Northwestern University Transportation Center Hagestad Sandhouse Rail Group and the TC Academic Seminar Series presents:

BNSF Railway Industry, an innovation leader after 175 Years

MATT IGOE, Executive Vice President and Chief Operations Officer

JON GABRIEL, Vice President, Service Design & Network Strategy

Program Description:

After 175 years in existence, made up of more than 400 predecessor companies, BNSF Railway remains an innovator in the supply chain space. Offering the most environmentally friendly mode of surface transportation, railroads have the opportunity to capture significant growth in the coming decades by moving traffic from the highway to rail. Learn how BNSF is investing in capacity expansion, levering A.I. and technology to offer customers tailored supply chain solutions; and more about the industry’s role in safely delivering critical goods that feed, power and make every day life what it is across the globe.

Speaker Bios:

Matt Igoe was appointed executive vice president and chief operations officer in 2021 and leads BNSF’s entire Operations organization. Following his career as an officer in the U.S. Army, Matt joined BNSF in 1998 as a management trainee. He later worked in a variety of positions with increasing responsibility within the Marketing and Transportation organizations. Matt served as general manager for the Chicago Division from between 2010 and 2012, and was later appointed to general superintendent, Transportation. In 2013, he was promoted to serve as regional vice president for BNSF’s Central Region. In 2016, Matt was named vice president, Service Design and Performance, and served in that role until being promoted to vice president, Transportation in 2017.

Jon Gabriel is vice president, Service Design & Network Strategy, responsible for all of BNSF’s business unit operations in addition to the industry’s largest expansion capital planning program, operations research and intermodal innovation. Prior to this role, Jon served as vice president, South Region where he was responsible for operations across the Chicago, Kansas, Red River, Southwest and California divisions. Jon began his career at BNSF in Consumer Products Marketing. He then held several positions in service design, including director, Merchandise Service Design, for the North Region. Jon has held several operations jobs since 2012, including assistant terminal superintendent at Tulsa, Oklahoma. In addition, he held the roles of corridor superintendent and general director of transportation for the Powder River Division. In 2017, Jon was named general manager of the Montana Division before moving onto general manager of the Northwest Division and General Superintendent of BNSF’s Network Operations Center in Fort Worth.