JEAN-JACQUES Ruest, 63, who as marketing vice president had been running the Canadian National Railway since Luc Jobin was ousted in March, and has now been appointed CN's president and CEO.
'JJ brought the team together to tackle the immediate operational and customer service challenges the company was facing since the fall of 2017,' said CN chairman Robert Pace.
Said Mr Ruest: 'I am very proud, honoured and humbled by the board's confidence. I am committed to best-in-class operational excellence and will invest in human capital, effective digitisation and infrastructure that will drive growth.'
Mr Ruest has been with CN for 22 years, the last eight as vice president and chief marketing officer. Last March, he was made acting president and CEO.
He joined CN in 1996 as vice president, petroleum and chemical, before which he worked from 1980 for Cyanamid & Celanese where he held senior positions in marketing, logistics, business development and sales.
Mr Ruest holds an MBA in marketing from the Universite de Montreal's HEC (Hautes Etudes Commerciales) and a BSc in applied chemistry from Universite de Sherbrooke. He also completed the executive programme of the University of Michigan Business School, and CN's Railroad MBA programme.
Following a global search, the board concluded that Mr Ruest was the right man to lead CN forward, 'restore and retain industry-leading metrics and best-in-class customer service'.
'JJ brought the team together to tackle the immediate operational and customer service challenges the company was facing since the fall of 2017,' said CN chairman Robert Pace.
Said Mr Ruest: 'I am very proud, honoured and humbled by the board's confidence. I am committed to best-in-class operational excellence and will invest in human capital, effective digitisation and infrastructure that will drive growth.'
Mr Ruest has been with CN for 22 years, the last eight as vice president and chief marketing officer. Last March, he was made acting president and CEO.
He joined CN in 1996 as vice president, petroleum and chemical, before which he worked from 1980 for Cyanamid & Celanese where he held senior positions in marketing, logistics, business development and sales.
Mr Ruest holds an MBA in marketing from the Universite de Montreal's HEC (Hautes Etudes Commerciales) and a BSc in applied chemistry from Universite de Sherbrooke. He also completed the executive programme of the University of Michigan Business School, and CN's Railroad MBA programme.
Following a global search, the board concluded that Mr Ruest was the right man to lead CN forward, 'restore and retain industry-leading metrics and best-in-class customer service'.