Lawrence H. Kaufman

Transportation Writer
Golden, Colorado

Larry Kaufman, free lance writer, has been involved with railroads for more than 40 years as a journalist, editor, transportation analyst, and corporate executive. His career highlights include winning a Guild Award for best news story of 1959 while with the Cleveland (Ohio) Press, breaking in Business Week magazine the story of the impending 1970 bankruptcy of the Penn Central Transportation Company, then the largest corporate bankruptcy in U.S. history. After serving as a special assistant in the office of the secretary of transportation, Kaufman returned to Business Week as transportation editor before joining the Association of American Railroads (AAR) as vice president-public affairs, participating in the campaign to deregulate U.S. railroads. He served as vice president - public affairs for Burlington Northern Railroad from 1981-1984. He later worked as transportation editor of The Journal of Commerce and then became its national transportation correspondent and a regular columnist. Kaufman left The JoC to become managing director of corporate communications for Southern Pacific Transportation Company. After the SP was merged out of existence, he consulted on mergers and acquisitions with the Norfolk Southern and Canadian National railroads, and still is a consultant to the AAR. Kaufman is the author of two books, "An American Transportation Story", co-authored with David J. DeBoer, and "Leaders Count: the Story of BNSF Railway." He regularly lectures undergraduate and graduate students in rail and transportation programs.  Kaufman is a 1958 graduate of Cornell University.