Amtrak board member and R&LHS member Rob Gleason, invited keynote speaker for the 2026 Railway & Locomotive Historical Society annual meeting in Harrisburg, Pa., on June 16-20.
On September 18, 2025, the U.S. Senate confirmed R&LHS member Robert A. Gleason, Jr., to a seat on the Amtrak board of directors. Earlier in the year, on March 5, he had been nominated for the post by President Donald Trump.
A longtime executive and broker with his family’s insurance business in Johnstown, Pa., he served as chairman of the Republican Party of Pennsylvania from 2006 to 2017. Early in his career, he served as secretary of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania from 1985 to 1987 and later was appointed to serve on the Commission of Presidential Scholars from 2006 to 2010, the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission from 1993 to 1997, and the Pennsylvania State Transportation Commission. He also served on the board of the Pennsylvania High Speed Intercity Rail Passenger Commission, a feasibility study that worked from 1983 to 1988.
In 1961, Gleason graduated from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania with a bachelor of science in insurance, and later served on the university’s Board of Trustees from 1998 to 2013.
A veteran of active duty with the U.S. Air Force from 1962 to 1965, he later served in the Air Force Reserve, leaving with the rank of captain. This led to a presidential appointment in 2018 to the Air Force Academy Board of Visitors.
He currently is a consultant with Cassidy & Associates of Washington, D.C. A lifelong railfan, he maintains a large O scale model train layout and belongs to many model railroad organizations. His favorite locomotive is the Pennsylvania Railroad GG1 electric, and he owns two Grif Teller original railroad oil paintings, including the 1956 PRR calendar painting, “Dynamic Progress,” featuring the experimental General Motors Aerotrain.
He and his wife Jeanne have four children and eight grandchildren.
