Obama appoints new management member to RRB

President Obama has appointed Steven J. Anthony to be the management member of the U.S. Railroad Retirement Board. His appointment was confirmed by the Senate on April 9, and he was sworn into office on May 8. Mr. Anthony’s term will expire in August 2018.

Anthony succeeds Jerome F. Kever, who had served as the management member since August 1992. Kever’s tenure of more than 21 years made him the longest serving board member in the agency’s history.

Anthony, 65, has more than 36 years of experience in the railroad industry. Prior to his appointment, he served as the senior general counsel of the Norfolk Southern Corporation from 2007 to 2012. Previously, he was a Washington representative for Norfolk Southern from 1997 to 2007, and also served as a general attorney at the company from 1981 until 1997.

Before joining Norfolk Southern, Anthony was the secretary and general counsel of the Illinois Terminal Railroad from 1978 to 1981, having joined the company as a general attorney in 1976.

Anthony earned a Bachelor of Science degree in business administration from the University of Missouri (1971) and a Juris Doctor degree from the University of Tulsa (1974). A native of Missouri, Anthony currently resides in Florida. He is a widower and the father of two adult sons.

Headquartered in Chicago, the Railroad Retirement Board provides retirement, survivor, disability, unemployment and sickness benefit payments totaling over $11 billion a year to railroad workers and their families under the Railroad Retirement and Unemployment Insurance Acts.

The agency is managed by a three-member Board comprised of a representative of rail labor, a representative of rail carriers, and a member representing the general public who serves as chairman. Anthony’s appointment was recommended by the Association of American Railroads and the American Short Line and Regional Railroad Association.