John W. Snow

John William Snow (born August 2, 1939) is an American economist, attorney, and businessman who is the former CEO of CSX Corporation and served as the 73rd United States secretary of the treasury under U.S. President George W. Bush. He replaced Secretary Paul H. O'Neill on February 3, 2003, and was succeeded by Henry Paulson on July 3, 2006. Snow submitted a letter of resignation on May 30, 2006, effective "after an orderly transition period for my successor." Snow announced on June 29, 2006, that he had completed his last day on the job; Robert M. Kimmitt served as acting secretary until Paulson was sworn in. Snow has since worked as chairman of Cerberus Capital Management.

Snow was born in Toledo, Ohio, the son of Catherine (Howard), a school teacher, and William Dean Snow, a tax attorney. Snow attended high school at Gilmour Academy in Gates Mills, Ohio. He did his undergraduate studies at Kenyon College (where he was a member of the Delta Tau Delta fraternity) and the University of Toledo, from which he received a Bachelor of Arts in 1962. He received a Doctor of Philosophy in economics from the University of Virginia in 1965. He completed a Juris Doctor at the George Washington University Law School in 1967 and then worked at the Washington, D.C. law firm of Wheeler & Wheeler from 1967 to 1972.

From 1965 to 1968, he was an assistant professor of economics at the University of Maryland, College Park.

In 1972 Snow left Wheeler & Wheeler and took up a position as assistant professor of law at the George Washington University Law School. During the three years he spent with the GWU Law School, Snow also held positions in the U.S. government. From 1972 to 1973, he served as assistant general counsel for the Department of Transportation. From 1973 to 1974, he was deputy assistant secretary for policy, plans and international affairs. From 1974 to 1975, he served as assistant secretary for governmental affairs in the Department of Transportation.

In 1975 Snow left GWU Law School and took up the full-time position of deputy undersecretary in the Department of Transportation. In 1976 he left this post when he was named as administrator of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

With the election of Jimmy Carter, Snow departed public life in 1977. During his transition period out of public life, in Spring 1977, he served as a visiting professor of economics at the University of Virginia and as a visiting fellow at the American Enterprise Institute. In addition, he was named a Distinguished Fellow at the Yale School of Management from 1978 until 1980.

Snow's years with the Department of Transportation proved useful to him, as in 1977, he became the Vice President in charge of Governmental Affairs for Chessie System, a holding company that owned three American railroads: the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway, a.k.a. the C&O (for which the Chessie System was named); the Western Maryland Railway; and the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad.

Snow lives in Richmond, Virginia. His was married to Carolyn (Kalk) (b. April 11, 1940 - d. June 5, 2024). He has three children, Ian Snow, Bradley Snow and Christopher. He has twelve grandchildren between Ian, Bradley, and Chris.

Snow's alma mater, Kenyon College, awarded him an honorary Doctor of Laws in 1993. He has also received the U.S. Department of Transportation Secretary's Outstanding Achievement Award and has been named a Distinguished Fellow by the Yale School of Management.