CSX announces senior exec changes

CSX Corp. has appointed Mark Wallace executive vice president sales and marketing, and Diana Sorfleet, executive vice president and chief administrative officer, the Class I announced yesterday.

Wallace joined CSX in March 2017 as executive VP corporate affairs and chief of staff, and was named executive VP and CAO in January.

"Having worked closely with Mark at both CSX and Canadian National Railway Co. (CN), I know that his diverse background, industry knowledge and deep understanding of scheduled railroading make him the ideal candidate to effectively lead our company's sales and marketing team," said President and Chief Executive Officer James Foote in a press release.

Wallace worked "side-by-side" with the late E. Hunter Harrison for 20 years and "has the strategic vision and executive leadership abilities to effectively drive the next phase of growth for CSX," Foote added.

Wallace began his railroad career at CN in 1995 as an analyst in the taxation and treasury function to assist on CN's initial public offering. He then worked in investor relations for five years before becoming chief of staff to president and CEO Harrison, and then held other senior management roles until leaving the company in March 2010. Wallace joined Canadian Pacific Railway in July 2012 as VP corporate affairs.  Wallace left CP in January 2017 to join CSX in March 2017.

Currently CSX's chief human resources officer, Sorfleet will succeed Wallace. She will be responsible for information technology, human resources, labor relations, executive compensation and aviation.

She joined CSX in June 2011 after serving in human resources at Exelon, most recently as VP of diversity and development.

Sorfleet has "played an invaluable role in helping me and the entire team drive the organization, our culture and our valued CSX employees forward in our transformational journey," said Foote.

Kevin Boone, who previously reported to Wallace, will continue as executive VP corporate affairs. He will become responsible for corporate communications and report to Foote, CSX officials said.

Boone worked in the finance industry for more than 15 years, including in investment banking at Merrill Lynch in the mergers and equity research at Morgan Stanley. Before joining CSX, Boone worked as a senior equity research analyst at Janus Capital, where he covered the industrial and transportation sectors.

All three appointments are in effect, CSX officials said.