ST. LOUIS, Feb 16, 2010 -- Eisenhower Fellowships is pleased to announce the selection of Arch Coal's Robert Shanklin as a 2010 St. Louis Eisenhower Fellow. During his six-week fellowship to Australia and China, Shanklin will cultivate new technical and executive contacts in the energy industry as he builds a stronger technical and commercial knowledge base.

As Vice President of Coal Technology at Arch Coal, Shanklin focuses on researching, developing and investing in technologies to identify ways to use our world's natural resources in a safer, cleaner and more efficient manner. He is charged with taking the innovations being developed at universities, national research labs and entrepreneurial ventures and infusing business strategy and capital in a way that provides for a pathway to commercialization. Shanklin currently oversees Arch's investment in coal-related technologies, including a proposed coal-to-gasoline conversion facility in Wyoming.

Shanklin, a graduate of Kansas State University and University of Missouri, was selected after a competitive interview and selection process by the Eisenhower Fellowships Selection Committee, which is comprised of leaders in the St. Louis community, including former McDonnell-Douglas/ Boeing CEO John McDonnell and Chancellor Mark Wrighton of Washington University in St. Louis. Shanklin joins an impressive international network of former Eisenhower Fellows, including Missouri State Treasurer Clint Zweifel and Sr. Vice President, Corporate Planning and Risk Management at Ameren Corporation Michael Moehn.

As an Eisenhower Fellow, Shanklin will travel on an intensive four-week individualized professional program to Australia and a two-week program to China where his perspectives and contacts will be enriched through professional meetings with national government officials, university researchers, policy experts, and business leaders in the fields of coal, energy use and climate change.

"This is a great opportunity for Robert to gain a deeper understanding of international energy issues and initiatives," says Arch's Vice President of Business Development David Peugh. "Robert will further develop his expertise in identifying new energy technologies and markets through his participation in the prestigious Eisenhower Fellowship program."

Eisenhower Fellowships is a private, non-profit, non-partisan organization seeking to foster international understanding and leadership through the exchange of information, ideas and perspectives among emerging leaders throughout the world. Established in 1953 as a birthday tribute to President Dwight D. Eisenhower, the organization has sponsored more than 1700 Fellows from 108 countries. The chairman of Eisenhower Fellowships is General Colin L. Powell, USA (Retired); former President George H.W. Bush is honorary chairman.

St. Louis-based Arch Coal, Inc. (NYSE: ACI) is the second largest U.S. coal producer. Through its national network of mines, Arch supplies cleaner-burning, low-sulfur coal to fuel roughly 8 percent of the nation's electricity.