Hunter Harrison

Ewing Hunter Harrison (born November 7, 1944) is a railway executive who served as the CEO of Illinois Central Railway (IC), Canadian National Railway (CN) and Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR), and now serves as CEO of CSX.

Born in Memphis, Tennessee in 1944, Harrison began his railroad career in 1964 while attending Memphis State University when he worked as a carman-oiler for the St. Louis-San Francisco Railway ("Frisco"). Harrison was later promoted to railroad operator with Frisco and, later, with Burlington Northern Railroad (BN) following that company's acquisition of Frisco in 1980. Harrison was consistently promoted at BN, eventually being appointed Vice-President - Transportation as well as Vice-President - Service Design.

Harrison in 1989 left the BN and secured a job with the executive team at the Illinois Central Railroad (IC), first as Vice-President and Chief Operating Officer, culminating with his appointment as President and Chief Executive Officer from 1993 to 1998. Following the acquisition of IC by Canadian National Railway (CN) in 1998, Harrison was appointed Vice-President and Chief Operating Officer by CN. Upon the retirement of Paul Tellier, he was appointed President and Chief Executive Officer of CN on January 1, 2003, serving in that position until his retirement on December 31, 2009.

During his time at CN, Harrison was named Railroader of the Year for 2002 by industry trade journal Railway Age as well as CEO of the Year for 2007 by the Globe and Mail's "Report on Business". On April 29, 2009, CN announced the company's plan for succession in Harrison's position by appointing Claude Mongeau as his successor effective January 1, 2010. Following his service at CN, Harrison retired to his estate in Connecticut where he raises and trains horses for show jumping. Bound by a non-competition clause with CN, Harrison maintained a low profile serving as a director for the Belt Railway of Chicago as well as Dynegy Holdings LLC.

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