Montreal, QC, Canada - January 26, 2010, Montreal, QC, Canada - Canadian National Railway Company (CN) announced the composition of his leadership team.
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Keith E. Creel, previously CN's executive vice-president, operations, is being appointed as CN's executive vice-president and chief operating officer. Mr. Creel was appointed Executive Vice-President, Operations in May 2007. Before that, he had been Senior Vice-President of the Eastern Region since January 2004, Senior Vice-President of the Western Canada Region since July 1, 2003, and Vice-President of the Prairie Division since 2002.
Mr. Creel began his railroad career at Burlington Northern Railway in 1992 as an intermodal ramp manager in Birmingham, Alabama. He entered the Operations department in 1993 as a corporate management trainee in Lincoln, Nebraska and held positions as trainmaster in Tulsa, Oklahoma and Wichita Falls, Texas.
Mr. Creel joined the Illinois Central Railroad in 1996 as a trainmaster in Memphis, Tennessee and was transferred to Jackson, Mississippi as Director of Corridor Operations in 1997. In preparation for the CN/IC merger, Mr. Creel was transferred to Battle Creek, Michigan as District Superintendent in early 1999, and was appointed General Manager - Michigan Zone, Midwest Division, in June 2000.
Mr. Creel obtained a Bachelor of Science degree in marketing/management from Jacksonville State University. He has a military background and served as a commissioned officer in the US Army, during which time he served in the Persian Gulf War in Saudi Arabia.
Jean-Jacques Ruest, previously CN's senior vice-president, marketing is being appointed as CN's executive vice-president and chief marketing officer. Mr. Ruest was appointed Senior Vice-President, Marketing in June 2006. He is leading marketing strategies for Forest Products, Metals and Minerals, Petroleum and Chemicals, Automotive, Grain, Coal and Fertilizer markets. He also provides the direction for eBusiness, corporate tariffs, price and yield management and for CN's Carload Excellence.
Mr. Ruest joined CN in 1996 as Vice-President, Petroleum and Chemicals. In 2003, he was appointed Vice-President, Industrial Products and, in 2004, Vice-President, Marketing.
Prior to this, Mr. Ruest worked for 16 years at a major international chemical company.
Also forming part of the CN Leadership Team are Luc Jobin, CN's executive vice-president and chief financial officer, who joined CN mid-2009 to oversee financial management and strategic planning and will now also assume responsibility for the information technology function at CN; Sean Finn, executive vice-president, corporate services and chief legal officer, who will assume full leadership of government and public affairs in addition to his responsibilities for the law, risk mitigation, security and corporate secretary functions; and Kim Madigan, who is being appointed as vice-president, human resources, and will assume leadership of the labour relations and human resources functions at CN.
Other key members of the Leadership Team are Robert Noorigian, CN's vice-president, investor relations, and Gordon Trafton, previously CN's senior vice-president, strategic acquisitions and integration, who is being appointed as special advisor to the CN Leadership Team until he retires at the end of 2010. ■