RailAmerica’s Pagonis To Deliver Jacobs Retail Lecture
RailAmerica’s Pagonis To Deliver Jacobs Retail Lecture
UNIVERSITY PARK, PA (January 28, 2005)—Distinguished Penn State alumnus William “Gus” Pagonis ’64, ’70 M.B.A., chairman of the Board of RailAmerica and a member of the Smeal College of Business Board of Visitors, will discuss leadership in the military and retail industry as part of the Melvin Jacobs Retail Leadership Lecture at 3 p.m. on Feb. 23 in the Nittany Lion Inn Ballroom. The event is free and open to the public.
Pagonis joined the Board of RailAmerica, a short line and regional rail service provider, when the company acquired RailTex in 2000. He was appointed chairman in March 2004. Pagonis retired last year as head of supply chain for Sears, Roebuck and Company and president of Sears Logistics Services, where he was responsible for all of Sears’ supply chain functions including vendor relations, transportation, distribution, international logistics, home delivery services, inventory, and the integration of logistics information services.
Prior to joining Sears in 1993, Pagonis served in the U.S. Army for 29 years. He served two tours of duty in Vietnam and was twice decorated for successfully leading his troops out of enemy ambushes. For his work during operation Desert Shield/Desert Storm, he was promoted from major general to three-star lieutenant general. Pagonis received the Distinguished Alumni Award from Penn State in 1994.
About the Melvin Jacobs Retail Leadership Lecture Series
The lecture series is named in tribute to Melvin Jacobs, a 1947 graduate of Penn State and former chairman and CEO of Saks Fifth Avenue who died in 1993. Jacobs’ wife, Rosalind “Roz” Jacobs, and daughter, Peggy Learner, established an endowment to support lectures by outstanding leaders and chief executives who are shaping the future of the retail industry. Previous lectures in the series have featured Arthur C. Martinez, retired Sears’ chairman and CEO; Leonard Lauder, chairman of The Estée Lauder Companies; Allen Questrom, chairman and CEO of JCPenney, Inc.; and Burt Tansky, president and CEO of The Neiman Marcus Group.
Jacobs began his retail career at Bloomingdale’s in the 1940s, eventually progressing to senior vice president and general merchandise manager. In 1972, he was named president and then chairman of Burdine's, a Florida-based department store chain owned by Federated Department Stores Inc., which also owned Bloomingdale's. Federated subsequently promoted him to vice chairman, but he resigned in 1982 to become chairman and CEO of Saks.
After retiring from Saks, Jacobs launched a retailing and investment company called Retail Options Inc., and joined the board of QVC Network Inc., the television shopping service.
REPORTERS & EDITORS: For more information, please contact Wyatt DuBois in the Smeal College of Business Media Relations Office at 814-863-3798 or wed112@psu.edu.
Penn State's Smeal College of Business offers highly ranked undergraduate, MBA, executive MBA, Ph.D., and executive education opportunities to more than 5,500 students at all levels. Featuring academic departments of accounting, finance, marketing, insurance and real estate, management, and supply chain and information systems, the college is also home to major research centers such as the Center for Supply Chain Research, the Institute for the Study of Business Markets, the Center for Digital Transformation, the Farrell Center for Corporate Innovation and Entrepreneurship, the Center for Global Business Studies, and the Center for the Management of Technological and Organizational Change.
