The Coal Institute lost a great friend and supporter with the passing of one of the industry’s largest figures, Bobby Brown, the former CEO of CONSOL Energy. During his tenure at CONSOL, Bobby was enthusiastic about the Institute and its goals. His passion translated to action as the company made the Institute and its meetings a priority.

Few people served the industry as effectively as did Bobby Brown, and there won’t be another like him.This obituary was prepared by a group of retired company executives who were colleagues of Bobby during his career. 

Bobby Ray Brown
June 7, 1932 – November 7, 2019

To hear Bobby Brown tell it, he was just a simple country boy from Hamburg Arkansas who had “been around the world twice, to three county fairs and an Arkansas goat-ropin’.”  A natural storyteller, Mr. Brown commanded an audience yet made those around him at ease. But behind the southern drawl and broad smile was a tough, able businessman who arguably was one of the most significant leaders in the U.S. coal industry during the last quarter of the twentieth century.

Bobby Ray Brown, whose signature always read ‘B.R. Brown’ was President, and later Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer of CONSOL Energy, then known as Consolidation Coal Company, from 1978 to 1998.  During his tenure, CONSOL Energy was one of the largest coal producers in the United States and, at its peak, employed more than 20,000 miners.

He served in the United States Air Force and earned a degree in Economics from Arkansas A&M at Monticello (The University of Arkansas at Monticello), where he was named a Distinguished Alumnus in 1995.  Mr. Brown died November 7, 2019, at his home in Tyler, Texas.  He was 87.

Mr. Brown began his business career in the U.S. oil industry, joining Conoco (formerly Continental Oil Company and now ConocoPhillips) in 1957, working with drilling rig operations in Louisiana and offshore in the Gulf of Mexico.  By 1976, Mr. Brown had risen to senior vice president at Conoco, having successfully managed Conoco’s worldwide employee relations department, a position that included responsibility for labor relations.  In that position, Mr. Brown honed his skills as a labor negotiator during contract talks with the Oil, Chemical and Atomic Workers union.

In part because of his significant reputation as a labor relations executive, Mr. Brown was transferred to Conoco’s wholly-owned subsidiary, Pittsburgh-based Consolidation Coal Company, in late 1977 as Executive Vice President.  Consolidation Coal Company (CONSOL), which was founded more than 100 years earlier, not only one of the largest coal producers in the U.S., but also the largest employer of coal miners represented by the United Mine Workers of America.

Mr. Brown quickly took primary responsibility for labor relations at CONSOL, and, by 1981, assumed the position of Director and Chairman of the Negotiating Committee for the industry’s Bituminous Coal Operators’ Association (BCOA), which was made up of more than 100 coal-producing companies with union-represented workforces.  BCOA, through its negotiating committee, bargained with the United Mine Workers on behalf of BCOA’s member companies to craft a national work agreement.

In the 1980s and early 1990s, union-represented coal production declined as a result of increasing automation in mining and a growing number of non-union mines, particularly in the western United States, making contract talks contentious.  During a twelve-year period, from 1981 through 1993, Mr. Brown negotiated four national wage agreements with his union counterparts, including UMWA presidents Sam Church and Richard L. Trumka, who now heads the AFL-CIO. During the 1993 negotiations, the union selectively struck various BCOA-member companies for nearly eight months in an effort to win provisions related to job security.

At CONSOL, Mr. Brown had a reputation as a tough-minded but fair boss, a good judge of people, and an executive with a preference to promote from within his organization.  He had a leader’s ability to inspire both loyalty and respect from those who worked for him.  As one executive who worked with Mr. Brown remarked, “Bobby was a straight shooter who set high standards for all of us.”

In addition, Mr. Brown was known for his fastidious preparation for internal review meetings, which he claimed he did at night while sitting at his dining room table, and for his accountant’s eye for financial details.  He frequently quizzed division presidents and mine managers alike on specifics related to the cost of mining a ton of coal and often quoted the cost per ton down to the penny for most of the dozens of mines the company operated.

Though consistent in his expectations for continuous improvements in productivity and cost control, he never wavered in his concern for miners’ safety and held every manager responsible for eliminating accidents from the workplace.  

During Mr. Brown’s tenure, CONSOL underwent several significant changes in corporate ownership. In 1981, CONSOL became a subsidiary of E.I. duPont de Nemours when that company acquired Conoco. That same year, in addition to his titles at CONSOL, he became a senior vice president at DuPont.  Later, from 1990 to 1995, he was assigned responsibility as President and Chief Executive Officer of Remington Arms Company, another DuPont subsidiary.

In 1992, Mr. Brown helped complete a financial transaction in which DuPont sold a half interest in CONSOL to the German mining company, Rheinbraun.  Toward the end of the decade, DuPont sold its remaining interest to Rheinbraun and exited the coal business.  Beginning in 1999, Rheinbraun began selling portions of its ownership in CONSOL Energy to the public, eventually selling its entire financial position.

Mr. Brown also served as Chairman and/or Director of a number of important coal or energy-related associations, including the National Coal Association, the Bituminous Coal Operators’ Association, the Center for Energy and Economic Development, the International Energy Agency’s Coal Industry Advisory Board, and the World Coal Institute.

He played a pivotal role in consolidating various industry trade associations into fewer but more robust organizations.  In 1987, while serving as Chairman of the National Coal Association (NCA), he led a successful effort to merge the smaller Mining and Reclamation Council into the National Coal Association, and in 1995, he was one of a small group of mining industry leaders who successfully engineered the merger of NCA and the American Mining Congress into the current National Mining Association.

Mr. Brown also served as a director of several public companies, including Patriot Coal Corporation, Peabody Energy, and PNC Bank as well as civic, educational and charitable organizations during his professional life. His favorite charity was the Salvation Army.

He received the Distinguished Service Award from the National Mining Association and is a member of the West Virginia Coal Mining Hall of Fame, but always claimed he was most proud of his induction into the Hamburg High School Hall of Fame.

He was an avid sportsman, and enjoyed hunting, fishing and golf with customers, colleagues and friends alike.

Mr. Brown resided in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania from 1977 until he ended his service as a director of the company in 2000.