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UP's chief takes medical leave to fight pancreatic cancer

March 2, 2012
Mark B. Solomon
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James R. Young, chairman, president, and CEO of Union Pacific Corp. (UP), has been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and will take a medical leave of absence from his president and CEO duties to undergo treatment, the company said today. He will remain as chairman, the Omaha, Neb.-based company said.

UP has named John J. Koraleski, executive vice president-marketing and sales, to serve as acting president and CEO during Young's absence. Koraleski is a 40-year veteran of UP.

Young, 59, joined UP in 1978. He was named president and CEO of the parent company in 2005 and chairman in 2007. Prior to 2005, he was president and COO of Union Pacific Railroad, a position he was elected to in January 2004.

News of Young's illness and departure comes as UP enjoys perhaps the greatest financial streak in its 150-year history. Earlier this year, the company reported 2011 results that set all-time annual records for net and operating income. Its fourth quarter 2011 results set all-time quarterly records for both net and operating income, the company said.

The original Union Pacific was formed on July 1, 1862, when President Abraham Lincoln signed the Pacific Railway Act.

Transportation Rail
KEYWORDS Union Pacific
    Marksolomon
    Mark Solomon joined DC VELOCITY as senior editor in August 2008, and was promoted to his current position on January 1, 2015. He has spent more than 30 years in the transportation, logistics and supply chain management fields as a journalist and public relations professional. From 1989 to 1994, he worked in Washington as a reporter for the Journal of Commerce, covering the aviation and trucking industries, the Department of Transportation, Congress and the U.S. Supreme Court. Prior to that, he worked for Traffic World for seven years in a similar role. From 1994 to 2008, Mr. Solomon ran Media-Based Solutions, a public relations firm based in Atlanta. He graduated in 1978 with a B.A. in journalism from The American University in Washington, D.C.

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