Natural Resources >> CEO Interviews >> May 25, 1998
THOMAS J. USHER is Chairman of the Board and CEO of USX Corporation. USX
is a major producer of energy and metal products. The company's
operations are conducted through the Marathon Group, headquartered in
Houston, Texas and the U.S. Steel Group, located in Pittsburgh,
Pennsylvania. A native of Reading, Pa., Mr. Usher holds a B.S. degree in
Industrial Engineering, an M.S. degree in Operations Research and a
Ph.D. in Systems Engineering from the University of Pittsburgh.
Beginning his career with U.S. Steel in the industrial engineering
department in Pittsburgh headquarters in 1966, Mr. Usher held a variety
of positions in that department until 1975 when he transferred to the
firm's South (Chicago) Works. At South Works he successively served as
assistant to the general superintendent, superintendent of
transportation and general services, and superintendent of the 30-inch
plate mill. In 1978, he was named assistant division superintendent of
the primary mills at Gary (Ind.) Works. Mr. Usher returned to Pittsburgh
in 1979 as director of corporate strategic planning. He was named
assistant to the president in May 1981, and later that year, appointed
managing director-facility planning, engineering, research and
industrial engineering for the resource development group. He was
elected vice president-engineering and research for U.S. Steel Mining
Co., Inc., in 1982 and named president of that wholly-owned subsidiary
in January, 1983. In April 1984, Mr. Usher was named vice president-
engineering, steel and was promoted to the position of senior vice
president-operations, steel in November, 1984. In 1986, Mr. Usher was
named executive vice president-heavy products. He was appointed
president of the steel division and joined the USX corporate policy
committee in 1990. He was elected president of the U.S. Steel Group and
to the USX board of directors in 1991. He was elected president and
chief operating officer of USX Corporation in 1994 and to his current
post in July, 1995. Mr. Usher is Chairman of the U.S. -Korea Business
Council, vice chairman of the International Iron and Steel Institute and
a director of the U.S.-Japan Business Council. He is a member of the
policy committee to The Business Roundtable and a member of The Business
Council. He is a trustee of the University of Pittsburgh and serves on
the board of directors of The Boy Scouts of America and The Extra Mile
Education Foundation. In addition, Mr. Usher is on the board of
directors of PPG Industries, PNC Bank Corp. and Transtar, Inc. Profile
Mr. Usher: We are kind of a unique company in the sense that we have
these two classes of common stock, the Steel stock and the
