ATLANTA – Former Canadian National CEO Claude Mongeau has been appointed chair of Norfolk Southern’s board of directors, the railroad announced today.
The board unanimously chose Mongeau to lead the board, which has five new members — including three who were nominated by activist investor Ancora Holdings as part of its proxy battle with the railroad.
Mongeau, who was CN’s CEO from 2010 to 2016, has served on the NS board since 2019.
“During this critical time for our storied franchise, I look forward to collaborating with the board and know we all are committed to holding management accountable to deliver on our promises to shareholders,” Mongeau said in a statement. “The board has appreciated the engagement with shareholders over the last few months and shares their urgency around enhancing service, improving network operations, and broad-based productivity gains to close the gap with our peers.”
Mongeau will serve as chair of the Executive Committee and resign from his positions on the Human Capital Management and Compensation and Safety Committees.
Francesca A. DeBiase, former executive vice president and global chief supply chain officer of McDonald’s Corp., has been appointed as chair of the Governance and Nominating Committee and Richard H. Anderson, former CEO of Delta Air Lines and Amtrak, has been appointed as chair of the Human Capital Management and Compensation Committee.
And any time I see Richard Anderson in a railroad leadership position, I cringe. I fear his compensation decisions will be like his at AMTRAK — the more you cut the more you earn.
Yea! PSR has a secure future at Norfolk Southern! Hedge funds and executives win! Customers, workers and the public are lovers anyway
I am not sure as to that outcome. After all Mongeau was kicked out of CN because he wasn’t PSR enough.
Claude is infinitely more of a better railroader than most in similar positions today. He was responsible for repairing broken relationships and transforming CN into a supply chain powerhouse following Hunter Harrison’s retirement. I’m not sure where this idea that every upper level executive is a PSR bogeyman comes from but it’s quite laughable in instances like these. Wick Moorman himself could come back and someone online would still be sure to write him off as a Wall Street puppet.
At least Claude Mongeau is a railroad guy with a railroad background.
Which continues to confuse me who at NS is keeping Richard Anderson on the board? He nearly ram Delta into the ground and did no better at Amtrak. His record SUCKS! How does he do it? If Amtrak is an example of his railroad experience, that is complete prevarication.