Members of the National Railroad Hall of Fame’s Rail Industry Advisory Group (RIAG) possess a wide range of experience in domestic and international railroading.  Hailing from all corners of the country, the group’s expertise includes railroad operations, management, strategic planning, marketing, intermodal services, supply chain management, and policy making.

Mr. Greenwood is currently President of The Zephyr Group, a Texas-based consulting and investment firm. From 1963 to 1994, he worked at Burlington Northern Railroad, retiring as Chief Operating Officer after serving as Executive Vice President of Marketing and Sales and Vice President of Intermodal Transportation.

Mr. Greenwood began his career in 1956 on the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy as a telegrapher and operator. Over the next two decades, he progressed through various operating positions including Traveling Car Agent, Manager-Freight Equipment, Assistant Trainmaster, Trainmaster, Assistant Superintendent Transportation and Assistant to VP Operations.  While running BN’s intermodal business from 1981 to 1985, he doubled its size to $400 million, realizing significantly improved profitability.  

Mr. Greenwood’s contributions to the intermodal industry have been well recognized. He received the Silver King Pin award in 1992 and was named "Person of the Year" by Transportation Clubs International in 1994. He is an Honorary Fellow of the Intermodal Transportation Institute (ITI), participated in the ITI Intermodal Founding Fathers Oral History Program, and was honored by BNSF Railway Company in its establishment of the William E. Greenwood Scholarship for the ITI Masters Executive Program.

 

Mr. Bentz is a Partner in Supply Chain Management with Accenture LLP and leads the Supply Chain Transportation Practice globally. Throughout his 39-year career in transportation and logistics, he has held a number of senior management positions in transportation, including Chief Executive Officer of Trans-Star Trucking, vice president in Intermodal at Burlington Northern Railroad, President & CEO of Ameritrans Corporation, a third-party logistics provider, General Manager-Intermodal for Boston & Maine Railroad, and founder as well as Vice President and General Manager of BMX, B&M's motor carrier subsidiary.

He specializes in transportation strategy and operations, shipper/carrier relationship management, fleet management, transportation procurement, and network operations.  Mr. Bentz is also past president of the National Railroad Intermodal Association, a former member of the Association of American Railroads’ Intermodal Steering Committee, a program committee member of the Intermodal Association of North America, and a member of the Board of Directors for the graduate transportation program at the University of Denver.

Mr. Bentz holds a Bachelor of Arts in United States history and economics and a MBA in transportation from the University of Connecticut.

 

Mr. Burkhardt is President of Rail World, Inc., of Chicago, Illinois, a railroad management and consulting company he formed in 1999.  He also serves as President of Rail World Holdings LLC, which holds railway investments worldwide. 

Mr. Burkhardt serves as Chairman of the Montreal, Maine & Atlantic Railway; President of The San Luis Central Railroad Company in Colorado; and a Director of the Wheeling & Lake Erie Railway.  Prior to his creation of Rail World, Mr. Burkhardt was the founder and for 12 years the Chairman, President, and Chief Executive Officer of Wisconsin Central Transportation Corporation, which was the largest of the regional railroads spun off from Class I’s in recent years.  Mr. Burkhardt’s current and past railroad ownership includes lines in New Zealand, Canada, England, Australia, Estonia, and Poland.

In 1999, Mr. Burkhardt was named “Railroader of the Year” by Railway Age magazine, and in December 1999, Railway Age named him one of 16 “Railroaders of the Century.”  Mr. Burkhardt recently completed six years service on the boards of directors of PolyMedica Corporation, listed on the NASDAQ, and Valeant Pharmaceuticals International, an NYSE-listed company.  He holds a B.S. degree with honors in Industrial Administration from Yale University and studied Rail Transportation at Yale’s Graduate School.

 

Dr. DeWitt is Associate Dean of Maine Maritime Academy responsible for the Loeb-Sullivan School of International Business and Logistics.  In addition, he holds the positions of Professor of Logistics and Director of Graduate Studies.  From 1999 to 2007, he held a University of Maryland, College Park, appointment as Professor of the Practice, Logistics, Transportation, and Supply Chain Management at the Robert H. Smith School of Business. In this position, Dr. DeWitt taught eight to ten courses a year from undergraduate to MBA, served as academic director for an executive education program with Black & Decker, led MBA classes internationally to Chile and the European Union, taught in China, and served on the US Department of Transportation/Transportation Research Board (TRB) Roundtable on Freight Transportation and the NDTA Board of Directors.

From 1972 to 1995, Dr. DeWitt worked for Burlington Northern Railroad in operations, strategic planning, and as Vice President, Marketing and Sales, where he led three different Business Units:  Domestic Intermodal, Automotive and Machinery, and the $501 million Forest Products unit.  

Dr. DeWitt received the Robert H. Smith School of Business Krowe/Legg Mason Award for Teaching Excellence in 2006.  He co-authored TRB committee reports on “Policy Options for Intermodal Freight Transportation” and “Landside Access to U.S. Ports.”  Dr. DeWitt earned a Bachelor of Arts in English from Allegheny College, a Masters in Business Administration from the University of Tennessee, and a doctorate in logistics and transportation with a minor in Geographic Information Systems.  He is a veteran of the U.S. Navy (LT, USNR) and a member of the Board of Directors of the New Netherlands Institute and the Maine International Trade Center.

 

Mr. Gray currently serves as President of Rail Management Services, the world’s largest operator of intermodal terminals.  Rail Management Services is also the parent company of Pacific Trailer Repair Services, formed in 1996, and Rail Terminal Services formed in 1997.  Mr. Gray also founded Pacific Rail Services in 1983. 

Mr. Gray was employed by the Western Pacific Railroad from 1972 until 1983.  During that time, he held various positions involving all aspects of rail intermodal transportation, including President of Western Pacific Transport, a railroad subsidiary formed to perform intermodal services, as well as Senior Vice President, Intermodal.
Mr. Gray received the Silver Kingpin Award from the Intermodal Association of North America in 2003 in honor of his intermodal career contributions.  He is an Honorary Fellow of the University of Denver Graduate School Intermodal Transportation Institute and former Chairman of the Board of Trustees of Dominican University of California in San Rafael.   Mr. Gray graduated from the University of Notre Dame in 1969 and received his MBA from Stanford University in 1972.