The UNO Alumni Association bestowed its
Citation for Alumnus Achievement upon James R. Young, president
and chief operating officer of Union Pacific
Railroad, during the university's winter commencement ceremony Friday, Dec. 16, at the Omaha Civic Auditorium.
The
Citation is presented at each UNO commencement. The Alumni Association's
highest honor, it encompasses professional or career achievement, community
service, involvement in business and professional associations, and fidelity to
UNO. Adrian Minks, 2005 chairman of the Association's board of directors,
presented the award to Young, who earned a BSBA in 1978. He is the 139th
recipient of the Citation, first bestowed in 1949.
Young was named to his current post with Union Pacific in January 2004
and was elected a director of Union Pacific Corporation in February 2005. In January 2006 he will become CEO, replacing Dick
Davidson, who is retiring.
Young is
responsible for the railroad's operation, information technology and marketing
and sales. The largest railroad in North America, Union Pacific has nearly
33,000 route miles covering 23 states across two-thirds of the western United
States. It is the nation's largest hauler of chemicals and moves more than 250
million tons of coal each year. It makes $3.9 billion in purchases, has 48,000
employees and a payroll of $3.3 billion.
An Omaha
native, Young graduated from Omaha South High School. While attending UNO he
was married and worked at Northwestern Bell. He began his career with UP after
graduating in 1978 and has held a variety of professional, managerial and
senior management positions.
In 1995
Young was named vice president of re-engineering and design, and in 1997 vice
president of customer service planning and quality. He was named senior vice
president and corporate treasurer of Union Pacific Corporation in 1998, senior
vice president of finance and corporate controller in March 1999, and executive
vice president of finance and chief financial officer of Union Pacific
Corporation in December 1999, the position he held before appointment to his
current post.
Young
serves on the board of directors of Grupo Ferroviario Mexicano. He also is area
chairman of the United Way of the Midlands campaign cabinet and has served on
the boards of Girls Incorporated and the Nebraska Council on Economic
Education.
He and
his wife, Shirley, have three children.
Young is
one of three UNO graduates on Union Pacific's executive staff, including: John
J. Koraleski (BSBA, 1972), executive vice president of marketing and sales;
and, Dennis J. Duffy (BS, 1973), executive vice president of operations.
Young
also is the third UP employee to receive the Citation for Alumnus Achievement.
Koraleski received the Citation in 1999. Ron Burns, UP president in 1996,
received the Citation in 1990, though at the time he was president
of Enron Corporation's Gas Pipeline Group in Houston.
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