William K. Smith Distinguished Service Award

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

Libby Ogard
Libby Ogard

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.