginia Silver Star, Attorney General Appointment; St. Mary’s Hospital Board; Virginia Community College Board – 1981 to 1985 – Governor Appointment; Sovran Bank, Regional Advisory Board; Powell River Project Board; Forward Southwest Virginia Board; and Mountain Empire Community College Board.



Mike Quillen “is one of the most tested, experienced coal mining executives in the United States today … (he) emerged from a battered coal industry to forge Alpha Natural Resources, almost overnight, into Virginia’s largest coal producer – and one of its largest, most profitable companies,” according to Virginia Newswire’s editor James Bacon.



He has three children, two sons, Chris and Matt, and a daughter, Hunter. His two sons graduated from Virginia Tech and his daughter from University of Tennessee.