This paper describes the origin and subsequent development of coal petrology at Penn State and its related re-birth in the United States between the 1950s and the 1980s.. The combination of the appreciation of the diversity of coalified material from studies of the Brandon Lignite of Vermont and a steel industry technologic problem proposed to the: University for solution resulted in a new descriptive system for predicting coking behavior and coke quality-from coal composition. Pt:nn State continued to play a role in coal research which resulted in the standard palynological reference, "Catalog of Fossil Spores and Pollen":,studies of uranium-bearing lignites, modern organic sediments, and coal liquefaction and gasification: the creation of the North American Coal Petrographers (predecessor of The Society of Organic Petrology), The Coal Sample Bank and Data Base, and widely recognized short courses in coal petrology; and the development of numerous graduates who created other company-specific coke quality prediction systems, as well as a multitude of other research and educational programs. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.