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CTA Executives:
List of Board Members & Chief Operating Officers

 

Board Members

The governing arm of the CTA is the Chicago Transit Board. According to the Metropolitan Transit Authority Act, which created and governs the CTA, "the governing and administrative body of the Authority shall be a board consisting of seven members, to be known as Chicago Transit Board. Members of the Board shall be residents of the metropolitan area and persons of recognized business ability" (Sec. 19). "...the Governor, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, shall appoint three members of the Board... the Mayor, with advice and consent of the City Council of the City of Chicago, shall appoint four members of the Board..." (Sec. 20). Sec. 22 of the Act provides for a chairman to be selected from among the seven Board members.

Below is a list of the Chicago Transit Board members from the CTA's creation in 1945 through today:

 
Chairman
Appointed by
Term
Board Members
Appointed by
Term

Philip Harrington

Mayor

1945-1949

William W. McKenna

Mayor

1945-1971

John Quincy Adams

Governor

1945-1947

George F. Getz, Jr.

Governor

1945-1947

Philip W. Collins

Governor

1945-1958

Irving L. Porter

Mayor

1945-1950

James R. Quinn

Mayor

1945-1976

Guy. A. Richardson

Governor

1945-1954

Ralph Budd

Mayor

1949-1952

John S. Miller

Governor

1949-1956

John Holmes

Mayor

1952-1958

Virgil E. Gunlock

Mayor

1952-1963

Werner W. Schroeder

Mayor

1954-1960

Bernice T. Van der Vries

Governor

1957-1971

Edward F. Moore

Governor

1958-1963

Joseph D. Murphy

Mayor

1958-1969

Raymond D. Peacock

Governor

1961-1970

James E. Rutherford

Governor

1963-1969

George L. DeMent

Mayor

1963-1971

Ernie Banks

Governor

1969-1981

Wallace D. Johnson

Governor

1970-1976

Clair M. Roddewig1

Mayor

1970-1975

Michael J. Cafferty

Mayor

1971-1973

Donald Walsh

Mayor

1971-1978

Lawrence C. Sucsy

Governor

1971-1979

Milton Pikarsky

Mayor

1973-1975

Edward F. Brabec

Mayor

1975-1979

James J. McDonough2

Mayor

1976-1979

Mathilda A. Jakubowski

Governor

1976-1979

James P. Gallagher

Mayor

1978-1986

John J. Hoellen

Governor

1979-1990

Howard C. Medley, Sr.

Mayor

1979-1989

Nick Ruggiero

Governor

1979-1987

Eugene M. Barnes

Mayor

1979-1982

Michael I. Brady

Mayor

1981-1985

Jordan J. Hillman

Governor

1981-1987

Michael A. Cardilli

Mayor

1982-1986

James I. Charlton

Mayor

1986-1994

Walter Clark

Mayor

1986-1988

Natalia Delgado

Mayor

1986-1992

J. Douglas Donenfeld

Governor

1987-2003

Milton Holzman

Governor

1987-1996

Clark Burrus

Mayor

1988-1995

Arthur F. Hill, Jr.

Mayor

1989-1996

Kim B. Fox

Governor

1990-1996

Guadalupe Reyes

Mayor

1992-2000

Valerie B. Jarrett

Mayor

1995-2003

Karen M. Dichiser

Mayor

1995-2002

Susan A. Leonis

Governor

1996-2009

Donald Jackson

Mayor

1998-2002

William E. Dugan

Governor

1999-2000

     

Alejandro Silva

Mayor

2001-2023

Victor Reyes

Mayor

2001-2003

Alan Drazek

Governor

2000-2002

John Catlin

Mayor

2002-2004

Rev. Charles E. Robinson

Mayor

2002-2015

Cynthia A. Panayotovich

Governor

2002-2009

Carole L. Brown

Mayor

2003-2009

Nicholas A. Zagotta

Governor

2004-2008

     

Henry T. Chandler, Jr.

Mayor

2006-2011

      Sheila Nix Governor 2008-2009
Terry Peterson Mayor 2009-2020 Jacquelyne "Jacky" Grimshaw Governor 2009-2015
      John Bouman Governor 2009-2013
      Katie McClain Governor 2009-2012
      Kevin Irvine Mayor 2012-2022
      Ashish Sen Governor 2012-2016
      Frank Zuccarelli Governor 2013
      Robert Lewis Governor 2014-2015
      Arabel Alva Rosales Governor 2015-2022
      Andre Youngblood Governor 2015-2019
      Rev. Johnny L. Miller Mayor 2016-2024
      Robert Patterson Governor 2018-2019
      Rev. Dr. L. Bernard Jakes Governor 2019-current
      Judge Gloria Chevere Governor 2019-2022
Lester Barclay Mayor 2021-current Michele A. Lee Mayor 2022-current
      Neema Jha Governor 2022-current
      Rosa Y. Ortiz Governor 2022-current
      Georgette L. Greenlee Mayor 2023-current
      Pastor Michael Eaddy Mayor 2024-current

Notes:
1. Roddewig served as Acting Chairman upon DeMent's death. Other vice chairmen acted similarly.
2. McDonough was Acting Chairman from Feb-Oct 1976, Chairman from Oct 1976-1979, and continued to serve as a board member until 1980.

 


Chief Operating Officers

Sec. 27 for the Metropolitan Transit Authority Act provides for the Board the appoint an a chief operating officer to "have management of the properties and business of the Authority and the employees thereof, subject to the general control of the Board," and who "shall direct the enforcement of all ordinances, resolutions, rules and regulations of the Board, and shall perform such other duties as may be prescribed from time to time by the Board."

The position was originally called "General Manager" when first created in 1947. In 1976, the name of the position was changed to "Executive Director" in 1992, it became "President". However, the duties of the job remained basically the same throughout.

Below is a list of the CTA chief operating officers from the beginning of CTA's operating of transit service in 1947 through today:

 
Name
Title
Term

Walter J. McCarter

General Manager

1947-1964

Thomas B. O'Connor

General Manager

1964-1973

Milton Pikarski, J. Aurand, T. Hill,
P. Kole, and George Krambles

Management Committee

1973-1975

George Krambles

General Manager (until Oct. 1976);
Executive Director (after Oct. 1976)

1976-1980

Theodore G. Schuster

Executive Director

1981-1982

Bernard J. Ford

Executive Director

1982-1985

Robert E. Paaswell

Executive Director

1986-1989

Bernard J. Ford

Engagement Manager

1989-1990

Alfred H. Savage

Executive Director

1990-1992

Robert P. Belcaster

President

1992-1995

David Mosena

President

1995-1997

Frank Kruesi

President

1997-2007

Ron Huberman President 2007-2009
Dorval J. Carter, Jr. Acting President 2009
Richard L. Rodriguez President 2009-2011
Forrest Claypool President 2011-2015
Dorval J. Carter, Jr. President 2015-current