A native of Ohio, Alex Kummant served as president and CEO of Amtrak from September 2006, when he was appointed by the railroad’s board of directors, until November 2008.

 

Kummant holds a Bachelor’s of Science degree in mechanical engineering from Case Western Reserve University (1982), a master’s degree in manufacturing engineering from Carnegie Mellon University (1986) and an MBA from Stanford University (1990).

 

Kummant’s first railroad job came at age 18 for the Lake Terminal Railroad at the US Steel Lorain Works in Lorain, OH, working on a track crew. His professional career began as an engineer for Standard Oil Company in 1982. He moved to the Carnegie Group Inc. in 1986 and was a senior analyst in the Steel Business Unit at The Timken Co. from 1990 to 1992.

 

He joined Emerson Electric in 1992 as a strategic planner and held several other posts before becoming president of the company’s SWECO Division in 1996. In 1998, he took over as president of the Lightnin and Filtran divisions of SPX Corporation.

 

From 1999 to 2003, Kummant held several executive positions with the Union Pacific Railroad, the nation’s largest freight railroad. Kummant was vice president of Premium Operations in 2001-2002, overseeing the intermodal and automotive distribution network. As a regional vice president in 2002-2003, he led 6,000 transportation, engineering, construction, mechanical and other employees supporting an 8,000-mile rail network.

 

In 2004, Kummant served as president of BOMAG, a manufacturer of heavy equipment for road construction. In 2005, he was executive vice president and chief marketing officer at Komatsu America Corporation, a heavy equipment maker for mining and excavation. Immediately prior to coming to Amtrak, Kummant was vice president and general manager of the Controls Americas division of Invensys Controls, a manufacturer of components, systems and services used for temperature management, safety, water heating, food equipment and other appliances.