Former chairman, Union Pacific
Was Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer, Union Pacific Corporation and Union Pacific Railroad Company. Young began his career with Union Pacific in 1978. He was elected chairman in January 2007 and served as president and CEO from November 2005 until March 2012, when the company announced he would take leave for medical treatment. The company said Feb. 6 that he would continue to serve as chairman in a non-executive capacity. He was elected a director of Union Pacific in 2005. In addition to his wife Shirley, Young is survived by three children and two grandchildren. A graduate of the University of Nebraska Omaha, he and his wife established the Jim and Shirley Young Scholarship Program to assist low-income students. He was a member and past chairman of the board for the Association of American Railroads, the Joslyn Art Museum, and the Greater Omaha Chamber of Commerce.
