Louis W. Menk
Encyclopedia
Louis Wilson Menk was an American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 railway worker and executive. He served as the last president of Northern Pacific Railway
Northern Pacific Railway
The Northern Pacific Railway was a railway that operated in the west along the Canadian border of the United States. Construction began in 1870 and the main line opened all the way from the Great Lakes to the Pacific when former president Ulysses S. Grant drove in the final "golden spike" in...

 1966-1970, before the railroad was merged into Burlington Northern Railroad
Burlington Northern Railroad
The Burlington Northern Railroad was a United States-based railroad company formed from a merger of four major U.S. railroads. Burlington Northern operated between 1970 and 1996....

. Menk was also selected as Modern Railroads (now Railway Age
Railway Age
Railway Age is an American trade journal for the rail transport industry. It was founded in 1856 in Chicago and is published monthly by Simmons-Boardman Publishing Corporation. The magazine's original title was the Western Railroad Gazette, and was renamed the Railroad Gazette in 1870...

) Man of the Year for 1967, an award that has continued annually and is now known as Railroader of the Year
Railroader of the Year
Railroader of the Year is an annual award presented to a North American railroad industry worker by trade journal Railway Age. The award was first presented in 1964 by trade journal Modern Railroads and has continued through the magazine acquisition in 1992 to the present.Past recipients of this...

.

Menk was the son of Louis Albert and Daisy Deane (Frantz) Menk. He married Martha Jane Swan on May 30, 1942. They had two children, David Louis and Barbara Ann.

Menk attended Denver University and Harvard Business School
Harvard Business School
Harvard Business School is the graduate business school of Harvard University in Boston, Massachusetts, United States and is widely recognized as one of the top business schools in the world. The school offers the world's largest full-time MBA program, doctoral programs, and many executive...

 (Advanced Management Program). He received honorary LL.D.
Legum Doctor
Legum Doctor is a doctorate-level academic degree in law, or an honorary doctorate, depending on the jurisdiction. The double L in the abbreviation refers to the early practice in the University of Cambridge to teach both Canon Law and Civil Law, the double L indicating the plural, Doctor of both...

 degrees from Northwestern University
Northwestern University
Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston and Chicago, Illinois, USA. Northwestern has eleven undergraduate, graduate, and professional schools offering 124 undergraduate degrees and 145 graduate and professional degrees....

 (1959), Drury College (1965), Denver University (1966), and Monmouth College
Monmouth College
Monmouth College is a four-year coeducational private liberal arts college located in Monmouth, Illinois, United States.-History:Monmouth College was founded on April 18, 1853 by the Second Presbytery of Illinois, a frontier arm of the Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church...

.

Career: 1937 to 1940, telegrapher, Union Pacific Railroad
Union Pacific Railroad
The Union Pacific Railroad , headquartered in Omaha, Nebraska, is the largest railroad network in the United States. James R. Young is president, CEO and Chairman....

; 1940 to 1965, telegrapher, dispatcher, chief dispatcher, trainmaster, vice-president, president, St. Louis-San Francisco Railway
St. Louis-San Francisco Railway
The St. Louis – San Francisco Railway , also known as the Frisco, was a railroad that operated in the Midwest and South Central U.S. from 1876 to 1980.-History:...

; 1965 to 1966, president and director, Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad
Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad
The Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad was a railroad that operated in the Midwestern United States. Commonly referred to as the Burlington or as the Q, the Burlington Route served a large area, including extensive trackage in the states of Colorado, Illinois, Iowa, Kentucky, Missouri,...

; October, 1966 [to March, 1970], president and director, Northern Pacific Railway
Northern Pacific Railway
The Northern Pacific Railway was a railway that operated in the west along the Canadian border of the United States. Construction began in 1870 and the main line opened all the way from the Great Lakes to the Pacific when former president Ulysses S. Grant drove in the final "golden spike" in...

. Also director Chicago, Burlington and Quincy; Colorado and Southern; Northern Pacific Transport; Cuyuna Realty; Monad Company; Association of American Railroads; First National Bank of Chicago; American Investment Company; Servomation Corporation; First Trust of St. Paul; Hunt Foods; General Mills
General Mills
General Mills, Inc. is an American Fortune 500 corporation, primarily concerned with food products, which is headquartered in Golden Valley, Minnesota, a suburb of Minneapolis. The company markets many well-known brands, such as Betty Crocker, Yoplait, Colombo, Totinos, Jeno's, Pillsbury, Green...

; Brown Shoe Company.

Clubs: St. Paul; Metro; Improvement Commission Greater St. Paul United Fund; Upper Midwest Development Council; St. Paul Area Chamber of Commerce; Government Council on Executive Reorganization; Advisory Committee, Minnesota Department of Economic Development; Transportation Center, Northwestern University; Chicago Area Council; Boy Scouts of America
Boy Scouts of America
The Boy Scouts of America is one of the largest youth organizations in the United States, with over 4.5 million youth members in its age-related divisions...

; Indianhead Committee; Summit School; Minnesota Club of St. Paul; St. Paul Athletic Club; Somerset Country Club; Transportation Club of St. Paul; Traffic Club of Minnesota; Traffic Club of Chicago; Union League of Chicago; Glen View Country Club; Chicago Club; Noonday; Bellerive Country Club; Masons; Presbyterian.

Osthoff, Frederick C., editor. Who's Who in Railroading in North America. New York: Simmons-Boardman, 1968, p. 341.

President of St. Louis San Francisco Railway Co. 1962-1966, succeeded by Jack W. Gilliland

Papers

Louis Menk papers, 1953-1981.

Correspondence, speeches, scrapbooks, memorabilia, printed matter, and related papers documenting the career of this railroad executive who was president of the St. Louis-San Francisco Railway Company (1962–1965), the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad Company (1965–1966), the Northern Pacific Railway Company (1966–1970), and Burlington Northern Inc. (1970–1978, and chairman 1978-1981). He was also one of the principal architects of the 1970 merger that created the Burlington Northern; 21.5 cu ft (0.6088122105 m³). (18 boxes and 4 microfilm reels).

http://www.mnhs.org/library/findaids/00341pages/00583.html

Publications

  • Menk, Louis W. A Railroad Man Looks At America; Excerpts from the Speeches of Louis W. Menk. No place: privately published, n.d. [circa 1974].
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