Established in 2002, the William K. Smith Distinguished Service Award is presented to a private-sector professional in the freight transportation and supply chain area for their leadership in the field and their contributions to mentorship and education of future leaders. The award is named in honor of William K. Smith, who served on the initial committee to establish CTS and on many CTS research and education councils until his death in 2001. While Smith served for many years as a state and national leader at General Mills, he also taught classes in the Carlson School of Management and influenced many others with his passion for learning and teaching.
2023 Recipient
This year’s recipient, Libby Ogard, is president of Prime Focus, LLC. Ogard is a freight transportation expert in rail, trucking, marine, and logistics management. She has both domestic and international consulting experience, and Ogard led a project to develop planning justification for the development of an intermodal terminal in Duluth. She has also worked on other public projects for agencies like MnDOT, Wisconsin DOT, Montana DOT, and the National Cooperative Highway Research Program. Ogard serves on the planning committee for the CTS Freight and Logistics Symposium, identifying and inviting speakers for the program.
Past Recipients
2022
Michael Loney, Senior Logistics Manager, Medtronics
2021
Deborah DeLuca, Executive Director, Duluth Seaway Port Authority
2020
Bruce Abbe, CEO, Abbe Communications and Management Services
2019
Jason Craig, Vice Chair, Minnesota Freight Advisory Committee
2018
George Schember, Vice President, Cargill Transportation & Logistics
2017
Vanta Coda II, Executive Director, Duluth Seaway Port Authority, and President, Minnesota Ports Association
2016
Brad Emch, Vice President of Sales and Marketing, SAV Transportation Group
2015
Ronald Dvorak, Marketing Director, Lake Superior Warehousing
2014
Robert "Chip" Smith, Chief Operating Officer, Bay and Bay Transportation.
2013
Mark Berndt, Freight Program Leader, Olsson Associates
2012
Meg Schmidt Duncan, Senior Manager of Carrier Relations, Koch Logistics
2011
Kevin McCarthy, director of consulting services, C.H. Robinson
2010
Dan Murray, Vice president of research, American Transportation Research Institute
2009
Ron Have, President of Freightmasters, Inc.
2008
Cathy Petersen, Principal, CJ Petersen & Associates
2007
John Hausladen, President, Minnesota Trucking Association
2006
Richard Murphy Jr., CEO, Murphy Warehouse Company
2005
William Goins, Adjunct Faculty, Carlson School of Management
2004
Howard Gochberg, Faculty, Logistics and Supply Chain Management, Metropolitan State University
2003
Ron Lifson, Vice president/general manager, LDI Fibres, Inc.
2002
Gary Eikaas, Executive vice president, Dedicated Logistics, Inc.