In January 2021, she became the first woman chief executive of a Class I railroad succeeding Carl Ice at BNSF Railway.
Kathryn M. Farmer graduated from Texas Christian University with a Bachelor of Business Administration and an MBA in Finance.
[4] Farmer's appointment as CEO coincided with BNSF's milestone anniversary, marking the company's evolution since its formation in 1995 through mergers and acquisitions.
[1] Upon her appointment as chief executive, investor Warren Buffett publicly expressed confidence in Farmer's leadership abilities.
In giving the award, the magazine pointed to how Farmer "took the throttle of North America’s largest railroad, in terms of both route-miles and revenue, during unprecedented times, in the midst of a global pandemic.