Chris Cline

Chris Cline was raised a stone's throw from the train tracks in the coalfields of Beckley, West Virginia. Cline began working in the coal industry in 1980 and he quickly developed a reputation for running low-cost, highly productive operations. He expanded his operations beyond contract mining for larger firms to developing his own operations beginning in 1985. In 1990, he formed the Cline Group to further expand the enterprise by developing loading docks and a coal sales and trading practice, eventually becoming one of the 20 largest coal producers in the United States during his tenure. In 2006, Cline shifted his attention from Appalachia to the Illinois Basin, founding Foresight Energy and developing some of the largest, most productive mines in the region. Through the Cline Family Foundation, founded in 2009, Cline made a profound impact on Marshal University and West Virginia University. Among other donations, the Cline Family Foundation supported Place of Hope, a foster care and adoption organization; Peacehaven Community Farm, a home for disabled adults; orphanages in West Virginia and Haiti; Save the Children; humanitarian aid organizations in Tanzania; churches; and the Raleigh County YMCA, among other organizations over the years. His daughter, Kameron, graduated from the Benjamin M. Statler College of Engineering and Mineral Resources in 2015.