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KENTUCKY COAL ACADEMY PRESS RELEASE
November 14, 2007
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Gil Thurman
KY Coal Academy
300 North Main St
Versailles, KY 40383
So-kca@kctcs.edu
http://coalacademy.kctcs.edu
(859) 256-3483

Kentucky Coal Academy Executive Director Dr. William Higginbotham Appointed to Second Term with the National Coal Council

Dr. William Higginbotham, Executive Director of the Kentucky Coal Academy (KCA), a program of the Kentucky Community and Technical College System, was recently appointed to a second term on the National Coal Council for 2008-2009 by the United States Secretary of Energy, Samuel W Bodman.

Chartered in 1984 under the Federal Advisory Committee Act, the Council is one of the Department of Energy’s most important advisory committees. Its purpose is to inform and make recommendations to the Secretary of Energy with respect to any matter relating to coal or the coal industry.

President George W Bush has issued a comprehensive National Energy Policy (Policy) that is intended to help bring together business, Government, local communities, and citizens to promote dependable, affordable, and environmentally sound energy for the future. The Policy recognizes the vital role that coal plays in providing Americans with reliable, competitively priced, energy today, and it places equally important emphasis on encouraging leading edge technologies that will help coal meet America’s energy and environmental needs in the future.

Dr. Higginbotham has served as the Executive Director of the KCA for the past 3 years. The KCA is a vital part of the Kentucky Community and Technical College System and has programs located in the eastern and western coalfields at four of the KCTCS’ campuses. KCA is an award winning, innovative training academy offering skills to those seeking careers within the coal industry. Since his tenure with the KCA, Dr. Higginbotham has been responsible for many new and innovative ideas and has won national recognition from the Rural Community College Alliance for the KCA and KCTCS as a leader in training and education in the coal industry nationwide. KCA has also received recognition for outstanding coal miner training programs from Fifth-Dimension Technologies, a virtual simulation company.